Head Coach, West Virginia University Football
by Kensie Hamilton
Coach Rich Rodriguez, or “Coach Rod” as most people call him, has football in his blood. Rodriguez grew up not far from West Virginia University—the school he will call home until at least 2009—in Grant Town, West Virginia.
Rodriguez has been involved with the Mountaineers not only as a coach but was also a player from 1981 to 1984. While he was still at WVU, he was given the opportunity to spend one season as the student assistant coach.
Rodriguez has always been a Young Gun at heart. In 1988, when he was only 24 years old, he was appointed as head coach of Salem College, making him the youngest head coach in America.
He is what you could call a self-made man. As a young coach he was forced to “learn on the run.”
When he left Salem, he returned to WVU as the volunteer assistant coach in 1989, before moving on to Glenville State College, Tulane University and Clemson University in the 90s before returning to his alma mater in 2001.
This three-time letterman as a defensive back for WVU is as committed to winning football games as he is about being a mentor and a leader to his young team. It is easy to see how much he cares about the boys that play for him. “I spend as much time fathering these boys as I do coaching,” he says.
Rodriguez is the 31st head coach to take the reins of the West Virginia Mountaineers. He has helped the Mountaineers win three Big East titles; they have also appeared in three-straight New Year’s Day bowl games and also defeated Georgia in the 2006 Nokia Sugar Bowl.
Rodriguez explains that this is not a 9-5 job. No matter where you go, the job comes with you. “You worry about everything,” he says. “On and off the field, I mean 130 teenagers…”
This is a job that he not only enjoys, but a job that he has also been very successful with, especially at WVU. How does he make this team work? “By surrounding myself with a bunch of people who work hard and believe in what we are doing here,” says Rodriguez. “Working hard everyday is the key to success, along with trying to improve every day, every year.”
Rodriguez is invested in the state of West Virginia and his family. He is happy to have the chance to raise his children here. “This is a beautiful state,” says Rodriguez. “Being from here, I know it very well and it is a great place to raise a family.”
Rodriguez has collected many awards over the years including the state College Coach of the Year award for all sports from West Virginia Sports Writers Association in 1993 and again in 2003. He is a member of the Glenville State College hall of fame and was also named the BIG EAST Coach of the Year by The Sporting News in 2002. He has gained many more honors including being the unanimous choice for the BIG EAST Coach of the Year by his peers in 2003.
In his free time, Rodriguez enjoys spending time with his wife and children. Rodriguez and his wife Rita are also involved with the WVU Children’s Hospital. Rodriguez spends time fundraising and supporting Cheat Lake Grade School (where his two children attend) and also his alma mater, North Marion High School.
Photography by Genesis Studio
