by Kyle Golik
Sometime prior to the end of the 2024 regular season, if anyone would have come up to me and said the following would happen, Bill Belichick would return to coaching in college football and Rich Rodriguez would return to coach West Virginia, with the latter receiving much more fanfare, I would not have believed you.
In this day and age, I might need to start believing in the unexpected or crazy thoughts because that is exactly what happened.
You would figure a Hall of Fame coach with the caliber of Belichick, whose place in NFL annals has him ranked with the immortals like Vince Lombardi, Bill Walsh, and George Halas, that would have been a major deal to have the pomp and fanfare we saw for Rodriguez’s reintroduction at West Virginia.
While Belichick has been on many platforms during his coaching hiatus, notably The Pat McAfee Show, it is the same show that played host to what was essentially a giant pep rally and marketing infomercial, you could say, on ESPN and on the biggest sports show going.
Typically, a show like The Pat McAfee wouldn’t get the access or ability to influence such a thing, hence why Belichick’s introduction in Chapel Hill, though major, was subdued, McAfee is an alum, who is part of the Country Roads Trust, which is West Virginia’s NIL collective.
Rodriguez got the attention and has been molded into this giant coaching icon by McAfee and most likely will continue to do so as Rodriguez begins to take charge in Morgantown.
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The question is, could this all backfire?
I expect Rodriguez’s first season not to be where he wants the Mountaineers; they should win seven or eight games. They really need to win the Backyard Brawl early to set the tone, but more importantly, can McAfee be objective and deliver the harsh criticism against a coach he played for and for whom he has so much reverence?
McAfee towed a line with Neal Brown, but when Brown couldn’t deliver major wins or even live up to the lofty 2024 expectations that had McAfee’s show live in Morgantown prior to Penn State, it was treated as if it was the Super Bowl of some sorts.
Brown has conveyed indirectly that while other programs could struggle in somewhat anonymity, because of McAfee’s affinity for West Virginia being an alum, he makes them a point. Brown’s inability to have space and time to figure out issues never existed. While Brown did get six seasons and plenty of patience, Brown never had the ability to exhale because of the attention.
Rodriguez won’t either, but Rodriguez has had plenty of success, as well as some poor performances along the way. Rodriguez, when it didn’t go well with Michigan, didn’t handle the situation well. To an extent, Rodriguez will tell you the same thing. Maybe it was the way he handled his exit from West Virginia that carried over to Michigan that was the distraction that seemed to be hanging over him.
What Rodriguez has to acknowledge is the good that comes with the exposure Pat McAfee brings, there is the potential for distraction. What if, and again we start with “if” because this is where we are at, West Virginia isn’t progressing at the speed McAfee would like? It almost seems like by Year 2 or 3 the expectations will rise to where they were toward the end of Rodriguez’s first run in Morgantown, winning 11 games a season.
What if McAfee has to call out Rodriguez? Will Rodriguez be willing to be such a frequent guest at that point? While Rodriguez and McAfee typically have picked on A.J. Hawk, what if the tables do turn and Hawk is the one tossing out the burns.
We have seen West Virginia feuds escalate, whether it was the Hatfields and McCoys or a more recent Nick Saban (Fairmont) and Jimbo Fisher (Clarksburg) SEC clash of the titans that led to Fisher’s epic “God Rant.”
It’s all good feelings now, but can true feelings be exhibited between both McAfee and Rodriguez when things get tough? That is yet to be seen. Can both men be mature enough to settle differences considering the proximity both have to the football program? We saw McAfee take things personal with Brown, but this time it is a man he reveres and will be tougher to do.
West Virginia can ill afford to have these men at odds; the best way is both men keeping things to the truth and take nothing personal. But if the truth has to hurt, it can’t backfire on either side and ripple; neither of them want it and can afford it.
