Up Close with PSR
West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez

On April 14, for the first time in more than 20 years, spring football practice came to a close at West Virginia University and Don Nehlen was nowhere to be found. Rich Rodriguez, hired in November to replace the legendary Nehlen, is now the man in charge in Morgantown. A West Virginia native and former Mountaineer, Rodriguez returned after serving as offensive coordinator and associate head coach at Clemson.

He is known for a fast-paced, high-octane offense; one that set 26 Clemson records in 1999 and 20 more last season. Prior to his two-season stint at Clemson, Rodriguez was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under current Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden at Tulane, where the Green Wave was 19-4 over two seasons.

A three-year letterman at defensive back for the Mountaineers from 1982-84, Rodriguez began his coaching career as a grad assistant at WVU before moving on to a defensive assistant position at Salem International University, where he soon became the youngest college head coach in America at age 24. PSR Associate Editor Tony DeFazio caught up with "Coach Rod" recently to discuss his return to West Virginia and expectations for 2001.

PSR: You're a West Virginia native, a former player, and a former assistant under Don Nehlen, and now you are replacing him at the helm of the Mountaineers. Is this the coaching job you always envisioned yourself someday holding?

Rodriguez: I had a definite goal to be a head coach at the Division 1-A level, but I never targeted West Virginia specifically, though I always thought it would great if it worked out that way. It's so hard to know what will happen at this level, so you really can't plan on much beyond your control. I'm just glad it worked out this way.

PSR: You certainly took a different path to your first D-1 head-coaching job, toiling in the NAIA and Division II for years. Was that something you consciously planned?

RR: No, I guess I just fell into it. It's a lot harder to get into the D-1A ranks, obviously, so I sort of did what I felt I needed to do in going to NAIA. I had some early success, we won a lot, and things seemed to be going well. But seven years went by, and no one was calling from D-1. But it ended up working out.

PSR: Were you ever scared you'd get stuck at that level? Those coaching ranks are certainly filled with people who had intentions of coaching D-1.

RR: Definitely I thought about never getting to the D-1 level. That's an unorthodox path, and a lot of good coaches stay at that level their entire careers. Things broke for me, though, and it ended up being a great experience. There is a lot about who I am as a coach that came from my experiences at Glenville.

PSR: As a new coaching staff, what were the top priorities before spring ball, and how will they change heading into the summer?

RR: Going into the spring, we had two major jobs. First, we evaluated our current players. You can watch all the film you want, but until you work with them on the field, and until we can fit each of them into our scheme, it's hard to get a true measure. That started with the start of practice, and actually that is the easier of the two jobs.

Second, and quite challenging, because we've been through this at other places, is teaching a whole new scheme to everybody. That means teaching new terminology and new techniques in all three phases of the game. Our offense, our defense and our schemes on special teams were all foreign to them at that first practice, so our ability to learn the system this spring will be critical.

So now we're evaluating the team and the talent we have in terms of how it fits into our system. Installing the system is now the number one focus. We've got a lot of young guys on the team, but that isn't a problem like it normally would be in a typical scenario where the coaching staff remained intact from the previous season. Even the seniors here are like freshmen in terms of the system. They have a lot of experience, but not in these schemes. So we are focused on doing a lot of teaching this spring and into the fall.

PSR: Does the fact that you are spending so much time installing and evaluating and putting pieces together put you behind your opposition?

RR: There certainly is a lot more work to do, but that's always going to be true of anyone who's in this situation with a new staff and a new system. We have a lot of work to do before we can really get to the fine details of the system, the stuff that the others are already working on. We won't be able to get into those details until we are into the season, I imagine. But the more they buy into the system and the schemes, the quicker they will learn them and the sooner we can have success. The players so far have been buying into everything and their attitude has been great, which makes it so much easier. I don't know how they'll react when we line up under the lights against Boston College on September 1, but their attitude has sure been great so far.

PSR: When does this team become yours? When can someone who knows your football style, like a Tommy Bowden, look out onto your field and say with authority, "They play like Coach Rod's team?"

RR: How long is my contract? Five years? Then it better happen in five years (laughs). I hope it already is, but I suppose it normally takes 2-3 years, really, for a team to be able to function truly as you want it to. Certainly there is a lot of adjusting that goes on, but we jumped on board after the bowl win in January and the players followed. We definitely want to keep the great tradition that exists here and build on that foundation, but we also need to establish our own identity. I think once the games start, you'll see that this team has its own identity. By the end of the spring, I think we'll be there.

You know, it's hard to play as a freshman in any situation, but it may be easier here this season and next, because we'll have recruited the type of player that fits our system. There are some very, very talented players here now, but they were recruited for a different system. So as we start to recruit players that more specifically are suited to this system, you'll see that start to happen. But I'm not real patient, and I know that some of the fans aren't either, so we'll try to make the adjustments as fast as we can.

PSR: In the first year or two, do you have to bend your system a little to get it to fit the players?

RR: We just need to be real smart as coaches. We gotta run what we run, because that's what we know, and it's what we base the program on. But at the same time, we have to be smart and not put guys in positions where they won't have success. Now I think we have enough talent, and we're flexible enough to adapt, but you have to tweak a little, or hold off on installing certain things.

PSR: We're talking so much about installing the new schemes and how difficult it can be - what exactly are we talking about? What will a Rich Rodriguez-coached team look like on the field?

RR: The schemes are different, but that tends to be a little overrated, I think. We're going to line up and play football; we're not reinventing anything here. It's football. But our approach is just a bit different from what West Virginia has done in the past. Offensively, it's a faster tempo, no huddle and we're spread more than in the past. Defensively, we'll play a more attack mode as opposed to a read-style. But beyond that, I think fans will recognize the same hard-nosed play, with the same pride in the uniform that has always existed here.

PSR: There's a lot that comes with this job off the field as well as on, as you well know. What is the biggest challenge off the field when you replace a legend like Don Nehlen?

RR: Well...I can say I don't feel intimidated by it. Having played for Coach Nehlen and remaining close to the program, I think I have a pretty good understanding of the situation. We have a great foundation here, a tremendous program for the past two decades. You know, people say that no one wants to be the next guy (after a legend), but shoot, someone's gotta be that guy. And I think having been part of this team and the tradition here makes it a good fit for me. I'll still have to teach myself some patience, and hope the fans have some patience, but the bottom line, as it is everywhere, is winning.

PSR: You're moving into a different conference, from the ACC into the Big East. Talk a little bit about your opposition.

RR: If you just look at the bowl games last year, it's obvious that the Big East is one of the best conferences in the country. Virginia Tech, even though they lost Michael Vick, will be extremely good this season. He didn't play defense for them the past two seasons, and they lost, what, two games in that span? So they'll be tough. Miami is a great team, very obviously. They will be in the national championship picture again. Syracuse has a lot of talent, and Pittsburgh should be very good. I think Rutgers is turning things around. Bobby Wallace is doing a great job at Temple. And of course, we open against yet another bowl team when we play BC, a team that has its whole defense back.

And West Virginia has some great rivalries in the Big East, which is exciting. The University of Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech are the two biggest rivals I feel we have. The players can always feel the energy level rise for these games.

PSR: I know we're only a few practices in, but who are some new names that fans should be keeping an eye on for next season?

RR: Offensively, the fans know Brad Lewis, Avon Cobourne, and Antonio Brown. But I think Phil Braxton is ready to make a big impact at wide receiver, and I think Cooper Rego is headed for a big year.

Defensively, you've got your Grant Wileys and Kyle Kaydens, but I think guys like James Davis, Cory McIntyre, Adam Lenerd, and Lance Fraser are ready to make big impacts. I think Shawn Hackett is one of the best players in the nation, let alone the conference. I think when the fall gets here, we'll be good and ready to play.

PSR: Thanks, Coach.