Rich Rodriguez returns to Morgantown, and it feels like college football has hit rewind and cranked up the volume! Seventeen years since his dramatic departure, the coach who took West Virginia to the edge of a national championship is home once again, and the buzz surrounding the program is electric-equal measures of nostalgia, hope, and just a pinch of “Can he do it again? Rodriguez, officially reinstated in December 2024, isn’t just here to do a reunion tour; he’s here to restore a program that’s been looking for its spark since he departed.”

College football in 2025 is a different beast altogether. In the past, teams didn’t have to navigate a transfer portal or NIL signings, and the Big 12 wasn’t the chaotic mess it has become today. But if anyone’s got the chaos playbook, it’s RichRod. He’s already spouting speed-like, Top Gun-speed, need for speed.

Enter Nicco Marchiol, who is making a strong case to be WVU’s QB1 this year. The lefty dual-threat waiting in the wings, Marchiol said he’s not going anywhere for 2025, eager to assist in bringing the pride and glory back to WVU. In his eight games during last season, he passed for 434 yards, five touchdowns, and two more scores on the ground. Rodriguez enjoys that Marchiol is all-in, and you can sense the momentum changing.

Rich Rodriguez let loose some straight talk regarding what he’s expecting out of Nicco Marchiol and Co. presently. “There are two four-letter words, and I say too many four-letter words, right, but soft and lazy are the two worst, and that’s not acceptable at any point in time in our program,” Rich said in Josh Pate’s College Football Show. He also added to the statement, “You’ve got to maintain that every play every day in this program; this state knows.”

You know he didn’t mess around putting his ultimatum on the line for this team: you play hard, with some real grit, or you’re going to get left in the dust. He flat-out challenged the “soft” mindset that creeps into today’s football sometimes, particularly with all the comfort and entitlement of the modern game. “You might think, ‘Oh, that’s playing hard. ‘ I judge it on a higher scale than they do.”

He wants tough, gritty guys who are willing to work for every single thing they achieve. That’s the culture RichRod is insisting on: if you’ve got a little bite in you, he’ll unleash it. If you don’t, you’ll get run over. It’s refreshing, particularly with guys like Nicco Marchiol buying in. RichRod’s not being diplomatic; he’s telling these players, ‘You can be part of something tough and special, or you can ride the pine.’

Rich Rodriguez on focus and commitment

Rich Rodriguez has come back to WVU with a message that’s as bold as ever: if you’re playing for yourself, you’re playing for the wrong reasons. In his big statement since returning, Rodriguez has made it clear that the era of “me before we” is over in Morgantown. Rodriguez has spoken forcefully about the sense of entitlement in college football, that it is the coach’s responsibility to drive players past their perceived limits, and that the correct environment of demandingness, toughness, and emphasis on winning as a team can bring out the best in anyone.

RichRod’s message resonated with guys like Nicco Marchiol, who hung in there rather than jumping into the portal, demonstrating he’s team-first. Then CJ Donaldson, grinding in the weight room and embracing a leadership role, is putting the team ahead of his statistics. Even some of the younger receivers, such as Rodney Gallagher, have upped their blocking and hustle in practice, demonstrating they’re buying into that “team-first” attitude.

At the end of the day, Rich Rodriguez is not merely coaching football; he is rebuilding a culture. He’s calling out the soft stuff, abandoning the ego trips, and insisting that every Mountaineer play with heart, grit, and that hard edge. It’s about more than winning; it’s about pride, hustle, and showing the world that WVU football is tough as nails once again.