Rich Rodriguez Reveals QB1 Outlook After Backing Six-Figure Gamble on WVU Duo

Fifty-six transfers. Fourteen freshmen. One wild reset in Morgantown. Rich Rodriguez isn’t walking into a slow rebuild—he’s jumping on a bullet train. This fall marks the beginning of his second act as West Virginia Mountaineers head coach, and the roster turnover is as dramatic as it gets in the transfer portal era. No one’s blinking, though. Not when you’ve got a fiery coach, an old-school ethos, and a QB room loaded with athletic upside. What’s happening at WVU isn’t subtle—it’s a full-throttle gamble to modernize, compete, and maybe even shock the Big 12 before anyone sees it coming.

Quarterback will decide a lot, but don’t expect answers early. Rich Rodriguez is playing the long game with his QB1 decision, and he’s been transparent about it in a way that still leaves plenty of mystery.

“There’s no really gamesmanship going on with that holding it back,” he said on the In The Gun Podcast. “I mean, first off, why would you let anybody know?” It’s not about keeping opponents in the dark—it’s about evaluating what he calls a truly wide “open competition.” The contenders? Nicco Marchiol and Jaylen Henderson are the frontrunners; both are mobile and proven at this level. But Rodriguez isn’t ruling anyone out—not even the freshmen.

He laid it out with vintage Coach Rod clarity: “The good thing I feel good about is I think the talent is there to have a quality [starter]. I always think you can’t win if the quarterback ain’t pretty good, and you probably can’t win if you don’t have at least two quarterbacks that are pretty good. I think we’re going to have more than two.”

He doubled down with a smile in his voice: “If we have three guys that are good enough, I’ll play all three. I don’t subscribe to the theory that if you play two, you must not have none. I hope I have five. I might play all five.” That’s vintage Rodriguez—blunt, competitive, and willing to get creative if it gives him an edge.

But it’s not just about talent—it’s about situational usage. Rich Rodriguez envisions flexibility in how he deploys his QBs. “There could be quarterbacks that… run this play really good, this quarterback, this is two plays or three plays he runs really good. And I’m not averse to playing them in that regard.” The goal? Keep everyone sharp.

Expect aggressive play, quick decisions, and no fear. Rodriguez added, “Now, that being said, there’s not a case where I ever want a quarterback to go in there and be afraid to make a mistake…That’s not going to be the case…I like our depth there, our competition there, and probably the competition will be ongoing throughout the summer. If somebody separates themselves during training camp, that’s great. Move on. I at least feel comfortable that we have guys in that room, that are going to be good enough to win with.”

The national media is starting to warm to the chaos. CBS Sports slapped a solid B grade on WVU’s first-year transfer haul. Ranking the class 30th overall and calling attention to some sneaky-good portal pickups. That includes 2024 AAC DPOY Jimmori Robinson, who brings immediate bite to the defensive edge. Pair that with a top-10 reshuffled depth chart, and the Mountaineers have the framework of a team that can cause problems—even if they’re still figuring things out in August.

Athlon Sports’ Steven Lassan echoed the enthusiasm, grading Rodriguez’s hire an A+. “Rodriguez has won at nearly every stop in his coaching career,” he wrote, citing stints at Arizona and Jacksonville State. “He’ll be eager to get redemption after a messy breakup from his alma mater in ’07.” The numbers back it up: 60-26 in his first stint at WVU, 43-35 at Arizona, and 27-10 with Jacksonville State. Now he’s back home with something to prove, and he’s surrounded himself with assistants who know how to run his system like clockwork.

Coach Rod himself made some heavy coaching hires after coming, and he couldn’t wait to talk about them. The road starts on August 30 against Robert Morris. From there? It gets tougher, fast. But with depth, upside, and a head coach swinging for legacy, West Virginia is more than just a feel-good reunion story.

Rich Rodriguez’s strategic duo

Rich Rodriguez didn’t just bring Pat White and Noel Devine back to Morgantown to roll out nostalgia videos and wave to fans from the sidelines. Their return—White earning $120,000 and Devine making $45,000—isn’t about highlight reels. It’s about mentorship, culture, and showing the next generation what it takes to build something lasting.

“Yeah. And I told them I said, ‘Hey, listen. Obviously, you know, they did great things for West Virginia football. I had had a great time here.’ So, that played a role in wanting them to be back, but I didn’t hire them for what they did in the 2000s. I’m hiring for what they can do for us now,” Rodriguez said. What matters to him is that players today can relate—to the workouts, the culture, and the grind. White and Devine are living proof that it works.

“They’re good coaches and they’re good people person,” he added. “They understand football, but also they understand, you know, some of the things that we talk about in our program: having a hard edge, earning success, not being entitled.” While they were good players on their own, the key now is that they’re team-first coaches. And Coach Rod is pretty happy with the duo he hired.