MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Rich Rodriguez has a number of challenges to navigate throughout the first month in his return to lead the West Virginia football program.
As expected, the Mountaineers are dealing with significant roster change since concluding the 2024 season with a 42-37 loss Tuesday night to 25th-ranked Memphis in the Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl.
Among the more notable players to have since entered the NCAA Transfer Portal or made their intentions known they’ll be doing just that are running back CJ Donaldson, offensive lineman Tomas Rimac and linebacker Trey Lathan.
Linebacker Josiah Trotter, WVU’s second-leading tackler this season with 92, entered the portal in advance of the matchup with the Tigers and has since committed to Missouri.
“I’ve tried to meet with all of them and talked to them about what our program is going to be about and what we can do for them, but I’m not going to beg them,” Rodriguez said Friday as a guest on MetroNews Talkline. “I’m going to tell them, this is what we’re going to do. We’re going to be in a great position not just football wise and academically, but also financially. But if they’re going to go chase the money and some school is going to pay some big money and more than we can pay, then that’s fine. I’ll go get another one. I don’t panic. A lot of folks sometimes panic. There’s a lot of good players out there.
“I don’t want to lose any of our good players, but it’s inevitable. It happens. If they do that, I’ll go find one myself in the portal.”
Donaldson rushed for 2,058 yards and 30 touchdowns over three seasons as a Mountaineer. Rimac started 28 games over the last three seasons at guard and Lathan was third on the team with 79 tackles.
On Friday afternoon, wideout Hudson Clement also entered the portal. The Martinsburg native led the Mountaineers in receptions (51), receiving yardage (741) and touchdown catches (5) this season.
Offensive linemen Johnny Williams IV and Sullivan Weidman and wideout RicDarious Farmer are also in the mix for a new program, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see several others following suit in the near future.
As was the case leading into the 2024 season at Jacksonville State, Rodriguez will again be dealing with major roster turnover before coaching a game in his return to Morgantown. The Gamecocks overcame an 0-3 start to win nine of 10 contests and a Conference USA Championship and wrap up their 2024 season Friday afternoon in the Cure Bowl against Ohio.
“I know it’s Group of 5, but we had 60 new players,” Rodriguez said. “We lost nine starters that got bigger offers from Power 4s. We went in the portal, got some good players and wound up having a pretty good year. I’m not going to panic about it. It’s just disappointing, because there are some really good kids that probably get bad advice or go in the portal and it isn’t what they think it’s going to be. We’ll replace them. I’m not worried about it.”
Part of that process could include adding players from the team Rodriguez last coached after Jacksonville State finishes its season Friday.
“Staff is obviously a high priority and players are probably a higher priority,” Rodriguez said. “I’m trying to get some guys to come in this weekend, because we get in a dead period in a couple days and it doesn’t open back up for visits until January 2nd, so I’m trying to see if we can squeeze some guys in.
“The biggest thing, it’s not the players that you don’t get that hurt you, it’s the ones that you take that can’t play that kill you. We have to make sure we take the right ones. I don’t want to rush it. There are players out there. Some guys at Jacksonville State got in the portal, got really good deals and are going somewhere else, but there are also a few that may want to come to West Virginia as well. They’re playing in a couple hours, so nothing will happen with them until after that.“
As for the coaching staff, Rodriguez says he’s busy working to finalize hires.
“I’m hoping after these next few days of bowl games, I’ll be able to announce a lot of the staff members, and my goal is to do that before Christmas,” Rodriguez said. “I won’t have the full staff in place until probably January 1st or 2nd, but I feel confident. It’s an easy place to recruit players to and an easy place to recruit staff to. We’ll have a great one.”
Rodriguez has reportedly elected to keep Blaine Stewart on staff, but is looking for new coordinators and position coaches outside of retaining the tight ends coach in a yet-to-be determined role.
Rick Trickett was WVU’s offensive line coach from 2001-06 — for all but one of Rodriguez’s seven seasons in his first stint at WVU. Trickett, 76, has since coached the offensive lines at Florida State, Division II Glenville State and currently Jacksonville State, where he’s been for the last three seasons.
Could a return to WVU be in the mix for Trickett?
“Everybody that’s been around me for a little bit knows that Trick and I are close,” Rodriguez said. “He’s the best line coach in the history of college football. We’ll see what happens with Rick, too. Jax State plays in a couple hours, so I didn’t want to mess with them at all. I wanted to make sure they’re fully focused on that game today.”
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