theintermountain
West Virginia football has dropped consecutive games, with the latest being a 45-42 defeat to Iowa State in which the defense surrendered over 500 yards for the second straight week. The Mountaineers now sit at 3-2 overall and 0-2 in Big 12 play.
A closer look reveals a common thread in both losses: the opposing head coaches are in their first year of rebuilding their respective programs. Eric Morris took over at Oklahoma State after leaving North Texas, while Jimmy Rogers arrived at Iowa State from Washington State late in the coaching cycle.
Last season, Rodriguez could point to his own first-year status as a reason for falling to other new coaches like Scott Frost at UCF. But now in Year 2, that excuse no longer holds. Rodriguez, however, views last season as more of a Year 0, and this year as his first full year with the program, given the massive roster overhaul.
On both offense and defense, the number of returning starters can be counted on one hand. Rodriguez doesn't believe the back-to-back reboots were avoidable, considering his goals for the program. Although he brought in veteran players to fill gaps, most are in their first year of the system.
"We got 10 new starters," Rodriguez said. "We got to start all over again. Sometimes, as coaches, we got to sit back and say, 'Oh, understand that they might be 20 years old, but they've only been in this system for less than a year.' We got to coach accordingly."
The challenge of roster churning becomes even more evident when examining Rodriguez's previous head coaching stops. In his first stint at WVU, he went 3-8 before turning things around with a 9-4 season the following year. At Arizona, he experienced similar second-year success. Both of those turnarounds occurred long before the transfer portal existed.
"I think probably the biggest change, and this is not just us, is that the turnover in rosters is so different now," Rodriguez said. "I always say we've got to be a developmental program, but in a year like last year and a year like this year, when you're having so much turnover, and you're replacing 10 starters, or whatever it is, your system has to be able to adapt to that quicker. You're not having guys grow up in your program."
Rodriguez is not alone in facing this issue. Until the College Sports Act is passed, allowing athletes to transfer once without penalty, every player is at risk of leaving each year. Coaches nationwide, including Rodriguez, have started offering multi-year deals to retain players, though such agreements can be disputed.
Rodriguez highlighted Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita, who the Mountaineers face this weekend, as a rare case of a player who has spent all five years with the Wildcats. His growth and mastery of the system have contributed to Arizona's 4-1 start.
"By the time a guy's in your program three years or four years or something, he's almost like a coach," Rodriguez said. "He kind of knows what's going on. He knows how to fix it and all that. Whereas now it's almost like you're teaching freshmen, even though they're not all freshmen. I think that's probably the biggest change."
Rodriguez has built the program to be developmental, adding a large JUCO and high school class along with younger transfers, which should reduce future roster turnover. The challenge lies in retaining those players and allowing them time to develop. In the past, time was not an issue, but with teams like Indiana achieving quick turnarounds, fans may wonder, "Why not us?" Rodriguez believes the program is progressing toward that point, even if the recent losses suggest otherwise.
"I think we've made some steps forward, but I also think we have not made some steps forward in other parts of the program," Rodriguez said. "But I'm not going to panic, five games into the second year, especially when I knew we had to do a total reboot two years in a row."
Key Analysis
Rodriguez's comments underscore the complexities of building a program in the modern transfer portal era. While roster turnover is not unique to WVU, the Mountaineers' heavy reliance on new starters has hindered early-season cohesion. Rodriguez's track record at previous stops suggests that Year 2 can bring significant improvement, but the current landscape makes such leaps more challenging. The program's focus on development and retention could pay dividends, but patience will be required.
Originally reported by theintermountain.