MORGANTOWN — New West Virginia University cornerbacks coach Rod West had something to admit when he met with the media this week: he’s trying his best to keep the Mountaineer secondary’s past in the past.
“Full disclosure, I’ve tried my hardest not to watch any film from last year,” West said. “I told all the guys I wanted a clean slate. I didn’t want to hold anything against the guys who were here in the past.”
That’s likely a prudent decision. There wasn’t much positive to take from WVU’s 2024 pass defense.
Statistically, it was one of the Football Bowl Subdivision’s worst. It was the weakest link in a Mountaineer defense that gave up at least 42 points in three of their last four games, all losses, which hastened former coach Neal Brown’s departure from the program and ushered in Rich Rodriguez’s return as head coach.
West knows his is one of the most important projects on the team, to rebuild WVU’s corner room. He feels he’s up to the task and, early on, he believes his players are determined to reverse the fortunes of the West Virginia pass defense.
“I think they’ve done everything I’ve asked them to do,” West said, “or at least they’ve tried their hardest.”
WVU’s fortunes in defending the pass were minimal last season. The Mountaineers ranked 126th out of 134 FBS teams in allowing 270.8 passing yards per game. They were tied for 118th in intercepting just five passes. Opponents were able to complete 64% of their passes, tying for 110th nationally, and sport a passer rating of 160.25, which ranked 129th. WVU allowed 9.1 yards per attempt, which was third worst in the FBS.
West didn’t want what happened last year to influence his evaluations of the players now. Some of what went wrong, he said, might have been more scheme than physical talent.
“They may have been taught something different that we don’t teach,” he said, “so I didn’t want to go down that road.”
West has had plenty of success coaching corners in the past. He led corners Tyrek Funderburk and Ethan Johnson to All-Sun Belt nods in 2023. In 2021, Steven Jones Jr. was named a first-team All-American by the Football Writers Association of America, Phil Steele and Pro Football Network along with an All-Sun Belt first-team selection. Shaun Jolly joined Jones on the All-Sun Belt first team, and West was named to the 2021 American Football Coaches Association 35 Under 35 list.
What West tries to stress to his corners are what he calls the “three Cs.” The first is confidence.
“Every time we’re on the field, we have to think we’re the best guy,” he said.
The second is composure, to have a short-term memory following both good and bad plays so they can go all out on the next play. The third is to compete, to outwork the competition and always buy into the game plan.
“That’s why I’m here, to develop the on-the-field component,” he said. “But more than anything, before we can address that, our habits off the field and how we just address our work day to day, I think that area must be stressed.”
So far, West said the 10 corners in his room are buying in. He wasn’t ready to single out specific players and their performances, but said the foundation for the 2025 season is pretty good.
“I’ll say we have a lot of guys in the room who have done a lot of good things,” West said. “And we have those same guys who have made some bad plays and made some mistakes. So, every day, we have some pluses and some minuses. We try to correct things to make sure we don’t make the same mistakes the next day.
“Collectively, I think they’ve done a good job of competing,” he added. “Hopefully, by the end of spring ball, we can say, all right, these are our top two, our top four. But right now, everybody’s still competing for everything.”
— Story by Derek Redd
