Football

COLUMN: Trick or treat? Rod leads us to believe he may have a bit of both

MORGANTOWN - There are about a dozen, or so, different sayings we could begin with today in shedding some light on the current state of affairs of the WVU football program.

Something to do with it being darkest just before dawn or clouds with silver linings, but it's likely you're not all that interested in the atmosphere at this point.

What we will say is WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez had every opportunity to solidify himself into YouTube history on Tuesday, when he met with local media. The pressure to produce positive results is hitting Rodriguez, maybe even greater than his days at Michigan some 15 or 16 years ago.

He's got a young defensive coordinator in Zac Alley who fans are clamoring to be removed. He just lost two weeks in a row to Big 12 programs with first-year coaches in the league who are in a total rebuilding mode.

And let's face it, Rodriguez is a guy who wears his emotions on his sleeve and isn't shy to express that in a press conference. That was evident following last week's 45-42 loss against Iowa State, when he misinterpreted a reporter's question about emotions that come with a back-and-forth game.

"What do you mean, emotions?" Rodriguez fired back. "You guys are going to sit there and listen to me in the hallway?"

And so, we get to Tuesday's gathering. You almost expected fists to be pounding on the table, his voice to be raised and commanding.

If someone had asked Rodriguez a question about the playoffs, move over Jim Mora, because the expectations were the West Virginia head coach would have come up with such a rant that it would have taken the former's NFL head coach's famous tirade and shoved it right to the side.

He would have received more views on YouTube than Surprised Kitty and Baby Shark Dance combined.

It didn't happen. Instead, you would have almost thought WVU was 5-0 rather than 3-2 this week, going by Rodriguez's demeanor.

"I think it's completely fair to (ask) where you think the program is at in the second year," Rodriguez said. "Don't think I haven't evaluated it. I think we've made some steps forward, but I also think we have not made some steps forward in other areas of the program.

"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."

He then smiled, leaned back in his chair, and after a quick retort with a reporter, "I'm just busting your chops."

Maybe it was "classic West Virginia," - the phrase I heard thrown around a bunch the last two weeks after losses to Oklahoma State and Iowa State. Those losses certainly gave the naysayers the biggest megaphone at the moment.

Doom and gloom aren't just creeping through the door; they’re setting up for the party. Not all of the tables have been unfolded. Maybe the decorations haven't all been put up, but it already feels like Halloween in these parts before most people have even bought their candy.

Which leads me to the one thing I have learned about WVU athletics: Just when it feels right to stick a fork into a season, that's generally when the unexpected happens.

Doom and gloom reared its ugly head a couple of times around Bob Huggins and his WVU men's basketball program ... and then he would go out and beat Kansas or Baylor. And all the doubters could only ask, "How did that just happen?"

Watching Rodriguez on Tuesday, it sort of felt that way, like he has something up his sleeve. What exactly that trick is, well, he did say he's now getting more involved in the defensive room.

"If it's been defensively the last three weeks that we're not making progress like we should, it's not like I'm going to sit back in the corner and go, 'Oh geez, I hope we fix it. What do I do?' " Rodriguez said. "We have a plan and a methodology of what we're going to do to try and fix that part of it."

Ideas are being bounced from one coach to the other. No stone is being left unturned, so to speak. Rodriguez could have become a YouTube sensation. Instead, he was just a calm and collected football coach.

If he's able to turn this around, though, rest assured he'll likely have some fun busting a few more chops along the way.