A year can make a football roster look like a completely different animal, and Rich Rodriguez thinks West Virginia is living that reality.
The Mountaineers are still dealing with plenty of turnover, but Rodriguez says this group enters the season with something last year’s team lacked: more players who have already been through the fire. That experience, he believes, has shown up in practice and given WVU a sturdier base heading into the opener.
"I think so, just from an experience standpoint," Rodriguez said when asked by Tony Caridi if he can tell if they are better now than they were a year ago. "Believe it or not, with only having a couple starters back, we’re still more experienced as college football players than we were a year ago.
Guys that have started games - maybe it’s a Group of Five level or somewhere else. And so that was kind of purposeful in recruiting - find some guys that have played in college and have some experience, and I could see that in practice because fundamentally they’re a little bit ahead, but also grasping concepts.
The freshmen coming out of high school have a harder time grasping concepts because it’s different. They’re in high school.
The college guys have an easier time of that, and our guys have done a good job of that. But because we don’t have any preseason games, you’re still a little bit nervous going into the first game.
We as a staff can’t overload our guys too much. We got to have them free of mind so they can play to their best ability.”
That edge in experience starts at quarterback. WVU has three players there who have started at the Power Four level in Mike Hawkins Jr., Scotty Fox Jr., and Max Brown.
Hawkins and Fox, in particular, have already shown they can handle this system, and unlike a year ago, Rodriguez doesn’t sound like a coach still sorting through the fog at camp. This time, he knows Hawkins is his starter and Fox is the clear No.
The backfield looks stronger too, and not just because of one name. Cam Cook gives the Mountaineers a back with real pedigree, plus the benefit of having run behind a Rick Trickett offensive line in a zone-heavy scheme. Behind him sits a young group with Amari Latimer, Chris Talley, and Lawrence Autry, giving WVU a healthier running back room than it had a season ago.
Receiver depth is another area that stands out. Rodriguez has somewhere between six and eight players who could touch the passing game, and the top five is as deep as it is interesting: Prince Strachan, Jaden Bray, DJ Epps, John Neider, and TaRon Francis. Any one of them, as the reporting notes, could have been the No. 2 option on last year’s offense behind Cam Vaughn.
The offensive line may be where the difference is most obvious. The projected starting group comes in with 5,079 career snaps, a huge jump from the 1,948 career snaps the 2025 unit had when it entered the year. Bringing in Rick Trickett only adds to the sense that this part of the roster has been upgraded with purpose.
There are still more unknowns on defense, but even there, WVU is carrying more game reps than it did a year ago. Ben Cutter, Nate Gabriel, Corey McIntyre Jr., Nick Taylor, and Geimere Latimer all bring experience in the system, while Zeke Durham-Campbell, Harper Holloman, Tyler Stolsky, Chams Diagne, Andrew Powdrell, and Kamari Wilson have logged plenty of football elsewhere. That’s a different level of depth for Zac Alley to work with than he had last season.
Rodriguez isn’t pretending experience solves everything. But he clearly sees a roster with more players who know what college football looks and feels like. This is still a young team, yet it has more proven bodies, more starts, and more players who have been asked to do real things in real games.
And the physical profile looks different too. The 2026 group, as described in the reporting, has more higher-end athletes on both sides of the ball - more length, more speed, more athleticism. Rodriguez expects fans to notice that quickly once the season begins.
In Other News...
Virginia Just Turned A West Virginia Rivalry Nerve Into Something Bigger
Virginias season opener against North Carolina State brought more than a win, because the postgame scene quickly drifted into familiar territory for anyone around the Mountaineers. Fans sang along to John Denvers Country Roads, the song forever tied to West Virginia in college sports culture, and with it came a reminder that this rivalry has long carried a strange mix of music, memory and misplaced claims.
The backdrop matters because the song has been at the center of previous flashpoints involving the University of Virginia, including past pep band references that crossed the line into derogatory shots at West Virginia and eventually prompted complaints and apologies. So even in a game that had nothing to do with the Mountaineers on the field, Virginia managed to reopen a nerve that still feels bigger than a one-night crowd singalong. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Frontcourt Uncertainty Is Putting Real Pressure On The 2026 Rotation
West Virginias frontcourt picture for 2026 is already looking shaky because Javan Buchanan and Brenen Lorient are still tied up in NCAA eligibility cases, with a ruling expected in September. Until that clears up, the Mountaineers are left planning for a rotation that may or may not include two players who could loom large in the middle of the roster, which makes the coming months feel especially important for a team trying to map out its next step.
For now, the uncertainty is forcing WVU to think through alternative paths, from potential starters to the depth behind them if those forwards are unavailable. It also leaves the staff with the option of dipping into the junior college market if the numbers in the frontcourt do not come together the way they need to, and that is the sort of roster pressure that can shape a season long before the first game is played. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Just Got An Early Read On A Few Future Threats
West Virginia got a useful midseason snapshot of whats coming next on the schedule, and some of the early signs are pretty clear. The recent games involving future opponents offered a little of everything, from sharp defensive outings to teams that were forced into grinding, uneven afternoons. For a Mountaineers staff trying to game-plan ahead, these results matter because they show not just who won, but how each team is trying to win right now.
Virginias latest outing stood out for how efficiently it handled business, while TCUs trip overseas offered a very different kind of reminder about how thin the margin can be against quality competition. Between those two games and the rest of the slate, West Virginia is getting a better feel for which upcoming opponents are thriving, which ones are still sorting things out, and where the most dangerous matchups may be hiding. [Read more 🡒]