West Virginia’s offense is walking into this season with a very different feel, and Phil Steele says Rich Rodriguez sounded like a different coach when they talked this year.
On Steele’s hour-long call for his annual college football preview magazine, the contrast with last year jumped out immediately.
“Massive difference in the conversation with Coach Rodriguez going over the squad with him this year as opposed to last year," Steele said in our recent episode of the In the Gun Podcast. "Last year, when we were going over the roster, a lot of times he’d be like, ‘You know what, Phil?
I haven’t seen them yet.’ They had what?
30 players coming in post-spring last year? That’s one of the reasons I picked West Virginia near the bottom of the Big 12.
I figure with that much transition, how do you build a team when you’re bringing in that many players after spring practice is over, for crying out loud?
“This year, and it was a common refrain from all the coaches. All the coaches across the country felt they had more of a team this year and that they could coach their players in the spring.
But in West Virginia’s case, massively different in the conversation. This year, he went more with the experience level, which I’ve learned going through all the teams with all the coaches this year, that experience is massive.
“I think that was West Virginia’s focus this year," he continued. "You look at the offensive line, a ton more snaps, a ton more starts on the offensive line than there was last year.
It was just a massively different phone call with Rich Rod. Last year, I’d say half the players on the team he wasn’t sure of.
This year, we could talk about almost everybody on the team.”
That confidence lines up with what’s been visible from Rodriguez all spring and summer. The roster is still young overall, but it’s also a lot more seasoned than the group he had to piece together in his first year back.
The biggest reason for that shift sits up front. Four of the projected five starters on the offensive line are new to the program, but the group brings a combined 5,074 snaps into the season if the unit ends up being Carsten Casady, Nick Krahe, Wes King, Amare Grayson and Kevin Brown.
And the pieces around that line give the offense a real chance to move. Mike Hawkins Jr. gives WVU a talented dual-threat quarterback.
Cam Cook arrives as the nation’s leading rusher in 2025. Behind him, Amari Latimer and Martavious Boswell add more intrigue to a backfield that already looks built for production.
It’s not a finished product yet, but compared with where West Virginia was a year ago, this is a much more stable setup for Rodriguez and an offense that could do plenty of damage.
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Assistant coach Miles Sadler has been especially impressed by Seinis athleticism and stamina, and that matters for a team still sorting out how its big-man rotation will look once the games start counting. Georgia Tech transfer Mouhamed Sylla is expected to open as the starting center, but Seini and fellow true freshman Aliou Dioum are both in the mix for the remaining frontcourt minutes, giving West Virginia a young, physical group with a lot still to prove. [Read more 🡒]
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For the Mountaineers, the timing matters because these teams meet Sept. 19 in Charlotte in their first regular-season game against each other since 1985. Pribula also brings a little extra familiarity to the rivalry side of things, having been part of Penn State teams that beat West Virginia in 2023 and 2024, while Eli Holstein now shifts into the background after coming up short in the competition. [Read more 🡒]
Rich Rodriguez Reacts To NCAA Change That Could Impact WVU Rebuild
Rich Rodriguez is spending his second season back in Morgantown trying to turn West Virginias roster over quickly, and the rebuild is already being shaped by the transfer portal. The Mountaineers are looking to move past last seasons 4-8 finish with a mix of returning pieces and newcomers such as running back Cam Cook and quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr., while the staff also keeps working to strengthen the future of the program on the recruiting trail.
Rodriguez also weighed in on the NCAAs new age-based eligibility model, which gives student-athletes five years to play five seasons and wipes away the old redshirt and medical-waiver framework. His view is that the change does not really alter how he recruits, but it does make the process cleaner and easier to understand, another small but relevant shift for a program trying to build momentum on multiple fronts at once. [Read more 🡒]