Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
Rodriguez Says Coastal Carolina Planning Underway
August 26, 2026 12:37 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – It's now a week and a half away from the season opener against Coastal Carolina, and veteran coach Rich Rodriguez admits he's still dealing with lots of unknowns with his West Virginia football team.
"Because of a lack of a preseason game or not going against anybody other than yourself, I don't know if you ever truly know," he admitted following Tuesday's practice. "But I've done it long enough to get a feel for it."
What Rodriguez has been wanting is a couple of hot, humid days to really test the physical and mental conditioning of his players.
The first three weeks of preseason training camp in Morgantown have been held under very mild weather conditions, atypical for this time of year.
"We need a hot day in case it's a hot day on Saturday and the guys need to stay hydrated and play a lot of players," he explained. "Hopefully, we'll get that next week. We've gotten to the point where we've identified most of the guys that are ready to play. There are still a few more that we've got to get ready in the next week and a half."
The schedule this week includes Friday afternoon's "Beanie Bowl," which is basically an operational rundown of everything the team does during a game day, from pregame warmups to the positioning of coaches on the field and in the press box to substitutions and game situations.
The coach said the entire exercise takes about an hour to accomplish.
"We do this just to get used to the sidelines, how we're going to substitute in the game, situations and all that," he said. "It's all scripted so it's not anything we're not aware of. If we're not ready in a particular phase or we're not paying attention, that will stand out."
The coach indicated preliminary Coastal Carolina preparation began this week and will be repeated starting next Tuesday when game-week preparation ramps up.
The Chanticleers are now coached by Ryan Beard, a former Western Kentucky player who spent last season at Missouri State where he led the Bears to a 7-5 record.
Beard's offensive coordinator is Nick Petrino, son of Bobby Petrino, and his defensive coordinator is L.D. Scott, both of whom had similar roles under Beard at Missouri State.
Like West Virginia, Coastal Carolina is dealing with lots of new players.
"When you have returning starters, you know exactly what you have with that and you hope they are a little bit better every year," Rodriguez said. "If you are developing them the right way you're going to be better, so there are less unknowns with that, but with a huge amount of new starters there is always a little bit more anxiety with exactly how they are going to play.
"That's why we try and put them in pressure and intense situations during practice to try and get them ready for the intensity of the game. We're doing it now to find out who is ready," he explained.
With so many new players in all three phases, Rodriguez wants to make sure the coaches don't do more than the players are capable of handling mentally.
"Offensively, in general, it takes a little bit longer to get into a rhythm, because you are not going against comparable players on the scout team," he mentioned. "What I don't want to have happen is our guys play slower or be ineffective because they're thinking too much. Whatever volume they can handle mentally, that's what we'll have. By Monday, before we get to the Tuesday practice next week, I want to know exactly what the plan is that we won't screw up and be ready to roll with it."
The coach has yet to name a starting quarterback, but whomever is behind center at the beginning of the game on Saturday, Sept. 5, he will still be relatively inexperienced in Rodriguez's system.
Sophomore Scotty Fox Jr. appeared in nine games last year as a true freshman, while Oklahoma transfer Michael Hawkins has power conference starting experience playing for the Sooners. Because both possess explosive playmaking capabilities, Rodriguez said he prefers to start with a smaller menu of plays and then build on it as the season progresses.
He explains.
"You don't need a wide menu of things if you have a really dynamic quarterback, whether it's in the run game, pass game, or hopefully both," he said. "I think we have some guys who have that ability, so you don't have to do a whole lot because you can get some explosive plays. What I've stressed to the quarterbacks the last couple of days is to avoid the bad plays. That can really offset the good plays before that."
Looking back on prior preseason camps through the years, the coach believes this year's team is right on schedule with the others, including those returning lots of experienced players. He believes the less time coaches have to get ready for opening games, sometimes it's for the better because of the tendency of coaches of wanting to do too much.
"You have an open date, and the temptation is to come up with a new game plan when in reality, what you need to do is fix your problems, not to add more," he said.
"I'm kind of treating this week like an open date," he concluded.
Briefly:
* Rodriguez said last Saturday's scrimmage inside the stadium was purposely shortened and was more geared toward the younger players to see if there were any additional guys capable of getting into the mix.
He has said repeatedly throughout training camp that he wants to play the most players in the country this year – if there are enough of them ready to play.
* The topic of professional players returning to college came up during Rodriguez's Tuesday evening news conference and the coach made it pretty clear where he stands on the controversial subject.
"I can see it from the school's standpoint, 'Man, I can address a need right now' – especially if it's a guy that played four years last year, but I think it's all crazy if you think a guy can sign a professional contract, gets cut or doesn't get what he wants to get, and he goes back and plays college football," he observed. "What are we doing here? It kind of boggles the mind.
"I think you have to take control of this conference by conference," he continued. "It sounds like the Big Ten made a statement that we're not going do that. I thought the SEC had something in place that you couldn't do that interconference-wise, but they've got a TRO (temporary restraining order) to override that. I don't know what the legality of it is? But I say all of the conferences say you can't do it.
"Doesn't the conference dictate if a guy has targeting, he has to sit out? Or if a guy violates some kind of rule the conference can make you sit out a game? I don't know if that will stand up in court, but it's crazy that you would be adding guys right now who are practicing and getting paid by the NFL."
Presently, rules that have been established since the turn of the last century in college sports are being taken down, one-by-one, in the court system. Just shop around until you can find a judge willing to issue an injunction.
Unfortunately, it seems the wild, wild West has made its return to college sports.
"Because of a lack of a preseason game or not going against anybody other than yourself, I don't know if you ever truly know," he admitted following Tuesday's practice. "But I've done it long enough to get a feel for it."
What Rodriguez has been wanting is a couple of hot, humid days to really test the physical and mental conditioning of his players.
The first three weeks of preseason training camp in Morgantown have been held under very mild weather conditions, atypical for this time of year.
"We need a hot day in case it's a hot day on Saturday and the guys need to stay hydrated and play a lot of players," he explained. "Hopefully, we'll get that next week. We've gotten to the point where we've identified most of the guys that are ready to play. There are still a few more that we've got to get ready in the next week and a half."
The schedule this week includes Friday afternoon's "Beanie Bowl," which is basically an operational rundown of everything the team does during a game day, from pregame warmups to the positioning of coaches on the field and in the press box to substitutions and game situations.
The coach said the entire exercise takes about an hour to accomplish.
"We do this just to get used to the sidelines, how we're going to substitute in the game, situations and all that," he said. "It's all scripted so it's not anything we're not aware of. If we're not ready in a particular phase or we're not paying attention, that will stand out."
The coach indicated preliminary Coastal Carolina preparation began this week and will be repeated starting next Tuesday when game-week preparation ramps up.
The Chanticleers are now coached by Ryan Beard, a former Western Kentucky player who spent last season at Missouri State where he led the Bears to a 7-5 record.
Beard's offensive coordinator is Nick Petrino, son of Bobby Petrino, and his defensive coordinator is L.D. Scott, both of whom had similar roles under Beard at Missouri State.
Like West Virginia, Coastal Carolina is dealing with lots of new players.
"When you have returning starters, you know exactly what you have with that and you hope they are a little bit better every year," Rodriguez said. "If you are developing them the right way you're going to be better, so there are less unknowns with that, but with a huge amount of new starters there is always a little bit more anxiety with exactly how they are going to play.
"That's why we try and put them in pressure and intense situations during practice to try and get them ready for the intensity of the game. We're doing it now to find out who is ready," he explained.
With so many new players in all three phases, Rodriguez wants to make sure the coaches don't do more than the players are capable of handling mentally.
"Offensively, in general, it takes a little bit longer to get into a rhythm, because you are not going against comparable players on the scout team," he mentioned. "What I don't want to have happen is our guys play slower or be ineffective because they're thinking too much. Whatever volume they can handle mentally, that's what we'll have. By Monday, before we get to the Tuesday practice next week, I want to know exactly what the plan is that we won't screw up and be ready to roll with it."
The coach has yet to name a starting quarterback, but whomever is behind center at the beginning of the game on Saturday, Sept. 5, he will still be relatively inexperienced in Rodriguez's system.
Sophomore Scotty Fox Jr. appeared in nine games last year as a true freshman, while Oklahoma transfer Michael Hawkins has power conference starting experience playing for the Sooners. Because both possess explosive playmaking capabilities, Rodriguez said he prefers to start with a smaller menu of plays and then build on it as the season progresses.
He explains.
"You don't need a wide menu of things if you have a really dynamic quarterback, whether it's in the run game, pass game, or hopefully both," he said. "I think we have some guys who have that ability, so you don't have to do a whole lot because you can get some explosive plays. What I've stressed to the quarterbacks the last couple of days is to avoid the bad plays. That can really offset the good plays before that."
Looking back on prior preseason camps through the years, the coach believes this year's team is right on schedule with the others, including those returning lots of experienced players. He believes the less time coaches have to get ready for opening games, sometimes it's for the better because of the tendency of coaches of wanting to do too much.
"You have an open date, and the temptation is to come up with a new game plan when in reality, what you need to do is fix your problems, not to add more," he said.
"I'm kind of treating this week like an open date," he concluded.
Briefly:
* Rodriguez said last Saturday's scrimmage inside the stadium was purposely shortened and was more geared toward the younger players to see if there were any additional guys capable of getting into the mix.
He has said repeatedly throughout training camp that he wants to play the most players in the country this year – if there are enough of them ready to play.
* The topic of professional players returning to college came up during Rodriguez's Tuesday evening news conference and the coach made it pretty clear where he stands on the controversial subject.
"I can see it from the school's standpoint, 'Man, I can address a need right now' – especially if it's a guy that played four years last year, but I think it's all crazy if you think a guy can sign a professional contract, gets cut or doesn't get what he wants to get, and he goes back and plays college football," he observed. "What are we doing here? It kind of boggles the mind.
"I think you have to take control of this conference by conference," he continued. "It sounds like the Big Ten made a statement that we're not going do that. I thought the SEC had something in place that you couldn't do that interconference-wise, but they've got a TRO (temporary restraining order) to override that. I don't know what the legality of it is? But I say all of the conferences say you can't do it.
"Doesn't the conference dictate if a guy has targeting, he has to sit out? Or if a guy violates some kind of rule the conference can make you sit out a game? I don't know if that will stand up in court, but it's crazy that you would be adding guys right now who are practicing and getting paid by the NFL."
Presently, rules that have been established since the turn of the last century in college sports are being taken down, one-by-one, in the court system. Just shop around until you can find a judge willing to issue an injunction.
Unfortunately, it seems the wild, wild West has made its return to college sports.
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