The Truth About Rich Rodriguez

This article is in response to everyone who said that Rich Rodriguez's breakout year was his second at WVU. 

It was called the hire of the year—Michigan wooing Big East coach of the year Rich Rodriguez away from his Alma Mater, where he had known success as a defensive back and unprecedented success as a coach.

But did Michigan hire the brilliant innovator of the spread offense? Or did they get a good coach who benefited greatly from a ragtag group of players that no one else seemed to want, a lucky injury, a four-star recruiting bust, and Maryland cutting scholarships?

The Not So New Guy

In 2000, Don Nehlen, the longtime coach of the Mountaineers, announced that he was going to retire, and the coaching search began. This was an odd feeling for Mountaineer fans, as the Football and Basketball programs had been under the same leadership for over 20 years.

After a not so extensive search, the offer was made to WVU alum Rich Rodriguez, and a new era of Mountaineer football began.

Feeling uneasy about a coaching search, it was announced that Rich Rodriguez was hired to succeed his former coach at West Virginia University. At the time many were unhappy with the hire, as the Mountaineer loyalists were hoping for a big name hire.

The Big Name hire factor was quickly put to rest when the Mountaineer fans learned of the coach’s history and roots.  He is from Grant Town, West Virginia, he played and won a State Championship with nearby North Marion High School, and he came from a family of coal miners.  In short, he was one of us: He was a “True Mountaineer.”

Mountaineer fans felt that it could be their brother, uncle, friend, or even themselves stepping onto the field in what some consider the best job in the state.

Rough Start

Rodriguez was known in college football as the designer of a new offensive style that utilized a normally undersized but fast quarterback. During his tenure as an assistant coach, he was the offensive coordinator at Tulane University. Together with head coach Tommy Bowden, they led Tulane to a 12-0 record in 1998.

The following year Bowden was offered and accepted the head coaching position at Clemson and retained Rodriguez on his staff.

Rodriguez had a less than stellar season in his debut as a Division I head coach, going 3-8 overall and 1-6 in the Big East conference. The Mountaineer fans and boosters began to doubt that the new coach was the offensive genius he was made out to be, and everyone in the Mountain State began to squirm in their seats in the uncomfortable and uncertain future that may have been the Rodriguez era.

The 2002 season seemed to take an upswing for the second year coach, going 9-4. On Oct. 22, 2003, Rodriguez would get his first marquee win as Mountaineers coach by defeating the third-ranked VT Hokies 28-7.

Again, though the season was a success with a finish of 8-5, at this point Rodriguez had compiled a total record of 20-17 in his three years as the Mountaineers' coach, going 0-2 in bowls.

With NFL talent such as Chris Henry and Pac-Man Jones the sights were set high for Coach Rodriguez, as 2004 was to be supposed to be his breakout year. The innovator of the spread offense now had a speedy experienced QB in senior Rasheed Marshall and powerful running back Kay-Jay Harris to run the spread offense that he was known for in his career as an offensive coordinator and QB coach.

Again the 2004 campaign ended on a sour note with a three-game losing streak and a bowl loss to former Mountaineer coach Bobby Bowden's Florida State Seminoles. After being ranked as high as 10th, the future certainly looked bleak for WVU and its young first time head coach.

Breaking Out

Fast forward to 2005. This is the year that is unarguably heralded as the breakout year for Rodriguez and the Mountaineers as a national power in college football. Unranked at the beginning of the year, the Mountaineers would finish 11-1 with the surprising Sugar Bowl upset of SEC powerhouse Georgia.

The legend of the offensive genius was solidified this year, and Rich Rodriguez quickly became one of the top coaches in the game—or was he?

The 2005 season was filled with historic wins, career-ending injuries, a walk-on fullback that was to become a legend, and two freshmen that would eventually become the leaders of this team.

The season started off with Adam Bednarik as the starting QB. The much-heralded sophomore had beaten out freshman Pat White for the starting job and was poised to start the rest of his career at WV. Bednarik had the build, style, and look of a potential NFL starter.

Rodriguez would rotate White in to run a spread-style play, and with White's success, WVU would for a very short time be known as a two-headed monster with Bednarik and White both seeing time at QB.

It wasn't until six games into the season that Pat White and Steve Slaton would rise up from the depth charts to become the marquee players of the fast as lightning offense known as the spread.

The Injury

In the third game of the season against Maryland, Adam Bednarik injured his shoulder and was taken out of the game in the third quarter. Down 19-7, freshman quarterback Pat White led the Mountaineers to 24 unanswered points to win 31-19. Despite White's success, Bednarik was still named the starter, and it was his team for three more games.

As a part of the two-headed monster with Bednarik, Patrick White was brought in to mix up things and to throw opposing defenses off balance by switching the offense from a throwing-centered offense to an option-style offense that put White in the position of decision maker on the field.

Many of White's highlight plays are a result of busted plays and White's speed, along with his ability to improvise.

Although White was a very beneficial part of the offense, Bednarik was the starter and would remain so until injuries and a game in Louisville that some say is the second-greatest game in Mountaineer history, falling closely behind the Penn State victory in 1984—when, ironically, Rodriguez had a key interception.

After his fourth consecutive run in the fourth quarter, starting QB Adam Bednarik, known as a bruising tough player, lay face down on the sideline with torn ligaments in his foot. This would be the last game that Bednarik would play a pivotal role in. In came Pat White, and he has started every game but two since.

Who are these guys?

Pat White, a high school phenom from Daphne, Alabama, seemed destined not to be a Mountaineer. He had initially committed to Nick Saban's LSU Tigers. Rich Rodriguez also had to compete with an unlikely recruiting opponent for Pat White, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Angels had selected White in the MLB draft in 2004 and again after his sophomore year at West Virginia.

Rodriguez had lured White away from LSU by offering the Daphne native the opportunity to compete at QB when all other schools looking at White were offering him typical speed positions of wide receiver or defensive back. White jumped at the opportunity to play QB at the Division I level.

On Oct. 1, 2005, West Virginia played Virginia Tech in the final battle for the Black Diamond Trophy. A heated rivalry over the years, VT was the second most-hated team the Mountaineers would play behind perennial Backyard Brawl opponent Pitt.

Jason Colson would fumble once and had only 33 yards on seven carries, and Jason Gwaltney would have five rushes for 12 yards. Even though this game was the only loss the Mountaineers would have in 2005, it is often looked at as a pivotal turning point of the Rodriguez era.

4 Stars = 186 Yards

Jason Gwaltney had been a highly recruited star running back that anyone in the nation would have been happy to have on their roster, at one time committing and de-committing to USC. Gwaltney was the back and the coup that Rodriguez had needed.

West Virginia had beaten out every other school to win a recruit that some called "Maurice Clarett with a brain." Gwaltney's entire career at West Virginia lasted less than one season and amounted to 45 carries for a total of 186 yards.

Sharing time at running back was Jason Colson, a junior who had a knack for fumbles, most notably dropping the ball three times in a 15-7 West Virginia win against Syracuse in the 2005 season opener. Colson would leave WVU after this year only to go undrafted in the NFL.

Colson's fumbles would open the door for a little-known running back that would become a major part of the West Virginia offense for the next three years.

With his four-star recruit Gwaltney and his experienced yet turnover prone junior running back Colson rendered virtually unproductive, Rodriguez looked deep into his depth chart to a back that was intended to always back up Gwaltney.

Enter Steve Slaton, eventual Heisman contender and half of the tandem that would soon lead the Mountaineers to a Sugar Bowl victory. Slaton would run for 90 yards on only 11 carries.

Thanks Maryland

Steve Slaton, like his roommate and best friend Pat White, wasn't originally meant to be a Mountaineer. Slaton was originally offered a scholarship by and eventually committed to Maryland. Slaton committed to Maryland while a senior in a Levittown, PA high school. Maryland would pull the scholarship offer from the blazing running back.

Looking for a backup for Gwaltney, Mountaineer coach Rich Rodriguez would offer a spot on his roster to Slaton. Slaton would start his career as the fourth string running back. Steve Slaton would pay back the Terrapins in 2006 by running for 195 yards and two touchdowns.

Oct. 15, 2005 was the game that turned Rich Rodriguez from a pretty good coach with a new offensive strategy into a football genius and the hottest coach in the country.

As I mentioned earlier, Pat White came into this game as a backup to Bednarik, who had been injured. Slaton had been the starting running back since the Rutgers game on Oct. 8, 2005.

After trailing 17-0 at halftime, Slaton and the Mountaineers rallied from a 24-7 fourth quarter deficit to win the game 46-44 in three overtimes. Slaton would have six touchdowns in the game, a Mountaineer and Big East Record.

Runaway Beer Truck

Owen Schmitt was a walk-on from a junior college in Wisconsin. Schmitt drove from college to college with a videotape of his highlights and was invited to walk on at West Virginia. Schmidt was best described in the Mountaineers 2008 Fiesta Bowl Victory over Oklahoma as a "Runaway Beer Truck."

Schmitt has become more legend and myth than a man. The breaking of 11 facemasks is true—the story that he lifted a car over his head isn't. He may be most remembered for the post-game interview when a tearful Schmitt stated that he "loved West Virginia and that it was the greatest state in the nation."

In the last three years West Virginia has gone 33-4, won three bowl games, two of which were BCS bowls, and has finished in the top 10 every year. But was it the coaching genius of Rich Rodriguez, or was it a series of lucky events that the coach fell into?

What if Maryland had kept Slaton? What if White had gone to LSU or played baseball? What if Bednarik wouldn't have gotten hurt, and in turn, White become a starter? What if one of Rodriguez's assistants hadn't seen Schmitt's tape? What if Gwaltney had been just good enough to keep his job? What if Colson hadn't fumbled so much that the coach had no choice but to go to Slaton?

Was it the innovative spread designer, or was it a collection of players that were so good anyone could have coached them? These are all legit questions that will never be answered.

The facts are simple. Rodriguez only started White because Bednarik was injured, Slaton only started because Gwaltney was such a bust, and Slaton was only at WV because Maryland cut his scholarship. None of these players were initially a recruiting success for Rodriguez.

Before his talented group of freshmen and walk-ons, Rodriguez had minimal success at best, going 28-21 overall, 4-10 against ranked opponents, and 0-3 in bowl games. But with this group he went 32-4 with two bowl wins.  The team that he left won one more game, thumping Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl 48-28.