MORGANTOWN โ West Virginiaโs Rich Rodriguez hasnโt spoken in front of the media in three months, and the rapid space of college athletics has seen massive changes in the time away from the podium.
At the start of June, revenue sharing was announced, and more guardrails were applied, with a new College Sports Commissioner picked, in charge of regulating NIL.
With over a decade of experience, Rodriguez witnessed the change of college athletics over the years and was vocal about how there needed to be a change. Now, there have been changes made, and Rodriguez gave his opinion at Big 12 Media Days.
โA lot better guardrails than a month ago,โ Rodriguez said. โI mean, it was a cluster for the last three or four years. All coaches are complaining about it, but it was just a mess, and nobody knew how to really solve it right away. And I still think we got it a lot better now with the cap and the rev share. But thereโs still a lot of work to do.โ
The new ruling isnโt perfect, like Rodriguez said. Paying players directly is a step forward. The College Sports Commission could be too, but thereโs no telling how much jurisdiction itโll have over passing and denying NIL deals without lawsuits. Rodriguez still doesnโt have his one transfer portal window, either, arguably his biggest issue.
Thereโs still work to do. Rodriguez wants athletic directors and Congress to lead the charge on shaping the future of collegiate athletics.
โHopefully, smarter minds than myself will get that together,โ Rodriguez said. โI said this earlier today, I think they need to get the college athletic directors more input and more say in how college athletics is going to be run because these are the guys and the ladies that know whatโs best for the schools and whatโs best for the country in college athletics.โ
West Virginiaโs representative is athletic director Wren Baker. Baker and WVU athletics moved quickly on the new ruling, creating a revenue-sharing company, Gold & Blue Enterprise, to generate money. Big 12 commissioner Brett Yomark said WVU was the first school to integrate Venmo and PayPal to distribute revenue-sharing money. Baker is fully committed and determined that WVU athletics has everything necessary to compete at the highest level.
Rodriguez appreciates the work Bakerโs done, and is glad heโs WVUโs athletic director.
โIโve worked for a lot of really good ADs,โ Rodriguez said. โOne or two, I wasnโt sure about, but most of the ones Iโve worked with have been great. Wren has as good a grasp as anyone. Iโm very fortunate. Weโre in good shape with Wren Baker.โ
The new court ruling isnโt the only news thatโs emerged since Rodriguezโs last press conference after the Gold-Blue Game. Thereโve been talks about moving to a 5-plus-11 and 16-team College Football Playoff model in the future, meaning the Power Four conference champions get a bid, the highest rated conference champion, and then 11 at-large bids. Some SEC coaches wanted a 4-4-2-2 system, where the SEC and Big Ten would get four bids each, and the Big 12 and ACC would get two each. The consensus, though, is the 5-plus-11.
Rodriguez cares a lot less about the College Football Playoff than NIL, revenue sharing, and the transfer portal.
โI donโt give a sh*t,โ Rodriguez said. โI mean, my give a sh*t meter is a lot less than a lot of stuff. If you win the league, youโre going to be in. Just win the league, like 5-11, all that stuff, whatever. Iโm worried about just winning. Letโs win the league. I ainโt worried about, well, this teamโs going to vote here, whatโs this team going to vote there? If youโre good enough, people will know youโre in the top 12, whatever, itโs good. We win all of our games. I guarantee weโre in the playoffs.โ
Rodriguez still has his issues with college athletics, but heโs not alone. There are a lot of coaches in just the Big 12 that have problems. Rodriguez made it clear where he stands and what he wants: more guardrails and one transfer portal. Those changes are looking like theyโre coming in the future.
Despite his issues, Rodriguez still loves his main job, coaching WVU to win football games.
โI think weโre in a better place now than we were a month ago,โ Rodriguez. โThereโs still some work to be done. We could complain as coaches, but hell, itโs still a pretty good gig. You know what I mean? These are good jobs. There are a lot tougher jobs than being a college football coach. So like I said, Iโm fortunate and blessed to have what I have.โ