Rich Rodriguez Leaves Scrimmage ‘Unhappy’ with One Aspect of WVU’s Roster
Over the weekend, the West Virginia football team held an intrasquad scrimmage, which helped the coaching staff learn more about what they have and what they don’t.
Head coach Rich Rodriguez wasn’t particularly thrilled with what he saw and came away from the scrimmage pretty concerned about one aspect of the roster.
“We ran maybe 90-something plays and I think we got some good stuff on tape to evaluate. A lot of things to work on of course. I think the effort is pretty good – we’re getting there.
“I’m unhappy with the depth, I guess, but I think every coach is probably unhappy with their depth at this point in the spring, but I like a lot of the guy’s effort, and some of the guys have continued to get better, but we do got to increase our competition at most of our positions. I hope it comes from a lot of guys within, but inevitably, it’s probably going to come from a few spots from guys that aren’t here yet.”
A couple of days prior to the scrimmage, Rodriguez joked with the media when asked about what positions they are hoping to address in the transfer portal later this month by rattling off essentially every position aside from quarterback.
The one spot that will probably keep Rodriguez up at night is the offensive line. They have capable bodies there, but again, it’s the depth he’s concerned about.
“The o-line, all the starters are gone, and I think three of the backups are gone, so none of those guys have played. So, that’s a whole new thing. (offensive line) coach (Jack) Bicknell and (assistant offensive line) coach (Derek) Dressler and them probably have the hardest job just getting those guys [ready]. I still think we need – I don’t know if we’re deep enough and have the competition we have yet, but I think they’re trying hard and made progress. But anytime you have, at that position, a lot of inexperience, it makes you a little bit nervous.”
The Mountaineers will have practice today and Thursday before wrapping up spring ball with the spring game on Saturday. After that, the staff will have conversations with each player on the roster to discuss where they stand entering the next transfer portal window which begins on April 16th and ends on the 25th.
