West Virginia ended the Neal Brown era last month, and the Mountaineers are turning back to a familiar face.
West Virginia hired former Mountaineers and current Jacksonville State head coach Rod Rodriguez to fill its open position, the university announced on Thursday morning. He previously served as head coach in Morgantown, W.Va. from 2001-2008.
In an ironic twist, Rodriguez will coach his first game against Pitt since the infamous 13-9 loss in 2007 on Sept. 13.
Rodriguez went 60-26 in his first tenure as the WVU head coach, going 4-3 against Pitt in the Backyard Brawl. But of course, the most notable Brawl is the one that took place in 2007 when the Mountaineers were ranked No. 2 in the country and on course to make the National Championship game.
Rodriguez notably left WVU for Michigan before the Fiesta Bowl and spent three seasons in Ann Arbor, Mich. before being dismissed after the 2010 season. He spent six seasons at Arizona from 2012-17, going 43-35, and three seasons at Jacksonville State from 2022-24, going 27-10. He’s coming off a Conference-USA title and C-USA Coach of the Year honor.
Pitt and West Virginia have met three times as many seasons, with the Panthers taking two of three, including a 38-34 come-from-behind win at Acrisure Stadium this season. Eli Holstein brought the Panthers back from a 10-point fourth quarter deficit, leading a game-winning drive with 32 seconds left in the game.
The Backyard Brawl next season will be the final in the series before a three-year hiatus. The series is slated to resume after that in the 2029 season, with another four-game series on the books.
