Jonathan K. Martin | WV Sports Chat
Morgantown, W.Va. – West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez met with members of the media following the sixth day of fall camp. It was the first day the team went “live” and participated in pads.
WV Sports Chat provides “Quick Quotes” to provide you with the highlights on what was said. If you’d like to watch the entire press conference, visit Gold And Blue Nation – HERE.
Opening Statement
“First day in pads. Really was not much different than the last couple of days other than it was probably about 20 minutes or so of live. Didn’t have the quarterbacks go live yet, will probably have them go live on Thursday. But there was some live tackling which should bring a certain level of intensity and also a certain level of true football. Probably would’ve gone a little longer but I got mad at something and just made them run. Made them run for 10-15 minutes and then ended practice.”
Once pads are on how long until he knows how physical the team is
“I’m hoping it doesn’t take a whole lot but there is way too many moments of softness. I think sometimes, it’s not everybody all of the time, and it’s not the same guy all of the time, but it can’t ever be allowed.”
On what the team is doing to be described as soft
“Just going hard and being physical. You know we don’t tackle, we’re not tackling low, cut blocking low. I don’t want cheap shots, everyone knows that. But there should be some collision or sounds of collisions.”
On what he does as a head coach to get a little more toughness out of his players
“You mean other than yell? I don’t like you always have to yell. I do because that’s kind of the way I coach. But other coaches have to coach to their personality. There’s not just one way to coach.”
The difference between when he was coach here previously and now
“Then there was less options. Even then it was not as difficult. I’m an advocate for all of these kids and the stuff we’re doing for them. But I do think part of our responsibility is to teach our guys to get up, put a great day’s work in, and have a sense of appreciation for their opportunity to make the most of it.”
If you always have to teach culture or if the longer you’re at a place it becomes the norm
“You hope the longer they are with you they actually help you teach that culture. The first year is always the hardest.”
On navigating the portal during camp
“Finding whose out there, if they’re eligible. What the interest is and do we want to try and bring them in now. So, there’s a bunch of guys in the portal. There’s a running back or two, an offensive lineman or two that we’re looking at. And I’ve told my recruiting staff just keep looking. It’s hard to add now they’re so far behind but we have some concerns about depth at certain positions, and we have to make sure we’re addressing it.”
