By: Justin Walker | WV Sports Chat
FRISCO, TX — Leave it to WVU Football Head Coach Rich Rodriguez to steal the show and drop some truth bombs at day two of the 2026 Monster Energy Big 12 Football Media Days.
After being asked by a reporter about the hiatus of the Backyard Brawl between WVU and Pitt, Rodriguez revealed his opinion on not only the return of the Brawl, but his frustration at the loss of geographic rivalries throughout college football.
Rodriguez laid out his pitch for the future of major college football. His solution? A consolidation of the “Power Four” programs into a single entity, broken down into localized, fan-friendly regions where historic rivalries are preserved, travel is minimized, and everyone gets a piece of the pie.
The Vision: A Power Four “Group Hug”
Sitting between a West Virginia helmet and a Big 12 helmet, Rodriguez didn’t hold back when speaking about the state of the sport and the shifting landscape of conferences.
“I love the Big 12, but it’d be nice to have some regional… you know, have us all come together,” Rodriguez said. “Can’t we all come together and shake hands and give each other a group hug and then have an Eastern regional, and a South regional, and a North regional, and then everybody share the money?”
For a fanbase like West Virginia’s—which has watched beloved annual matchups against regional neighbors vanish over the last two decades—Rodriguez’s comments hit close to home. The modern era of college football has forced teams into coast-to-coast conferences. They’ve had to exchange drivable road trips for airplane flights, and emotional rivalries for matchups that lack history.
Rodriguez argues that the solution is to bring most, if not all power programs together under one umbrella. He says the new entity should secure an unprecedented media rights deal, and let geography dictate the schedule.
“I think that would be great,” Rodriguez added. “I don’t know if anybody else would say that, probably not, they might be afraid. Hell, I don’t care. I think that would be good. So I’m gonna put my pitch right now. I’m not speaking for anybody other than Coach Rod.”
This “Super League” concept is not new. It’s similar to what current Texas Tech mega-donor and Board Chair Cody Campbell has been pushing with his entity, Saving College Sports. Campbell has went as far as airing TV commercials, trying to get bills passed in Washington D.C,. and Co-Hosting roundtable discussions at the White House.
What was different about Rodriguez’s comments was the fact they were made by a sitting head coach. It’s also notable that it occurred during a conference event.
Rebuilding the Eastern Region
What exactly would Coach Rod’s localized version of the sport look like for WVU football fans? He rattled off a hypothetical Eastern division that sounds like a dream scenario for anyone who grew up on old-school college football.
Under his model, West Virginia would play teams annually that actually make sense geographically and historically:
The Backyard Brawl: Pitched directly against Pitt as an annual guarantee.
The Black Diamond Trophy Game: Regular battles renewed with Virginia Tech.
Regional Foes: A localized slate featuring Penn State, Maryland, Cincinnati, Virginia, and North Carolina.
“Let’s get the biggest TV package in the history of TV packages,” Rodriguez pitched enthusiastically. “And then we can have Pitt, and Virginia Tech, and Penn State, and Maryland, Cincinnati, and maybe Virginia, North Carolina, one of those, all right there and our fans can drive to it. You know, have a rivalry every year, and everybody make money, nobody gets fired, players get good, and this place (Big 12 Media Days site) will be packed again.”
“I Want to Get This Thing Right Before I Leave”
Rodriguez’s pitch isn’t just nostalgia talking; it’s a logical critique of a system that has prioritized money over fan engagement. However, he’s well aware that the power brokers in college athletics might not be ready to share the wealth or rewrite the rulebook just yet.
Looking out into the crowd at the Ford Center at The Star, Rodriguez acknowledged the likely reaction from the administrators in the room.
“I got all the ADs out there shaking their head like I’m nuts,” Rodriguez joked. “But I’m just… I mean, I think this is… you know, I got a lot more time behind me than ahead of me. I want to just get this thing right before I leave.”
Whether the decision-makers listen to Coach Rod remains to be seen, but his unfiltered honesty is one of the reasons most Mountaineer fans love him. In an era dominated by corporate jargon, Rodriguez is seemingly still fighting for common sense—and a future where the Backyard Brawl isn’t a scheduling luxury, but a permanent fixture.
