West Virginia football has nearly 40 years of coaching experience behind it with Rich Rodriguez at the helm.
Less than two years in, Rodriguez is making serious inroads on the recruiting trail and in the transfer portal despite his lukewarm 4-8 reintroduction last season. He’s replenishing his roster with 34 different transfers, including Oklahoma transfer quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. and Jacksonville State star rusher Cam Cook, as the Mountaineers aim for their first winning season since 2023 under Neal Brown.
In a recent interview with WVSports, Rodriguez put it bluntly about the modern spending era he finds himself up against.
IS A SCHOOL LIKE WVU AT A DISADVANTAGE?
As has been the talking point for months now, the House vs. NCAA settlement paved the way for Power Four college football programs to directly fund their rosters and essentially outspend an opponent when it comes to talent.
Some of the country’s biggest spenders (i.e. Texas, Miami, Oregon) are trending toward $40 million in roster spending after combining their $20.5 million hard spending cap, as outlined in the abovementioned settlement, with third-party NIL contributions or donation. In the case of a school like West Virginia, which already spends the majority share of its cap on football, competing with those SEC and Big Ten powers comes at a hefty price tag.
Nick Saban described the issue as an “arms race” during a Congressional hearing only Wednesday while pushing for the Protect College Sports Act.
Outspending an opponent, though, doesn’t always show up in the win column.
In the Big 12, Colorado spend $20.5 million on its roster and won just three games and finished 1-8 in league play in 2025. By contrast, the Mountaineers spent roughly 20% less in Rodriguez’s first season as head coach and still won more games. It’s not a huge gap from three to four wins, sure, but it’s still a fact West Virginia finished closer to bowl eligibility.
Megamillion rosters don’t always guarantee wins, either. Arch Manning and Texas won 10 different games last season, but ultimately missed the College Football Playoff for the first time as a member of the SEC.
If money doesn’t guarantee wins, it makes handicapping the season all the more interesting. Browse the college football win totals to see how the market is pricing each team’s chances.
THE MEAT AND POTATOES
Rodriguez is arguing the “best” schools are recruiting the “best” athletes. You can argue there’s money involved now and that the recruiting aspect has been diluted – I agree.
However, the recruiting tactics used in college football’s past were largely centered around what resources or programs would benefit a student-athlete during their experience at a given school. The allure around college football – the gameday experiences, the nationally televised exposure, and the on-ramp to the NFL – are all very much intact paycheck or not.
On a certain level, we’re talking about the same thing when it comes to money and how it’s effecting recruiting strategies. But the timeline and chaotic experience of working the transfer portal is a shift among coaching staffs was never a welcomed change by veteran coaches and rising Power Four coaches alike. Texas Tech has already optioned the “money” part of the recruiting trail into an office seperate of the coaching staff.
College football’s in a vastly different place, and every dollar is another drop of water in the reservoir. The question is just how long the dam will hold?
