Rich Rodriguez’s first season back at West Virginia didn’t go as planned, or at least live up to the expectations of fans. There were highs, but there were a lot of lows. The Mountaineers finished the season 4-8, third to last in the Big 12, and capped off the season with a 49-0 loss to No. 5 Texas Tech.

There were glimmers of hope throughout the season, but if you look at the record and the product on the field in WVU’s final game, there might not be much optimism for Year 2.

But that’s not what some of the players think. Players who played just one year for Rodriguez and are forced to move on from college football. After just one year, the seniors think Rodriguez can bring this program back to where he left it in 2007.

“I think it’s going in the right direction,” wide receiver Jeff Weimer said. “I’m a firm believer in Coach Rod, in where he is taking the program. I see this program continuing to get better every year and every game. I’m excited to tune in there. I won’t be surprised if West Virginia wins the Big 12 in the next couple of years.”

That’s high praise from a veteran who just finished his third season in college football, not counting junior college. Weimer believes what Rodriguez is doing will be successful down the road. 

Rodriguez has the resources to be successful. Four-star commit Kevin Brown, who picked the Mountaineers over Ohio State and North Carolina, believed WVU had elite levels of coaching and facilities. 

Linebacker Reid Carrico played for Ohio State to start his college career, then transferred to WVU before the last year of Neal Brown. Carrico decided to stay once Rodriguez came to town, and doesn’t regret it.

“The resources are here,” Carrico said. “Everybody has recovery, good strength staff and all that, which, granted, maybe I’m a little bit biased, but when I got here, life was a little slower paced here, but that allowed me to focus more on football and become a better football player. It’s the best decision I could have made. When I got here, I just felt like I kept getting better the entire time.”

Earlier this season, Rodriguez discussed how WVU won’t always compete with the elite schools in terms of talent, so he’s banking on coaching to close the gap. He talks about how he squeezes every little ounce of talent out of a player. Rodriguez wants a player to be the best version of themselves.

That might’ve hurt him this season with all the injuries, but it seems to be more bad luck, because the seniors have liked Rodriguez’s high demands.

“I’ve never been around someone who demands excellence 24/7 on a scale like that, which has been an honor for me to be around that, and learning from that and hopefully retaining some of that,” Weimer said. “I think I have been able to do that because I’ve learned a lot from him. But being able to play for someone who demands that much from you, like just excellence, which is something that I chase personally, so having a coach that really demands that at such a high level, it’s been an honor for me to be able to try and grasp and learn a lot from them.”

Rodriguez, with a 4-8 record, might not have won over the fans this season, at least on the field, but from the select few players the media has talked to, and the seniors that have been with him for just a year, he’s made them life-long Mountaineers. 

“I love them,” Carrico said of Rodriguez and defensive coordinator Zac Alley. “This hasn’t been easy, but one of my goals going into college football was to be looked at as a leader and to have that responsibility put on me. It was kind of something that I had to learn how to do. When I was a younger player, I didn’t really have all the great leadership qualities, but them putting me in a situation made me better. Love them, and do anything for them.”