***Show Some Love for Coach Rod and the West Virginia University Mountaineers***

Rich Rodriguez is the current head football coach at West Virginia University. Often known by students and the media simply as "Coach Rod," Rodriguez is the 31st head football coach of the WVU Mountaineers and is a 1986 alumnus from the school. He is one of only a handful of head coaches currently coaching at their alma mater.Rodriguez graduated from North Marion High School in 1981 where he had played four sports and was an all state football and basketball player. After high school Rodriguez was admitted to WVU where he walked on to the football team and earned a scholarship under coach Don Nehlen. Playing as a defensive back, Rodriguez had 54 career tackles over three seasons.For the 1985-1986 season, Rodriguez served as a student assistant coach under Nehlen and graduated with a Physical Education and Safety degree. Starting in 1986, he moved to what was then Salem College (now Salem International University) where he served as special teams coordinator and secondary coach. In 1987 he took over as Salem’s defensive coordinator and in 1988 took over as head coach. He was 24 years old when he took over as head coach and was the youngest head coach in the country.Rodriguez returned to WVU as a volunteer coach for the 1989 football season but left again to take over as head coach at Glenville State College. He would stay at this position from 1990 to 1996 where the team earned three consecutive West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships and competed in the 1993 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national championship. While at Glenville, Rodriguez had a head coach record of 43-28-2 and was named WVIAC Coach of the Year in 1993 and 1994, NAIA National Coach of the year in 1993, and West Virginia State College Coach of the Year in 1993 by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.Coach Rod left Glenville State at the end of the 1996 season and moved on to serve as assistant coach, offensive coordinator, and quarterback coach for Tulane University from 1996 to 1998. Rodriguez next moved to Clemson University where he served as offensive coordinator and associate head coach until the end of the 2000 season.It was announced on November 26, 2000 that Rodriguez would again return to WVU, this time as head coach to replace the retiring Don Nehlen. With a contract until at least 2009, Rodriguez has brought his unique offensive style to WVU and after a disappointing first year, has led the Mountaineers to four straight winning years, three of which (2003, 2004, & 2005), the Mountaineers have at least shared the Big East Conference championship. He has also led the team to three straight bowl game appearences (the 2002 Continental Tire Bowl, and the 2003 and 2004 Gator Bowl. In 2005, Rodriguez and the Mountaineers won the Big East title, which gave them the conference's automatic berth in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), where they defeated The Georgia Bulldogs in the Nokia Sugar Bowl and a final Associated Press ranking of fifth, tying the highest in school history (other in 1988).