West Virginia shakes up roster days ahead of kickoff

As West Virginia’s pre-season summer camp reached its final days with school starting and the season less than two weeks away, Rich Rodriguez concluded recruiting for the season with the addition of running backs Andre Devine — yep, Noel’s son — and Tyler Jacklich while awaiting official commitments from a final offensive lineman and defensive back.

It has been an amazing restructuring of a roster that was decimated with the dismissal of head coach Neal Brown following last year’s 5-7 season, harvesting not only a new staff but searching the country and beyond for recruits be they freshmen or transfers, young or old, big or small.

Rodriguez came back to town promising the same hard edge and high energy approach that he had the first time around when he built a contender for the national championship.

It is hard to imagine how many possibilities were discussed, how much tape was watched, how many athletes had WVU doing deep dives into assets, abilities and attitudes to find players who could play immediately, who could be signed for roles that may come later in the five-year deal Rodriguez had worked out with Wren Baker.

Who ran fast enough? Who ran hard enough? Who ran too little during the day and too often at night?

Who could handle the athletic role and the academic role? Who fit the prototype of a Rich Rodriguez player and who didn’t?

And add in today’s NIL promise with revenue sharing, something that has bounced from non-existent to perhaps a game changer in every area of recruiting.

Thinking about it led an inquiring mind to wonder if maybe in this analytical age where every tidbit of information is stored in a computer program, where intelligence, be it real or artificial or even the kind that grows out of old detective movies, may be overdone.

Is it possible to get too precise in recruiting?

Rodriguez believes it is and that in some places they actually go overboard with their standards.

“Sometimes a guy is a little shorter, didn’t reach the measurable,” he said in a recent media session. “There’s some schools where if you don’t meet certain measurables, you’re not getting looked at. I’ve heard lots of times at this level about offensive linemen who don’t reach a certain arm length.

“What arm length? ‘He’s only 72 inches in his wingspan, not 74 inches. I’m like, what the hell? We running a dunk contest or what? Can the dude play?”

Now there’s a novel concept, judging a player on whether he can play or not.

“I understand in the NFL you get the cream of the cream. But here, you are just trying to get the best player you can get. Size and speed will always be a factor in that, but I’ve never gotten into the star ratings,” he said.

You know what he means, this guy’s a 3-star recruit, this guy a 4-star.

“If a guy is labeled a 5-star, he’s probably a no-brainer. You can turn on the film and in 30 seconds you are sitting there saying ‘OH, YEAH!’

“But I’ve seen 4-stars who couldn’t play dead in a Western and 1-stars who would star in the Western,” phrasing it as no one else would. “I think you have to have more than one person looking for someone from the outside. And it’s one place where a little bit of experience helps a coach. I kind of know when I see a guy if he can play at this level. That’s the benefit of coaching a long time.”

That and the figure written in the salary line of the contract.

In other words, you may measure and time, test and interview, but in the end, there is no foolproof equation to fall upon with confidence.

Much of it comes from a coach’s gut, from his ability to read how a player will react to difficult situations, to competition unlike any he’s ever seen, to taking a hit or fighting through an injury.

A large part of it is guesswork, much like a baseball pitcher who has a scouting report that tells him the best way to get a certain batter out is with a changeup, which would be fine if only he had one in his repertoire.

In the end, the real question boils down to one thing and it is what Rodriguez eventually must ask himself.

“Can we win with this guy?”

Winning, you see, is what it all is about.