Phil Steele explains why West Virginia’s roster rebuild feels different in year two

For much of the offseason, the national conversation around West Virginia football has sounded familiar. The Mountaineers brought in another wave of newcomers under Rich Rodriguez, leading some to compare this year’s roster turnover to the one that took place ahead of the 2025 season. But longtime college football analyst Phil Steele believes the similarities end there. Speaking on Jed Drenning’s In The Gun Football Podcast, Steele said the circumstances surrounding West Virginia’s roster construction are dramatically different entering Rodriguez’s second season. A much different conversation with Rich Rodriguez Steele admitted that his conversations with Rodriguez ahead of the 2025 season left plenty of unanswered questions. With dozens of players arriving after spring practice and a coaching staff still trying to assemble a roster, evaluating the Mountaineers proved difficult. “Massive difference in a conversation with Coach Rodriguez going over the squad with him this year as opposed to last year,” Steele said. “Last year when we were going over the roster, a lot of times he’d be like, ‘You know what, Phil, I haven’t seen him yet,’ and we had, what, 30 players coming in post-spring last year, which is one of the reasons I picked West Virginia near the bottom of the Big 12.” Steele pointed to the timing of Rodriguez’s hiring and the challenges that came with trying to reshape a roster while the transfer portal remained active. “Last year, Rich Rod was hired, of course, later, tougher of class, tough to get the freshmen in, tough to get the transfers, bringing in, he wasn’t happy with what he brought in,” Steele said. “He all of a sudden switched the team up again after spring practice was over, brought in 30 new players.” This offseason, Steele said the process was far more organized. “And it was a common refrain from all the coaches,” Steele said. “All the coaches across the country felt they had more of a team this year and that they could coach their players in the spring because they didn’t have to worry, ‘Hey, I’m putting this guy third string. After spring practice, he’s going to hit the portal.'” Experience became the priority Steele believes one of the biggest differences between the two roster builds is the type of player West Virginia targeted. Rather than chasing potential, Rodriguez and his staff prioritized experience, particularly among transfers who already have meaningful snaps at the college level. “What I have learned is that experience is massive,” Steele said. “You don’t bring the five-star in that hasn’t played, bring in the FCS kid, bring in the group of five kid that has the experience that’s played, that’s got the snaps.” Steele said those players often arrive with something to prove and a greater appreciation for the opportunity. “They come in with a great attitude. They’re hungry. They want to prove something. They’ve got a chip on their shoulder,” Steele said. That philosophy showed up across the roster, especially along the offensive line, where West Virginia added experienced players while reuniting Rodriguez with veteran offensive line coach Rick Trickett. “I think that was West Virginia’s focus this year was bringing in experience,” Steele said. “You look at the offensive line, a ton more snaps, a ton more starts on the offensive line than there was last year.” Why Steele is more optimistic about 2026 Although West Virginia still enters the season with plenty of new faces, Steele believes Rodriguez has a much clearer understanding of the roster than he did a year ago. “This year, we could talk about almost everybody on the team,” Steele said. That familiarity, combined with what Steele sees as a manageable start to the schedule, has led him to project the Mountaineers higher than many national observers. For Steele, the number of newcomers alone does not tell the full story. The difference is that Rodriguez and his staff finally had the time to build the roster they wanted. “Everybody felt it was more of a team,” Steele said, “but in West Virginia’s case, massively different in the conversation.” Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan Like us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok