Former Arizona Wildcats football coach Rich Rodriguez is expected to become the next head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers, joining the Big 12 conference with UofA and Arizona State, according to the Action Network’s Brett McMurphy.

The Sun Devils will host Rodriguez’s Mountaineers next season, while West Virginia will play Arizona in 2026.

Rodriguez spent seven seasons as West Virginia’s head coach from 2001-07, leading the program to a 60-26 record with wins in the Sugar Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl before leaving for Michigan.

He coached Arizona for six seasons and led the program to five bowl games, including the Fiesta Bowl. The Wildcats and Sun Devils had some memorable battles with Rodriguez leading Arizona and Todd Graham at Arizona State.

Arizona fired Rodriguez after the 2017 season following a notice of claim filed with the state attorney general’s office alleging he ran a hostile workplace. A lawsuit alleging sexual harassment and a hostile workplace environment was later dismissed.

Rodriguez has since made stops at Ole Miss, Hawaii (working with Graham) and Louisiana Monroe before Jacksonville State hired him as head coach ahead of the 2022 season. The Gamecocks made the jump to FBS in 2023 and won the 2024 Conference USA championship game over Western Kentucky.

His career comes full circle to West Virginia, which has won six or fewer games in five of the last six seasons. Rodriguez replaces Neal Brown.

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School consolidations and closures continue to be the leading issue facing West Virginia education as the West Virginia Board of Education approved the closure of six more schools in four counties at their monthly meeting Wednesday.

Educational leaders from Clay, Preston, Wetzel and Wood counties all told the board declining enrollment, shrinking budgets and aging buildings are contributing factors that require closure and consolidation. A release from the West Virginia Department of Education stated that declining enrollment has led to 25 proposed or approved school closures this year.

The action comes just a month after the board approved the closure of six schools in Kanawha County.

In Preston County, the closure of Fellowsville Elementary School and its merger into South Preston School was approved, as well as the closure of Rowlesburg School and its merger into Aurora School.

In Wetzel County the consolidation of Hundred High School into Valley High School was approved, as well as the consolidation of Paden City High School into Magnolia High School and New Martinsville School.

Much of the public comment at the start of the meeting was directed at the closures in Wetzel County. Paden City High School has been the source of controversy since a court blocked its emergency closure earlier this year.

Like many speakers at meetings before, Charles Goff, mayor of Hundred, West Virginia said the effects of school closures goes far beyond the academic.

“The importance of Hundred High School can’t be summed up in two minutes,” he said. “In fact, most towns die after a closure of a high school. They lose incorporated status, losing elected officials in town, and it leads to fire departments closing and town charters being revoked.”

In Wood County the closure of Fairplain Elementary School and merger into Martin Elementary School; and the closure of Van Devender Middle School and its merger into Jackson Middle School and Hamilton Middle School were approved.

The closure of Clay County Middle School and consolidation into Clay Elementary School, Big Otter Elementary School and Clay County High School was approved, contingent upon West Virginia School Building Authority (SBA) funding for an addition to the high school.

Phillip Dobbins, superintendent of Clay County Schools, told the board the county has lost almost a third of its enrolled students in less than 10 years.

“Our projections show the grim reality that our enrollment will continue to decline,” he said. “Next year’s numbers project our total enrollment to be at 1375 total students, that’s down from 1,999 in 2016.”

He said the consolidation of Clay Middle School into existing county schools will save $500,000 in operational costs. 

Victor Gabriel, board vice president, asked Dobbins to quantify the financial loss such a decline represents.

“According to our treasurer, state aid formula’s about $7,500 per student,” Dobbins said. “So, do the math, it’s several million dollars that we’re down.”

Gabriel went on to urge the legislature to revise the funding formula for West Virginia’s schools.

“It hasn’t been done for years and years and years,” he said. “As a former educator, I saw this evolve. We just don’t have the money, people. And it’s getting worse. Every time we lose students, we lose dollars. It all equates to dollars. And I mean, I don’t know how you resolve that.”

Gabriel said that counties still have to pay staff and to maintain buildings with ever-dwindling funding. He said student enrollment across the state is down 4,000 from last year, representing close to $30 million in lost funding for local schools.

Steve Ayers already knew the type of speed he was inheriting in new West Virginia commitment Tyrell Russell when he took the head coach job at Beechcroft this past season.

That’s because Ayers served as the track coach at Walnut Ridge and Russell is a four-year letterman.

“You can’t coach speed. That’s just one thing you just can’t coach. The way he puts his foot in the ground and explodes. And the way he shows a different gear, we just knew we had something special,” Ayers said.

Russell is a versatile athlete who can play multiple positions ranging from running back, wide receiver, kick returner and on the defensive side of the ball. And while he is likely to end up on defense with the Mountaineers, Ayers believes that over his 28 years Russell fits high on his list.

“He’s just an all-around football player,” he said.

But Ayers believes that Russell still has plenty of room to grow on the field as he adjusts from splitting his time between track and football and focuses solely on the latter. The head coach expects him to add some good weight to his frame and become even more intriguing as a prospect.

“Once he fills out with his speed it can be really, really scary,” he said.

The one area that he wants to see him continue to grow is handling the physicality of the college game because it is different from what he has experienced to date. But he has the toolkit to do just that.

“Once he figures that out he’ll be fine. Speed wise he can run with anybody in my eyes,” he said.

But while the physical attributes are there, Ayers has perhaps been just as impressed with how Russell has carried himself in terms of his character. The senior has embraced a leadership role on his team and has made a strong impression with how he goes about his business.

That especially showed itself in moments of adversity as Russell bought into the new leadership and the message that they were trying to pass onto the team.

The decision to commit to West Virginia didn’t necessarily surprise Ayers once Russell elected to take the visit and he is excited that he will have the chance to showcase what he can do at the highest level in Morgantown.

“He’s a kid with great character, great grades and will have an opportunity to shine at the next level. He has it. He is a kid with a good head on his shoulders and honestly I think they got a steal,” he said.