Rich Rodriguez will return as head coach in Morgantown today West Virginia Mountaineer. With that, one of the best players in the state and one of the best in college football has shared his thoughts on their hiring.

Nick Saban spoke about Rodriguez’s reinstatement at WVU on The Pat McAfee Show on Friday. He began by expressing how happy he was to have gotten the job coaching this program again since his retirement in 2007.

“I’m excited that Rich is back and I think he’s going to do a great job there,” Saban said. “He’s from West Virginia and grew up about six or seven miles from where I grew up? I’m glad he came back. He has had great success there in the past. Obviously coaching great players like (McAfee) helped him.”

“Other than that, we’re just happy for him,” Saban said.

However, Saban had more influence considering the role he played in AD Wren Baker’s coaching search. He wanted to help the school select a new coach who had everything they needed.

“Well, I think that’s probably, you know, the cumulative effect of, you know, a lot of years and the experience that I’ve had in a) working with a lot of good coaches, but also observing coaches, you know, They have success in terms of their process and know what kind of principles and values ​​they are trying to instill in their organization, be it discipline, toughness, the way you compete in a game – whatever it is “Saban said.

“I think I just went to Wren a few times to ask who was the best fit. Who was the best fit for West Virginia?” although Saban. “It’s not just about coaching knowledge or what your record was in another part of the country. But how do you fit? How do you think? How will you deal with people? How are you going to be able to recruit the type of players you need to compete and dominate the competition?”

Still, Rodriguez’s resume was exactly what they were looking for after firing Neal Brown. For one thing, he was already there as a Grant Town native and was the head coach there for seven seasons starting in the early 2000s. He has had success for two years and is well respected with a career record of 136-91 (.599), including a mark of 60-26 (.698), six finishes with eight or more wins and his final three seasons during his time in He scored double-digit wins over West Virginia.

“You know, I always had a lot of respect for Rich,” Saban said. “You know, he visited us in Alabama a couple of times when I was coaching there and he was very helpful and useful to our staff. He is a great spirit. He was an innovator in this game. I mean, everyone does zone reads now like it’s nothing, but he invented it. So I think this guy is great.”

“I think Rich is the right guy for this,” Saban said.

Rodriguez has a lot to catch up on after being away for more than a decade and a half. However, there is already interest in him being back there, including from Saban.