Ron Rittenhouse/The Dominion Post West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey stopped for a short visit with the WVU football team Thursday afternoon.

MORGANTOWN — West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey walked side by side with WVU football coach Rich Rodriguez through the hall of the Puskar Center, leading up to the team’s meeting room, or what Rodriguez calls the “truth room.”

The two exchanged formalities, and Rodriguez asked Morrisey how long he was staying for, but nothing crazy. Morrisey, guided by his crew, was walking swiftly, with a purpose.

He entered the team room, just behind Rodriguez. Rodriguez talked to the team quickly, going over the rest of the day, and then introduced Morrisey.

Morrisey took the stage in the meeting room and got to work.

He echoed Rodriguez’s sentiment on the hard edge and told the team about the West Virginia roots. How West Virginians work hard, without a lot of respect. In some ways, the WVU 2025 team is similar. The Mountaineers are picked last in most Big 12 preseason polls and have some of the worst odds to win the conference.

Rodriguez dismissed the polls earlier in camp and said they won’t matter when it’s the fourth quarter. You won’t be thinking about where you’re ranked. But, Rodriguez did say he thought WVU was ranked a little low.

Morrisey wasn’t afraid to use the polls as motivation in his speech.

“A lot of people count you out,” Morrisey said. “The beautiful thing is, you get to do it out on the field. You don’t have to worry about what people are writing about. You get to every single day, bring it, and show people every day what it’s all about. Action, not words. That’s a pretty damn good thing.”

Morrisey’s motivation had purpose. After firing up the team, he made it clear his goal for the 2025 season. Regional athletic dominance. It starts with the Week 2 skirmish with Ohio on Sept. 6.

“At Ohio, that matters to me,” Morrisey said. “We need to kick Ohio’s ass.”

“Are you with me?” Morrisey raised his voice.

The team answered back, “Yes sir.”

But then it was onto his biggest game for regional dominance: the Backyard Brawl in Week 3 against Pitt. Morrisey is set to be the honorary coin flipper for the game, and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro will also be down on the field for the coin flip.

Morrisey, a known Republican, wants to win the athletic war against the Democrat, Shapiro. Morrisey already started the trash-talking and took a dig at Shapiro in his speech.

“We are both going to be there,” Morrisey said. “We are both going to be jaw boning. I want to make sure WVU is on the map. That guy’s thinking of running for president. That’s not part of my plans.”

“I want them to know when the Pennsylvania Governor comes by to gritty West Virginia, we’re not going to tolerate any of these Pitt Panthers coming into our house and winning, are we?” Morrisey raised his voice to almost a yell.

The team responded, “No, sir.”

After laying out his intentions for WVU this fall, Morrisey talked about how, along with the rest of the West Virginia people, he fully supports Rodriguez and the team. But Morrisey made it clear there are no participation trophies, and he’s about winning.

“I love you guys,” Morrisey said. “The state bleeds for you, and we are going to root for you the whole way. I know the coach is bringing that hard edge every single day to your practices. Every day when you’re tired, just know that you not only have the support of your AD, your coach, all the people here, but the support of the entire people of West Virginia.”

Morrisey got off the stage and shook Rodriguez’s hand. He started toward the door, and Rodriguez turned and joked with the team that hopefully, Morrisey could give the team some money for NIL and general funding.

The speech lasted no more than a couple of minutes, but Morrisey made it clear what he wants WVU to be in 2025.

As Morrisey was headed to the door, WVU broke the meeting down by telling what Pitt should eat, and Morrisey turned around.

“I like that.”