MORGANTOWN — West Virginia’s offseason has been interesting to say the least. Rich Rodriguez said there were going to be some tough conversations with the players on the roster, which was understandable. Players entering the transfer portal is part of life in this new era of college football. Usually, it’s just a couple who want more playing time, or in some cases want a bigger stage, or just want more money.

After Rodriguez was hired in 2024, there was a flock of WVU players entering the portal. That’s what happens when there’s a new coach.

Fast forward a year, and Rodriguez said there wasn’t going to be a lot of turnover during this cycle. The portal closes on Jan. 16, and WVU has 48 players who have entered and 27 coming in through the portal. With the 27 coming in through the portal and 48 in the 2026 high school/JUCO class, WVU has 75 new players coming in. That’s a lot of turnover, and similar to 2025.

Some of the players were expected to leave, but there were players who left that made you think what’s going on? Running back Jahiem White, along with Diore Hubbard and Cyncir Bowers, who all had a role in 2025, wide receivers Cam Vaughn and long-time Mountaineer Rodney Gallagher were head scratchers, and some of the defensive players, like defensive lineman Hammond Russell.

Why the sudden change with all these players leaving?

Entering the transfer portal is a tough decision to make. Some of these players have foundations at school, so leaving that behind is hard. Linebacker Reid Carrico talked just before the season about how the transfer portal is chaos. He transferred from Ohio State to WVU and didn’t want to do it again, so he stuck with Rodriguez for 2025.

“For me, I already went through the whole process once, and it was a mess, so I was happy here,” Carrico said last March. “I love it here, so I’m staying right here.”

You have to really have a good reason to pick up shop and head to another team.

One of the biggest reasons most players transfer is for more playing time. A lot of the players who’ve entered the portal during this cycle haven’t played much and have transferred down to a Group of Five school. It’s easier to spend a year and get some playing time and tape, that’s actual game footage and not practice footage. Then, come back the next year and head back to the Power Four level.

There have also been murmurs going around that Rodriguez worked his players too hard. That could’ve been the case for some players. Rodriguez expects the most from his players, and there aren’t a lot of breaks to simulate the fast tempo.

Rodriguez discussed in the summer how players nowadays are too soft, but his coaching style has since eased up from when he first arrived at WVU. That was the entire conversation about pulling weeds and the ice cream machine in the facility. Rodriguez doesn’t like “loafers,” so he could’ve dropped the loafer, or players couldn’t take it.

That reason is also interesting because there were multiple players who praised Rodriguez in the final weeks.

“I’m a firm believer in Coach Rod, in where he is taking the program,” wide receiver Jeff Weimer said. “I see this program continuing to get better every year and every game. I’m excited to tune in there. I won’t be surprised if West Virginia wins the Big 12 in the next couple of years.”

In Vaughn’s case, I don’t think any of those apply. Vaughn was with Rodriguez at Jacksonville State, so he knew how hard Rodriguez coached. He also led WVU in receiving yards. I do think there were times when Vaughn butted heads with Rodriguez, and there was the loaf, where he didn’t chase down an interception against Texas Tech. The two might’ve mutually parted ways.

Vaughn could’ve just wanted to head to Miami and be on a more competitive team. He won’t be WR1, but there’s no question he’ll be on a top 10 team heading into 2025, and get a fair sum of money from a team that’s in the National Championship. WVU isn’t quite there yet.

Some of these players might’ve just been flat-out cut. That’s definitely the case for a lot of players. Rodriguez didn’t have a spot for them on the roster, and that’s part of the hard conversations Rodriguez talked about on National Signing Day. Rodriguez could also just be purging Neal Brown players, so it’s all his guys going forward.

But, for most of the surprise departures, I think this happened: Part of the exit meetings for all players in college football is NIL negotiations. The NIL will stay the same, or players can ask for more. What I think happened with a lot of players was that Rodriguez said, “Look, there’s a spot on this roster for you, but we have to offer you less money.”

The players looked at this and really had to look at their options. The best option was entering the portal and seeing if another team would value them better.

These conversations didn’t just happen in Morgantown. It happens at every Power Four program every year.

Every player’s situation is different, and all have different reasons for entering the portal. I think for some of the interesting entries, it was because they were asked to take less money. It’s tough, but that’s the reality of the sport in 2026.

We won’t know what truly happened until we speak with Rodriguez this spring.