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Rich Rodriguez Addresses the Criticism Being Directed at WVU Players on Social Media

No one is going to take a loss harder than the head ball coach and those in the building.

Oct 17, 2026; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Rich Rodriguez walks the sideline during the second quarter against the Cincinnati Bearcats at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

After last weekend's down-to-the-wire loss to Texas Tech, West Virginia fans were not shy about letting their thoughts and feelings be seen and heard online.

That's the case after every loss and with every fan base across the country, but the frustration reached a new level because of the continued poor play of the defense and the squandering of an opportunity to take down a top-15 team on the road.

Sometimes, though, some folks take it a little too far and personally attack players and coaches on X or Facebook, tagging them in posts and letting them know how they feel about what just happened.

You know it and have probably seen a lot of it yourself over the last couple of days. No one, Rich Rodriguez included, is going to have a problem with fans saying how they feel, but there is a line that has to be drawn in what is said and how it is delivered.

"The thing that I would ask the fanbase to do is: you don't have to remind our players or our coaches, I don't care about me, but you don't have to remind us how upset you are that so and so didn't play well or West Virginia didn't win, because trust me, our guys really care; they really do. Our staff really cares. There's nobody that's going to take it harder than the people over in our building right now," Rich Rod said during his radio show Monday night. "I don't want to give the illusion that our players don't care; they really do. That's a great group of young men. If you want to be negative, and that's who you are... you know, somebody else's opinion of me is none of my business, right? But you don't need to promote a player if he doesn't play well either. You don't have to say, 'You're the greatest no matter what.' No, if he played crappy, then it's okay to say he played crappy because that's the reality of it. But don't think for a second that those guys don't realize when they play good or when they play bad because we, as coaches, make sure they know it."

This is something WVU men's basketball coach Ross Hodge touched on a couple of weeks ago on his radio show, stating that it wasn't something he was prepared for — the personal attacks and harsh criticism of players online.

The players, coaches, and even recruits and agents see all of this stuff. I know this because I've had one from each category tell me this. Again, it's not a West Virginia thing; it's everywhere. But that doesn't mean it's okay for it to keep happening. All it takes is one bad tweet for a player to be turned off by a school, let alone when they see the same account(s) constantly bashing the program and spewing negativity in an unnecessary fashion.

Voice your frustrations when needed and be upset, but just remember to not make it personal.

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