'The Pat McAfee Show' will air live from Morgantown ahead of Rich Rodriguez's reintroduction as the head coach of West Virginia. Credit: ‘The Pat McAfee Show’
College FootballESPNBy Ben Axelrod on

One of Rich Rodriguez’s most famous former players will be on hand as the 61-year-old is reintroduced as West Virginia’s head coach. Taking to X on Thursday, Pat McAfee revealed that The Pat McAfee Show will emanate from Morgantown ahead of Rodriguez’s (re)introductory press conference on Friday afternoon.

Throughout the past few weeks, the former All-Pro punter hasn’t been shy about sharing his potential influence as a major donor to his alma mater. One day after the Mountaineers fired former head coach Neal Brown earlier this month, the ESPN host revealed that potential candidates for the vacancy had reached out to him seeking an endorsement.

“A lot of people want that job… they don’t got me working the phones, but everybody that wants the job calling me that I’ve ever met or friends with saying, ‘would love if you supported me in my bid to become this head coach of this thing,'” McAfee said on the Dec. 2 episode of his show. “Obviously, I’ve donated to the collective, so I guess I deserve a, ‘what’s up? What’s going on?'”

McAfee also revealed he had spoken to WVU athletics director Wren Baker about the opening, only to downplay his influence over — and even insight into — the search.

But as Rodriguez emerged as the apparent frontrunner for the gig, McAfee’s name kept getting brought up. There were even rumors that the announcement regarding his re-hiring would be made on The Pat McAfee Show, which the program’s host denied.

“To let those people know, there has never been a conversation about me going back to Morgantown or having an announcement of any sort on this particular program,” McAfee said on this past Tuesday’s episode of his show. “Although — would be open to it. Would be completely open to it. I have tried to remain as hands-off of the situation I could possibly be.

“Now, I am a money person at the school and also cover college football and happen to be a part of one of the biggest college football shows — the biggest college football show — that has ever been created. Obviously, Wren Baker has tried to be respectful to me in the entire thing and I’ve tried to return the favor to him just by staying out of it. I have talked to a few people that are up for candidacy about their entire thing.”

While he didn’t say it explicitly, one would imagine that Rodriguez was one of the coaches to reach out to McAfee, who played for him at West Virginia from 2005-07. In the years since, Rodriguez has gone on a coaching odyssey that has included stops at Michigan, Arizona, Ole Miss, Hawaii, Louisiana–Monroe and Jacksonville State, while McAfee enjoyed an impressive eight-year NFL career before becoming one of the biggest stars in sports media.

Now the longtime coach and his former punter find themselves crossing paths once again, as McAfee takes his show to Morgantown to celebrate Rodriguez’s return. And while WVU presumably won’t cancel classes the way it did the last time McAfee brought his show to town, it should still be quite the scene, as Rodriguez and the Mountaineers clearly have the full support of one of college football’s most prominent voices.

[Pat McAfee on X]

About Ben Axelrod

Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.

View all posts by Ben Axelrod