Defining structure, roles on bigger coaching staffs key

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West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez recognizes that bigger coaching staffs mean more responsibility spread across the board.

But the end game is still for each member of the staff to bring value.

That’s why he plans to spend time in May over a three-day period with the entire coaching staff outlining the organizational chart, what everybody is responsible for, the expectations, and their role.

“And go from there,” he said.

It’s something Rodriguez has done for a long time as a head coach, but it’s evolved over the years as coaching staffs have grown, and things have changed in the profession. But much of it has remained the same.

“You want to make sure everybody has a role, and I think guys that are on staff no matter what role they’re in staff, training, nutrition, recruiting or on the field, they all want to have a role and feel like they play a part in the success of the program,” he said. “My job is to make sure those roles are defined.”

While Rodriguez believes that he has been blessed with great coaching staffs surrounding him at each of his stops as the leader of a program, he is especially excited about this latest at West Virginia.

“This has the makings to be as good of a staff as I’ve ever had,” he said.

Within the general makeup of the coaching staff, Rodriguez has defined responsibilities and roles for each of those members. For example, while general manager Chuck Lillie will serve as a key organizational piece and will have opinions on personnel, he won’t have complete control on those items.

“Just for your information, our GM is not firing the head coach. I let him know that,” Rodriguez joked.

Because at the college level, there is still a need to recruit on top of paying players, everybody on the coaching staff is involved in roster decisions and roster management. That’s especially true with coordinators and position coaches, as Rodriguez wants them to have significant input on the makeup of their rooms.

For example, in the running backs room, Rodriguez wants position coach Larry Porter to have a huge say in what that room is going to look like, along with himself and other people on the staff.

“Because we still recruit, it’s a different dynamic,” he said.

Rodriguez had to speak with multiple agents when he arrived in December and one area that Lillie will be helpful under that organizational umbrella is dealing with those conversations to help sort through things.

Part of the challenges in this new era is sorting through the noise and developing a structure that the coaching staff can work with when it comes to putting a roster together. That’s why those pay-grade models for certain positions attracting certain totals is critical to avoid getting into trouble.

“There’s going to be variations in that, but you’ve got to be disciplined enough to keep your cap,” Rodriguez said.


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