Rich Rodriguez followed the “Country Roads,” and now he’s back in the place he belongs as the head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers. The former Jacksonville State Gamecocks leader returns to a place where he earned his first head coaching opportunity as the program looks to return to the top of the Big 12.
Rodriguez’s salary, contract, and net worth indicate the price of that pursuit of success.
Rich Rodriguez’s Salary and Contract in 2025
Rodriguez signed a five-year contract with the Mountaineers to become head coach for the second time. His salary for the 2025 season is $3.5 million, a significant uptick from his 2024 earnings with CUSA outfit Jacksonville State.
Interestingly, that is less than the Mountaineers paid former head coach Brown, who was in line for more than $4 million for the 2025 college football campaign before being relieved of his duties after a disappointing 2024 season.
While further financial details weren’t revealed at the time of his signing, it was reported by ESPN’s Pete Thamel that West Virginia will pay Rodriguez an average base salary of $3.75 million across the five-year contract term.
That doesn’t take into account any supplemental pay or bonuses that are common in head coach contracts across the college football landscape. However, at his base salary, Rodriguez will be in the bottom half of the Big 12 head coach salary list.
That likely won’t matter too much to the highly-regarded offensive mastermind. After leading Jacksonville State to a CUSA title just two seasons after transitioning from the FCS, Rodriguez is just glad to be back at a place he called home for seven years as a head coach, but has remained “home” in his heart all along, after playing DB for the Mountaineers in the early 1980s.
“I’ve got a five-year contract, but I would have signed a lifetime contract,” Rodriguez joked to the media after being announced as the new West Virginia head coach in early December.
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“Gosh, it’s great. This is really surreal. It is great to be home. Should have never left,” he continued. “I am very, very appreciative of the opportunity to come back home to be your head football coach at West Virginia University.”
In his first stint with the university, Rodriguez led the Mountaineers to four Big East titles, a Sugar Bowl win, and a 60-26 overall record. After a difficult stint with the Michigan Wolverines, he has rebuilt his reputation with the Arizona Wildcats and Jacksonville State, compiling an 18-8 FBS record with the Gamecocks before returning to Morgantown.
Rodriguez’s Net Worth
With an average reported salary of $3.75 million per year over five seasons, Rodriguez’s net worth as the West Virginia head coach stands at $18.75 million. However, that doesn’t take into account earnings of well over $26 million since 2009.
It also doesn’t account for any athletic and academic incentives woven into his new contract. Those figures weren’t declared alongside Rodriguez’s salary, but we do have the figures from former head coach Brown’s previous contract:
- $150,000 for winning the Big 12 title
- $100,000 for appearing in the Big 12 Championship Game
- $300,000 for winning the College Football Playoff National Championship Game
- $250,000 for appearing in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game
- $200,000 for a College Football Playoff semifinal win
- $100,000 for winning National Coach of the Year
- $50,000 for winning Big 12 Coach of the Year
Those figures act as a baseline for what Rodriguez may be able to earn for any success he brings back to West Virginia. If he replicates the standard of his first tenure in Morgantown, his net worth may far outstrip any amount of money the Mountaineers may have to pay him.
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