West Virginia Mountaineers football coach Rich Rodriguez has prohibited his players from posting TikTok dance videos. As Rodriguez enters his second tenure leading the Mountaineers, he emphasizes building a “hard edge” team identity.
Rich Rodriguez Bans TikTok Dancing to Build a ‘Hard Edge’ team identity
Noting society’s growing focus on individualism, Rodriguez stated the ban aims to reinforce team unity. Popular among college athletes, TikTok dancing has featured stars like Travis Hunter, Ashton Jeanty, and Dylan Raiola. Rodriguez’s decision reflects his commitment to maintaining discipline and focus within the team environment.
Rodriguez is setting firm boundaries for his players as he steps into his second tenure with the Mountaineers. While emphasizing discipline, Rodriguez banned TikTok.
“They’re going to be on it, so I’m not banning them from it,” Rodriguez explained. “I’m just banning them from dancing on it. It’s like, look, we try to have a hard edge or whatever, and you’re in there in your tights dancing on TikTok ain’t quite the image of our program that I want.”
Rodriguez clarified that players could still use TikTok, just not for dancing. He stressed the importance of focusing on football rather than personal social media presence.
“Anything that doesn’t look like our program should look. It’s like, come on. Really? I’m allowed to do that, I guess,” he said. “Twenty years from now if they want to be sitting in their pajamas in the basement eatin’ Cheetos and watching TikTok or whatever the hell they can go at it. Smokin’ cannabis or whatever? Knock yourself out.”
His ultimate goal, however, remains clear:
“How about let’s win the football game and not worry about winning the TikTok. Everything today is about trying to make everybody individual. It’s all about the individual. Football is one of the last things that has to be more about the team than the individual,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez returned to West Virginia in December following his previous successful run from 2001-07, where he led the team to a 60-26 record. Spring practice for the Mountaineers began this week.
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Rodriguez isn’t alone in discouraging social media trends. Nebraska coach Matt Rhule also took action when players filmed TikTok videos around the facility.
As a consequence, Rhule ordered his strength staff to endure a punishment workout while freshmen performed TikTok dances during wall sits, reinforcing his stance against such behavior.
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