West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez has a reputation for being old school, and he has a plan to deal with his first opponent in Morgantown: TikTok. During his Monday press conference, Rodriguez outlined his social media guidelines for players while with the program.
He’s allowing them to use TikTok. Realistically, he can’t control everyone’s phone usage. However, Rodriguez is specifically banning players from posting dancing videos on TikTok.
“They’re going to be on it so I’m not banning them from it,” Rodriguez told the Associated Press. “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.”
For the uninitiated, numerous college athletes have built major followings on TikTok, many through synced dance videos. Several have elevated their NIL value through their growth on social platforms.
Oregon wide receiver Evan Stewart has more than two million followers on TikTok, where he posts dance videos. Former Colorado athlete Travis Hunter received more than 1.1 million likes on a dance video with the Heisman Trophy after he won the award in 2024. Duke basketball star Jared McCain is nearing five million followers on the platform.
But for Rodriguez, the dancing is too far. From the start, he has been clear that he values “toughness” above all else.
“I told the team today, everything today is about trying to make people individual,” Rodriguez said. “It’s all about the individual. Football is one of the last things that’s more about the team than the individual. I banned dancing on TikTok, I guess I did that. Anything that doesn’t look like what our program should look like.”
Rodriguez returned to West Virginia for his second stint 2025. He previously led the Mountaineers to the precipice of the national championship game in 2007. In seven seasons, Rodriguez posted a 60-26 record. He left the Mountaineers for Michigan and struggled before reviving his career at Jacksonville State. The Mountaineers have reached seven wins only once since 2018.
“In 20 years if they want to be in the basement in their pajamas eating Cheetos and watching TikTok then go at it,” Rodriguez said. “Smoking cannabis? Whatever. Knock yourself out. But hope your focus can be on winning football games. How about let’s win the football games and not worry about winning the TikTok.”
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