When Rich Rodriguez took over in his first stint as head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers, the college football landscape was devoid of NIL. 

Rodriguez has seen a lot of changes since the last time he led the Mountaineers, many of them centered on the intricacies of NIL and the transfer portal. 

In his last two seasons at Jacksonville State, Rodriguez oversaw their transition from the FCS to the FBS level, and that gave him an introduction to the state of chaos he finds himself back in within the Big 12 Conference.

He about the “open free agency” that has dominated the transfer portal and his experience back at WVU on the College Gameday Podcast. 

“The goalposts have certainly moved a long way, and you have to adapt to it,” Rodriguez said. “You just throw your hands up … This is really hard to build a program when you have open free agency every year.” 

In line with the consensus criticism by numerous college football head coaches, the issue is not solely about name, image, and likeness, nor is it primarily about player movement.

It’s the absence of stability that comes with typical contracts seen at the professional level.

“The NIL and paying them is one part,” Rodriguez said. “It’s like the NFL on steroids. But the biggest part is the open free agency. There’s no rookie salary cap, and there are no three-year contracts. That makes it really, really difficult. But that is what it is.” 

Ultimately, unpalatable as it may be, the landscape of college sports isn’t changing in the foreseeable future. Head coaches need to have a plan to calm the waters, and many are finding that emphasis inside their programs.

Rodriguez’s Plan for Stability in Chaos of NIL

The importance of development, team fit and culture has depreciated in the discussion of NIL, particularly when it comes to multimillion-dollar contracts for quarterbacks to transfer.

“You have to say, okay, how do I adjust to this new thing and still have the right culture?” Rodriguez said. “Everybody uses that word, ‘culture,’ but do they live it every day? Do they adhere to it in the way they go acquire players, develop players, and build their roster? And that’s one thing I said from the start. We’re going to be okay [in] the rev-share world. We’re not going to have in the pre-rev share all the money—maybe somebody else does—but we can still have the best culture.”

It’s not just about culture, but the discipline to implement it in all facets, from how they pay their players to how they run their team, how the salary cap will be divided and how all people in the building need to come to understand that standard.

Rodriguez has a salient point with the term “culture” being thrown around loosely without it always being a tangible thing coaches can point to or players can see.

At West Virginia, Rodriguez intends that to mean direct communication with players, transparency about their place on the roster and trajectory of development and not losing sight of the forest for the trees. 

“You’ve got to be open and honest with your players. We’ve done that—we’ve tried to do that in the last four or five months—and that way, our culture’s going to be set for not just now, but next year and the year after that.”

More NIL News

LUBBOCK, Texas – The No. 12 Texas Tech softball team (45-12) will face No. 4 seed Brown (33-15) on Friday at 4:30 p.m. at Rocky Johnson Field in the first ever NCAA Softball Regional hosted in Lubbock.
 
The Red Raiders secured their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2019 after winning their first Big 12 Tournament this past weekend. The Bears are in their first NCAA Tournament since 1997 after winning their first Ivy League Tournament title in program history.
 
Tech is entering its seventh NCAA Regional appearance and hold a 13-12 record all-time in the postseason. The Red Raiders have a little experience against Washington – the No. 3 seed in the bracket – as they face the Huskies in the 2012 Seattle Regional, losing 2-0.
 
Previously in Tech softball:
The Red Raiders earned their first ever Big 12 regular season title this year after going 20-4 in league play and defended that title in the Big 12 Championship winning all three games with a run differential of 26-0 thanks to the All-Big 12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player, NiJaree Canady, who allowed just 4 hits all weekend.
 
NiJaree Canady is still at the top of her game. She boasts a 0.81 ERA and is 26-5 on the season. Her ERA leads the nation, and her wins are second most in program history for a season. Canady was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year, unanimously, and was also a First Team All-Big 12 selection in her first year in the league.
 
Senior outfielder Demi Elder has been a huge lift for the Red Raiders offense since returning to the starting lineup. Since Elder’s return the team is 22-3 and she has reached base safely in 23 of those 25 games.
 
Mihyia Davis continues to improve. The junior speedster has also been hitting for power lately, totaling a career-high five home runs to go along with 10 doubles and 6 triples while swiping 24 bases. Davis is not only a good bat, but a highlight real in the outfield as she was Big 12 All-First Team and Big 12 All-Defensive Team.
 
The left side of Gerry Glasco‘s infield is played by freshmen. Hailey Toney has started every game at shortstop this season – the only freshman from a power four school to do so – while Bailey Lindemuth has played 55 of her 57 games at third base (the other two coming in the circle). Both were named to the All-Big 12 Freshman Team.

NCAA Lubbock Regional Ticket Information:

• Softball season ticket holders and Red Raider Club members will have the opportunity to place a request for all-session tickets to the NCAA Lubbock Regional. The deadline to submit requests is 5 p.m. Tuesday (May 13). Please note all ticket requests outside already claimed season tickets are not guaranteed. Any tickets still available after Tuesday will go on sale to the general public at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. 
• To submit a request, fans must login to their Texas Tech account on texastech.com/myaccount or by calling the Texas Tech Athletic Ticket Office. The ticket office is open 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday and can be reached by phone at 806-742-TECH.
• Ticket information for Texas Tech students will be communicated via email early this week.
• All tickets for the NCAA Lubbock Regional will be distributed digitally similar to regular-season games. Further instructions on how to receive and manage mobile tickets will be sent out prior to tickets being delivered. 
• For questions, please contact the Texas Tech Athletics Ticket Office at 806-742-TECH or via email at redraidertickets@ttu.edu

NCAA Lubbock Regional Schedule:

Friday

Game 1: Texas Tech vs. Brown – 4:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Game 2: Mississippi State vs. Washington – 7 p.m. (ESPN2)

Saturday

Game 3: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 – 1 p.m. (TV TBD)

Game 4: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 – 3:30 p.m. (TV TBD)

Game 5: Loser of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4 – 6 p.m. (TV TBD)

Sunday

Game 6: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5 – 2 p.m. (TV TBD)

Game 7: If Necessary Game – 4:30 p.m. (TV TBD)

 

After the always stressful NCAA selection process, the Oregon Ducks softball team finally could get a sigh of relief, even if their seed was much too low at No.16 for what coach Melyssa Lombardi’s group actually deserved.

Oregon softball will be hosting the Eugene Regional at Jane Sanders Stadium from May 16-18. The Ducks will open their chase at the regionals on Friday, May 16 on ESPN+ at 4:30 p.m. PT against the Weber State Wildcats of the Big Sky Conference. The Binghamton Bearcats will be going up against an old foe from the Pac-12 Conference, the Stanford Cardinals at 5 p.m. on ESPN+.

Here is how the rest of the bracket in the Pacific Northwest will play out:

Friday, May 16
Game 2: Binghamton vs. Stanford, 5 p.m., ESPN+
Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
Game 5: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3

Saturday, May 17
Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
Game 5: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3

Sunday, May 18
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5
Game 7 (if necessary): Rematch Game 6

The other top seeds in the 64-team field consist of the four top programs in the Southeastern Conference with No. 1 Texas A&M Aggies, No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners, No. 3 Florida Gators, and No. 4 Arkansas Razorbacks.

After that, it goes the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Florida State Seminoles at No. 5 just to go right back to the SEC with the No. 6 Texas Longhorns, No. 7 Tennessee Volunteers, No. 8 South Carolina Gamecocks.

No. 9 Big Ten’s UCLA Bruins were named the Big Ten Conference champions over the Michigan Wolverines.

Obviously, the SEC has dominated over the course of this current decade with Oklahoma under coach Patty Gasso winning four straight national championships from 2021-24. In 2025, this is how the No. 9 through No. 16 teams with having home field advantage will play out:

No. 10 SEC’s LSU Tigers

No. 11 ACC’s Clemson Tigers

No. 12 Big 12’s Texas Tech Raiders

No. 13 Big 12’s Arizona Wildcats

No. 14 ACC’s Duke Blue Devils

No. 15 SEC’s Alabama Crimson Tide

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Oregon is ranked the final seed at No. 16 to have home field pride. The Big Ten champions in the Michigan Wolverines will have to play in the Austin field along with Texas.

Coach Lombardi has been taking charge of the new energy in the clubhouse with freshman infielder Rylee McCoy (.396 batting average, 17 home runs, 52 RBI’s) and right-handed pitcher Grein Lyndsey (26-2 W-L record, 194 strikeouts, 1.93 ERA through 148.2 innings) are the focal points of the Ducks.

Will Lombardi and the Ducks be able to make a run in the tournament?

STORRS, Conn. – Two of the hottest teams in college baseball face off in Storrs on Tuesday night with the UConn baseball team (33-18) welcoming No. 25 Northeastern (41-9) to Elliot Ballpark at 6:05 p.m. The game can be seen on UConn+ and the WWAX.

The Northeastern Huskies take a nation-best 20 game win streak into Tuesday night’s match up while UConn has won 20 of its last 21 contests and are riding a seven-game win streak.

UConn is 2-0 against ranked opponents this year with victories against No. 14 Vanderbilt and No. 17 North Carolina.

Northeastern beat UConn up in Brookline, Mass., 3-0, on March 26 with LHP Max Gitlin throwing a perfect game until a one-out double from Sam Biller in the ninth inning. Ian Cooke came out of the bullpen for the Huskies and threw 4.1 shutout frames with eight strikeouts. 

Both teams have clinched regular season championships in their respective conferences with Northeastern winning the CAA and UConn clinching at least a share of its fifth-straight BIG EAST regular season crown. 

UConn is 59-24-1 all-time against the Boston Huskies but have lost five-straight in the series including an 0-3 record at Elliot Ballpark.

Entering Tuesday, UConn holds an RPI at No. 40 while Northeastern is at No. 29, a victory for either team would be a boost for their NCAA Tournament at-large resume. 

Tickets are still available at UConnTickets.com or you can purchase at the ticket booth outside Elliot Ballpark. Gates open one hour prior to first pitch.