MORGANTOWN — The hard edge is the foundation on which Rich Rodriguez wants to build his second stint as coach at West Virginia. Over the course of the season, it was talked about ad nauseam, and the basis of it was moving bodies, being physical, and most importantly, not loafing.

There were cases where the Mountaineers showed a hard edge. The comeback win in the Backyard Brawl, where Tye Edwards plowed his way into the endzone with the extra lineman package. There was also the end of the Houston game, where WVU marched down the field to run out the clock.

But, most of the time, Rodriguez’s squad didn’t show the hard edge, and it was just a matter of not getting a yard, like he showed numerous times after the Arizona State loss. The Mountaineers allowed the second-most sacks in the Big 12. Rodriguez even knew the O-line was so bad that he adjusted the offense and called more plays where the quarterback rolled out, taking the line out of the question.

WVU finished with a 4-8 record, and Rodriguez made sure he told the fans that he’s going to recruit like crazy and bring back the hard edge to Morgantown.

“I’m not going to sit here and say this is acceptable,” Rodriguez said after Texas Tech. “How do we get better? Our fans deserve it. Our University deserves it. Our program deserves it. There are moments this year that we can grow off of. There’s good and bad. But there’s a lot of work, but as soon as I leave you all, you fantastic people here, I’m going to start recruiting.”

Then, Rodriguez left and got to work. He’s kept to his word and certainly loaded up in the trenches. It started with flipping 4-star high school recruit Kevin Brown from Penn State to WVU. Brown is a physical specimen that’ll be a starting tackle, if not this year, down the road for years to come. He’s also added other high school linemen with size, including Camden Goforth, who is 321 pounds.

Rodriguez did out with the old, too. A bunch of linemen who were on the roster last year have transferred out. Whether Rodriguez told them to or they did that on their own, there aren’t a lot of returning linemen. Some graduated, but the only returning starters are center Landen Livingston and Nick Krahe, who both recently announced they were returning.

Rodriguez wasn’t done there.

He didn’t renew offensive line coach Jack Bicknell’s contract. Instead, Rodriguez brought back tough, hard edge, Rick Trickett from Jacksonville State, to hopefully toughen up his offensive line.

Now it was time for more new, and beefing up the offensive line with size. Rodriguez hit the transfer portal hard, looking for new offensive linemen who could move grown men.

WVU has received commitments and even signed five new offensive line transfers. One is from a Power Four school, the other two are experienced linemen, two were with Trickett last year and all of them are over 300 pounds. The average weight of the new linemen is 307 pounds and the average height is 6-foot-5, according to 247Sports. That’s a lot of size. And, most of those linemen haven’t allowed a sack, too.

Then, Rodriguez added an interesting piece on Sunday afternoon. The Mountaineers received a commitment from Arizona fullback Kayden Luke.

The fullback was a pretty big part of Rodriguez’s offense when he was in Morgantown the first time. Owen Schmitt, who played fullback in the early 2000s, was a crucial part of the offense and showed a hard edge.

The fullback has all but gone extinct in the modern-day college football, but Rodriguez is bringing it back, trying to have more physicality.

“I hope not,” Rodriguez said when asked if the fullback was extinct. “I think there’s a place for it.”

With a fullback and added size to the offensive line, Rodriguez is making sure there’s no excuse for the Mountaineers not to have the difference in a game being a yard. Rodriguez wants the Mountaineers to be a team that moves grown men against their will, and with the offseason moves, he’s on the right path. Now, it’s seeing if those moves pay off in 2026.

“You have to be able to run the ball this far to win the game,” Rodriguez said, while showing a yard with his hands. “It’s embarrassing.”