Virginie-Western coach Rich Rodriguez said this week that he had prohibited social media, but the new policy will not prevent players from using it – just dancing.
Addressing journalists during the team’s spring training program on Monday, Rodriguez was asked about his position on social networks and if he implemented a ban for his players.
Jacksonville State head coach Rich Rodriguez talks about his helmet during the university football action at the Amfirst stadium in Jacksonville, Alabama, November 16, 2024. (Dave Hyatt / Hyatt Media LLC)
Rodriguez said there was no social media policy The football team must follow, but there is one thing he prohibits his players from participating.
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“They will be on it, so I do not ban them. I just forbid them to dance on it,” he said. “It’s like, look, we try to have a hard side or something else, and you are there in your dancing tights on Tiktok.
“This is not quite the image of our program that I want,” he continued.
Rodriguez said that when he spoke to the team, he had expressed the importance of a group spirit – something he believes that social media did not hierarch.
Jacksonville’s state coach Rich Rodriguez walks around during the Mississippi’s southern match at the Amfirst Burgess Field stadium in December 2024. (Imagn)
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“Everything today is to try to make everyone individual – it’s all about the individual … Football is one of the last things that must be more about the team than the individual. So I banned Dance on Tiktok, I guess I did that. “”
Rodriguez seemed indifferent about his players wanting to “watch their tiktok” long after the end of their football career.
“I hope we focus on football matches. How about winning the football match and not worrying about winning the Tiktok?”
Mountaineers’ football coach of Virginie-Western Mountaineers, Rich Rodriguez, speaks to the crowd in a time died during the first half against the cincinnati bearcates at the WVU Coliseum in February 2025. (Images ben Queen-Imagn)
The social media platform has gained popularity with university athletes over the years, many of which have published dance videos.
But the trend will stop with Rodriguez, 61, who returns for his second pass as a Mountaineers chief coach nearly two decades after leaving the program for the first time.
