West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Rich Rodriguez has banned his players from dancing on TikTok in an attempt to preserve the university's "hard edge."
The Big 12 Conference side have recently returned to spring training as preparations begin for the 2025 season and the 61-year-old is keen to stamp his authority on the squad in his second spell in charge, having returned to the Milan Puskar Stadium almost two decades after he left for the University of Michigan.
With that, he is aiming to improve on West Virginia's 6–7 record from last season, and has already gone to lengths to do so. That includes controlling how his players portray themselves on social media, with Rodriguez recently claiming that he is banning his squad from uploading videos of themselves on TikTok.
Notable for its short-form videos, often set to music and sound effects, TikTok encourages its users to bring out their creative and entertaining side, but "Rich Rod" is having none of it as his team prepares to launch an assault on the playoffs next season.
Speaking to reporters during the team’s spring training program on Monday, Rodriguez said: "They're going to be on it, so I'm not banning them from it. 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."
While Rodriguez didn't say there was any specific social media policy the football team has to follow, he's keen to set some boundaries, and banning them from dancing on TikTok is something he sees fit. He also expressed to the team the importance of a group mindset – something he believes social media doesn't prioritize.
"Everything today is about trying to make everybody individual – it’s all about the individual... football is one of the last things that’s gotta be more about the team than the individual. So I banned dancing on TikTok, I guess I did that," Rodriguez said.
When quizzed about his players wanting to "watch their TikTok" long after their football careers are over, he added: "I hope our focus can be on winning football games. How about let's win the football game and not worry about winning the TikTok?"
Elsewhere, the Mountaineers have lost tight ends coach Blaine Stewart to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who is set to join the NFL franchise's offensive staff as an offensive quality control assistant, 247Sports reports. Prior to coaching West Virginia, he spent five seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers working with wide receivers.
