Three months after securing his new gig as head football coach at the University of West Virginia, Rich Rodriguez is laying down the law like the town council in Footloose.
Rodriguez, 61, announced on Monday, March 10 that players would not be permitted to dance on TikTok while members of his roster.
“They’re going to be on it, so I’m not banning them from it,” Rodriguez told reporters of the popular social media platform. “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.”
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He added, “I’m allowed to do that. I can have rules. Twenty years from now, if they want to be sitting in their pajamas in the basement eating Cheetos and watching TikTok or whatever the hell, they can go at it, smoking cannabis, whatever. Knock yourself out.”
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Instead, Rodriguez said he hopes his players can remain concentrated on their gridiron goals instead of the latest social media dance trends.
“I hope our focus can be on winning football games,” he concluded. “How about let’s win the football game and not worry about winning the TikTok?”
Rodriguez’s TikTok dancing ban earned plenty of criticism on social media for a variety of reasons.
“Rich Rod is antiquated, but he isn’t obtuse,” one person wrote via X. “So he delegitimizes a pathway for his athletes to carve out a brand for their own financial futures. He creates a chilling effect on self-determination and remains undoubtedly in control.”
Another wrote, “Not only is RichRod banning his players from dancing on TikTok (a string of words I never thought I’d write together) a potential employment issue but it also likely violates the athletes’ First Amendment rights.”
TikTok has become an increasingly popular space for college athletes, including former Colorado superstar Travis Hunter.
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Hunter, 21, has amassed 1.9 million followers on TikTok, with a video from June 2024 showing him dancing to GloRilla and Megan Thee Stallion’s “Wanna Be” while wearing a series of onesies earning 12.9 million views.
Despite his presence on TikTok, Hunter won the Heisman Trophy in December 2024, awarded annually to the best college football player in the country.
A native of West Virginia, Rodriguez was previously head coach of the Mountaineers from 2001 to 2007.
“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to be the head football coach at West Virginia University,” Rodriguez said in a statement after his hiring in December. “My family and I are filled with gratitude to lead the Mountaineer football program again and look forward to working with the many supporters, fans, and friends to build the best football program in America! Take Me Home!”
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