"He taught me a lot about life man, legitimately": Pat McAfee recalls Rich Rodriguez's massive impact on his life

Pat McAfee commented on his relationship with his former coach, Rich Rodriguez, on Friday in an installment of his show. Rodriguez was McAfee’s coach throughout his collegiate career at West Virginia. The coach has returned to the program this offseason for another stint.

Speaking to Pete Thamel and AJ Hawk on “The Pat McAfee Show,” McAfee described the relationship he had with Rodriguez during his tenure with the Mountaineers. He said the veteran coach had a lot of impact on the kind of person he eventually became in life.

“Me and Coach Rod had a hilarious relationship, I think that would be the way to describe it,” McAfee said. “And he taught me a lot about life, man. Legitimately, a lot about life.”

“And I find myself, as I get older, in every situation, I think back to something that Rich Rod either yelled at me or tried to get into our brains in however he did it. I would say at least every day, every other day, I think about Rich Rod where he is. I'm happy he's back in West Virginia.”

McAfee then asked Thamel about his feelings on Rodriguez's return:

“How do you feel about it? How do you feel about the conversation with him? I think we're about, we've got to make some big turnover. I think we're going to be in a good spot, but it might take us a little bit, right? Is that what you're feeling?”

Rich Rodriguez had a successful tenure in his first stint as West Virginia's coach, finishing his seven-year stay with a 60-26 record. Pat McAfee hopes the coach can replicate the stride of his previous stint with the Mountaineers again in a largely different landscape.

Rich Rodriguez wants to have Pat McAfee around for the Backyard Brawl

Rich Rodriguez is hoping to have Pat McAfee and the rest of ESPN's College GameDay crew in Morgantown next season. The coach wants the pregame show to be hosted on the West Virginia campus when the team hosts rival Pittsburgh in September.

“It’ll be maybe the most electric atmosphere in college football that weekend. I’m hoping that we’ll have GameDay there," Rodriguez said on the "College GameDay Podcast." "That would be nice. I mean, they’ll put on a show. You’ll see the blue lot cranking like you’ve never seen it before.

“This place will be sold out. There might even be some that go to the extreme of buying a Pitt season ticket, so they can come to the West Virginia game against Pitt. I don’t know who else is playing that weekend, but there will not be one that’s more intense.”

Known as the Backyard Brawl, the rivalry between West Virginia and Pittsburgh is one of the oldest in college football. The two teams first met in 1895, and there have been 107 encounters between them. The Panther leads the series 63-41-3.