Feb. 5—MORGANTOWN — Just like that, the official National Signing Day is in the past, concluding on Feb. 4. West Virginia football fans and outsiders throughout the country might not even realized it was going on because the early signing period in December is when most players sign.
That was certainly the case for WVU. The Mountaineers signed 49 players in that first week in December, which was the most in all of college football. Rich Rodriguez talked throughout the season that he’d be building the program around high school players, and he wasn’t kidding.
Advertisement
With all those new high school players, along with 30-plus transfers, WVU doesn’t have too much more room to add to the roster. The Mountaineers could add another transfer or two, but for the 2026 high school class, WVU won’t probably add too much more.
After the massive wave of high schoolers and JUCO players who signed letters of intent in December, WVU has received just one commitment prior to the official signing day.
West Virginia State Player of the Year Bradley Mossor announced his pledge to the Mountaineers on Jan. 16 and officially signed on Feb. 4. He’s an instate star who played receiver and converted to running back. Mossor padded the stat book with 93 catches for 1, 508 yards and 13 touchdowns, rushed 123 times for 896 yards and 28 touchdowns, and returned three punts, two interceptions and one kickoff for a touchdown. But, even with some monster stats, he wasn’t too highly recruited.
Mossor is a 3-star and rated as the 340th receiver in the class. WVU was the biggest offer he had, and as soon as he received it, Mossor committed.
Advertisement
With Mossor’s signing, WVU’s 2026 high school class is complete. The final total comes to 48 players. WVU had originally signed 49, but two asked for a release, and then Mossor was added.
It’s an impressive class and one of the highest-rated for the Mountaineers in the modern era. WVU’s class ranked No. 25 in the nation this year. The Mountaineers were 46th in 2024, 48th in 2023, 34th in 2022 and 41st in 2021 for some perspective. In Rodriguez’s first year, he’s already way ahead of what came before him.
In the Big 12, the 2026 class is rated third, with the only schools higher being the financially loaded Texas Tech Red Raiders and BYU, who added the fifth-best quarterback in the class. Former coach Neal Brown’s best class was ranked fourth a couple of times but wasn’t any higher than that.
This class has two of the top 20 highest-rated players in the modern era for the Mountaineers. 4-star offensive lineman Kevin Brown ranks at No. 4, and 4-star athlete Matt Sieg is 17th. WVU also added 4-star running back Amari Latimer, who just missed the top 25.
Advertisement
WVU’s 2026 class brings a lot of talent for a strong foundation for Rodriguez to build his program on. With all these new players, Rodriguez is betting on himself and his staff to coach these players into sure-fire Power Four starters down the road. He’s investing in the youth rather than buying experienced veterans. It’s a bold strategy in this new NIL and transfer portal era of college football.
It’ll take some time to see if Rodriguez’s plan pays off. It won’t happen this year, but it’ll definitely be under a magnifying glass in 2027-28.
After Feb. 4, the focus swiftly shifts to the 2027 class, which isn’t off to the greatest start with zero players committed, but there’s still a lot of time to make something special again.
