Rich Rodriguez reveals where West Virginia QB job stands between Scotty Fox, Michael Hawkins

West Virginia is one of the many programs holding a quarterback competition this offseason. Head coach Rich Rodriguez has identified two contestants: Scotty Fox and Michael Hawkins. Fox returns to Morgantown after a true freshman campaign, while Hawkins enters the program via Oklahoma. To this point, no decision has been made.

An update on where things stand recently came from Rodriguez, though. He talked about his thought process of getting Fox and Hawkins on the roster. More than anything, Rodriguez feels as if West Virginia could win games with both of them behind center.

“Yeah, we knew we were going to lose a couple guys in the portal,” Rodriguez said via ESPN. “Scotty Fox was coming back. He’s a talented freshman that got some really good experience and we are really excited for him. But we wanted somebody that could compete with Scotty. And we were thinking about taking two transfers because we lost three in the portal. But we got Mike Hawkins [from Oklahoma], and I had seen him play a little bit and there was some body of work to judge him on, but also kind of thinking, I think this guy, he’s got an edge to him, wanting to prove himself kind of deal. And he’s got all the skill set that we need.

“And so he came here and then he’s been everything we thought and then some. And then Scotty’s [played well], so the competition between both of those guys has elevated … to the point where I feel we’ve got two guys right now that I would jump out there to be a starting quarterback and be good with.”

Fox played nine games for the Mountaineers in 2025, five of which were starts. His results were a bit of a roller coaster. The good: Fox threw for 1,276 yards and seven touchdowns. The bad: those were accompanied by eight interceptions. And only 59.4% of his throws were completed.

Hawkins did not receive as much playing time in Norman last season. Most of his time was spent serving as OU’s backup to John Mateer. Still, an injury did mean Hawkins got some game action. Two appearances resulted in 167 yards and three touchdowns.

West Virginia will open the schedule up on Labor Day weekend, welcoming Coastal Carolina to town. The program’s top nonconference game of the year will not take place until Sept. 19. A trip to Charlottesville is planned to face Virginia. By then, you hope Rich Rodriguez has figured out his quarterback plan.