Think you’ve got the moves to bust out a dance? Well, if you’re in the West Virginia locker room, leave your dance shoes at home—at least when it comes to sharing on TikTok.
Mountaineers coach Rich Rodriguez has drawn a line in the sand. On Monday, he told reporters that he’s put a stop to his players filming and posting their dance moves on TikTok. “We’re aiming for a tougher image,” Rodriguez explained when asked about the team’s social media rules. “Seeing players dancing in tights doesn’t really align with the program’s image I’m striving for.”
Now, don’t get it twisted—Rodriguez isn’t throwing TikTok out the window. He’s just giving a firm “no” to dance videos. “I mean, anything that doesn’t fit with our program’s identity—I’m allowed to enforce that, right?” he chuckled. “In a couple of decades, if they want to lounge in pajamas, munching on Cheetos, glued to TikTok, or whatever it is, more power to them. Heck, even if cannabis is their thing then, go for it. But right now, how about we focus on winning games over gaining TikTok fame?”
Having recently returned for his second stint as head coach, Rodriguez, who was previously at the helm from 2001 to 2007, knows a thing or two about leadership. This week marks the start of spring training for West Virginia, a prime time to tighten team discipline.
Rodriguez believes today’s world overly celebrates individualism, at the cost of team spirit. “Football is perhaps one of the few remaining bastions where it’s about the collective, not the self,” he added.
He isn’t the only coach shutting down impromptu locker room dance-offs. This spring, Nebraska’s Matt Rhule laid down the law by having his strength staff give a punishing workout. Why? Because his players were getting a bit too TikTok-friendly around the facility, something Rhule clearly marks as a “hard no.”
“They’d post these cool bios and stuff, pushing plates around,” Rhule shared during an interview on the “Pat McAfee Show.” “The twist? All freshmen had to do a quick TikTok dance after a grueling wall sit session. Talk about a throwback to the old-school ways.”
(Required reading)
(Photo: Andy Lyons / Getty Images)
