Pat Kirkland is in his first year as the special teams coordinator and defensive assistant coach on the WVU football coaching staff. This marks the third time he has worked alongside Coach Rodriguez, previously serving on his staff at WVU in 2007 and at Jacksonville State from 2022 to 2024. In a recent press conference, Kirkland shares his thoughts on the return to Morgantown.
Kirkland saying that he felt a mix of emotions on returning to the Mountain state, a place he once called home in 2007. “The one thing I realized the other day is really since 2000 West Virginia has been home for me,” said Kirkland, “With the exception of three years being down in Alabama, I’ve been here.” Kirkland has coached at other institutions in West Virginia such as Glennville State, a Division Three institution, and the University of Charleston down in Charleston, West Virginia. However, the Country Roads brought Kirkland back home to Morgantown which he describes as nothing short of a blessing. “it’s a blessing,” said Kirkland, “it’s a responsibility, it’s a privilege, all of the above exciting ,you know we got a lot of work to do but it has been great to be back thus far.”
As Kirkland has progressed throughout his career and traveled and worked in different programs, he has grown as a coach, and his coaching style is much different since 2007. “I’d like to think I have gotten better,” said Kirkland, “part of that is just having new staff members that you are surrounded by.” However, Kirkland has not learned and developed all on his own, in fact, he has learned quite a bit from Rich Rodriguez. “I’ve learned a great deal from coach Rich Rodriguez,” said Kirkland, “the first time I was back here in 2006 and seven and being with him for three seasons at Jacksonville State it’s phenomenal.” Kirkland explained that Coach Rodriguez would always encourage his staff to go out there and learn to be innovative and different from other coaches.
Over the course of his coaching career, Pat Kirkland has come and gone through many different sectors of the state of West Virginia. However, it seems for now that Kirkland has found his home right back in the heart of Morgantown amongst Mountaineer nation and he could not be happier.
