Rich Rodriguez explains banning TikTok dancing with players: 'Ain't quite the image of our program I want'

Since social media became prevalent, how players use it has become an interesting challenge for coaches. So, now looking to rebuild the West Virginia Mountaineers football program, head coach Rich Rodriguez has taken the time to break down his plans on how to monitor social media.

Ahead of Spring ball, Rodriguez explained that he mostly chooses not to put on social media bans. That comes with one exception, though. He doesn’t want to see his players doing dances for TikTok.

“I don’t really — they’re going to be on it,” Rich Rodriguez said. “So, I’m not banning them from it. I’m just banning them from dancing on it. We try to have a hard edge, whatever, and you’re in your tights dancing on TikTok. It ain’t quite the image of our program that I want.”

TikTok, a platform known for its brief videos, often features content creators who do dances in their videos. Others will often also go to replicate those dancing trends, which is exactly what Rodriguez is hoping to avoid.

There is actually more that goes into the rule than just a distaste for TikTok as a social media platform. It’s also about Rodriguez working to change the culture of the program, and making sure that players are focused on the team.

“I told the team today, I said everything today is about trying to make everybody individual. It’s all about the individual, it’s all about the individual,” Rodriguez said. “And I said football is one of the last things that’s got to be more about the team than the individual.”

Ultimately, Rich Rodriguez isn’t making any sweeping social media bans for his team. However, he did smile and joke that the specific act of dancing in a TikTok is banned. If players want to do that, they can do it after they’ve moved on from college.

“So, I banned dancing on TikTok, I guess I did that. Anything that doesn’t look like our program should look. It’s just, come on. And I’m allowed to do that, I guess. I can have rules. Like I said, twenty years from now if they want to be sitting in their pajamas in their basement eating Cheetos and watching TikTok, whatever the hell,” Rodriguez said. “They can go at it. Smoking cannabis, whatever. I mean, knock yourself out. I hope our focus can be on winning football games. How about let’s win the football game and not worry about winning the TikTok.”

Presumably, the ban on dancing also extends to the very similar Instagram Reels platform. At the very least, it will be interesting to see if any players look to test Rich Rodriguez by using that platform instead as a loophole.