Jacksonville State head coach Rich Rodriguez got a text from sports media personality Pat McAfee a while back.
“He said he kind of bet on himself career-wise with different companies, whatever,” Rodriguez said of his former kicker and punter. “He bet on himself, and he’s made it, and now he’s doing fantastic.”
McAfee’s personality has become one of the key media figures in football, with the former punter signing a deal to appear on NFL Network’s NFL GameDay Morning and being one of the faces of ESPN’s College GameDay.
While McAfee’s success has impressed his former coach, Rodriguez has always known McAfee had the potential to shine.
“Pat always had a great personality,” Rodriguez said. “He’s a typical specialist, that he’s probably bored half the time, and so he found out something to do. But, he was one of the most competitive guys I’ve coached, regardless of position, so you knew he was going to be good at his craft.”
McAfee, a four-year starter at punter and kicker for the Mountaineers, played under Rodriguez from 2005-2007 before Rodriguez accepted the job at Michigan in 2008.
McAfee is West Virginia’s all-time scoring leader, totaling 384 points across four seasons; he also ranks first in career extra points made (210) and third in punting average (43.7) and field goals made (58), according to the program’s media guide.
When talking about McAfee as a player, Rodriguez was always a bit concerned about when the specialist would get in from parties; still, McAfee delivered.
“I was afraid to check curfew because I was afraid he wouldn’t be in it,” Rodriguez said. “But I told him, I said, ‘If I don’t check curfew and you miss kicks, you’re in big trouble.’ But, he didn’t miss many kicks, or certainly punted very well; he did both for me.”
Rodriguez said McAfee told him that he’d like to come to Jacksonville one day to visit, with the now-Jacksonville State coach hoping McAfee will make the trip to Calhoun County soon.
“Everybody says, ‘What’s he like?’ That’s who he is,” Rodriguez said. “I mean, he’s a fun guy, but the thing he really does that I don’t know if people realize is that he works really, really hard. Being an analyst and doing stuff like he does, there’s a lot of research you can do, and he does a whole bunch of research, a whole bunch of work ahead of time.”
Jax State (1-3) is set to play Kennesaw State in Kennesaw, Georgia, on Friday. Kickoff for both team’s Conference USA opener is set for 6 p.m., with the game to be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
