Following the 2002 season , Rodriguez was awarded the Big East Coach of the Year by Sporting News and state college coach of the year for all sports by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association . He also received the 2003 Frank Loria Award from the West Virginia chapter of the National Football Foundation , and also earned Big East Coach of the Year that season . In 2005 , he was offered to join the AFCA Board of Directors , and that same season was again given Big East Coach of the Year honors . In 2005 , Rodriguez and the Mountaineers won the Big East title with freshman tandem Steve Slaton and Patrick White , thus claiming the conference 's automatic berth in the Bowl Championship Series ( BCS ) , where they defeated the Georgia Bulldogs in the Nokia Sugar Bowl and a final Associated Press ranking of fifth , tying the highest in school history ( other in 1988 )
Big East
Big East Conference (1979–2013)
Rich Rodriguez