The country roads are taking Daphne and West Virginia alum Pat White back to Morgantown to serve as an assistant coach for his former college head coach.

Rich Rodriguez head coached the West Virginia Mountaineers from 2001 to 2007 when White was making plays as a three-star recruit with the Trojans in the Class of 2004. Now, the former dual-threat quarterback will serve as an assistant quarterbacks coach and assistant to the head coach after his hiring was announced on Feb. 12.

"It's really special to welcome Pat White back to Morgantown as a member of our football coaching staff," Rodriguez said in a Wednesday release. "He has been involved in some of the biggest wins in program history, and he will be a great presence in our quarterback room. Pat and I have been through so much together, and I am really proud of the quality of coach and mentor to young players that he has become."

White decided on West Virginia out of high school and went on to set 19 records at the school, conference and national levels and finished as the first college quarterback to start and win four-consecutive bowl games. He also closed his college career as the NCAA’s all-time leader in rushing yards by a quarterback (4,480 yards) but was unseated by Navy’s Keenan Reynolds (4,559 yards) and Michigan’s Denard Robinson (4,495 yards), who Rodriguez also coached.

After a three-year stint as the head coach at Jacksonville State — where he coached former Fairhope dual-threat quarterback Caden Creel — Rodriguez has returned to Morgantown to lead the Mountaineers again and White wasn’t his only former West Virginia player added to the coaching staff. Noel Devine, the Mountaineers’ career all-purpose yardage leader, was hired as an offensive analyst and assistant running backs coach in January.

Devine played his first two seasons alongside White’s final two seasons where the quarterback became the first player in Big East Conference history to pass for more than 10,000 yards. White was also the conference leader in touchdowns responsible for (103) and total offense (10,529).

With a 35-8 record when White served as starting quarterback, West Virginia also went 7-2 against top 25 opponents during his tenure. He was selected by the Miami Dolphins with the 44th overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft and also spent time with the Washington Redskins, Virginia Destroyers (United Football League) and Edmonton Eskimos (Canadian Football League).

A two-time state champion on the diamond, White was also a highly sought-after baseball prospect and was selected in four MLB Drafts. The Angels drafted White out of high school in 2004 as the Anaheim Angels then again in 2007 as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim before the Cincinnati Reds picked him in 2008 and the New York Yankees did so in 2009.

Most recently, White served as a quarterback and wide receiver offensive assistant coach with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2023 and 2024 as well as worked as a skills trainer. The Chargers threw the fewest interceptions in the NFL this season and made the Wild Card round of the playoffs.

His coaching career started at Alcorn State as the quarterbacks coach from 2018 to 2019 before he went to be the running backs coach at South Florida in 2020. In 2021, White served as the quarterbacks coach at Alabama State where he also was the interim offensive coordinator before he became the pass game coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Campbell in 2022.

Daphne went to three state championship games during White’s time as a Trojan and won a Class 6A title in 2001 when a Steve Savarese-led squad went undefeated.