WVU’s Rebuilt Offensive Line Off to a 'Sharp' Start, According to Rich Rodriguez

Originally posted on West Virginia Mountaineers on SI
By Schuyler Callihan | Last updated Aug 2, 2025 8:47 AM ET

This offseason, the West Virginia coaching staff had to replace the entire starting offensive line with Wyatt Milum and Nick Malone graduating and getting opportunities at the next level, Brandon Yates and Ja'Quay Hubbard graduating, and Tomas Rimac transferring to Virginia Tech.

Former o-line coach Matt Moore also took Lucas Austin, Kyle Altuner, and 2025 signee Gavin Crawford with him to Blacksburg. Johnny Williams V departed for Missouri, and several others also hit the portal.

It's a group that's almost built from scratch with only a handful of guys returning, such as Landen Livingston, Nick Krahe, and Cooper Young. Anytime you have that much newness up front, it can cause some serious stress. So far through three practices, though, head coach Rich Rodriguez has been pleased with what he's seen.

“It’s a very conscientious group. I mean, I’ve got three really good o-line coaches working with them. Mentally, as far as assignment-wise, and again, we’re not that complicated at all, but what I saw at least the last three days, they’ve been pretty sharp mentally. I didn’t think today we got as much push maybe up on the line of scrimmage. And Coach (Zac) Alley, he’s got 46 blitzes and 18 coverages and 45 fronts put in already, I think. I hate to limit it because they do such a good job teaching it, but there’s a whole lot more our guys have saw up front today in the third day of practice than you would normally expect, so I’ll reserve judgment until we see it a few more times.”

Practices aren't fully padded yet, so it's still not the best indicator of where the bunch is at, but knowing what to do is half the battle. They'll get a good feel for who is physical and conditioned to play in this uptempo offense in the upcoming weeks. The one good thing about this room is it's pretty deep. They have 12-13 guys who have played some level of college football, and more than five who have some starting experience.