Offseason improvement crucial for West Virginia football's offensive line
The offseason is now go time for West Virginia’s offensive linemen.
It’s a crucial period for this position group to get bigger and stronger following a season that saw many growing pains out of this group up front. West Virginia’s offensive line was solid when it came to pass protection, but it was a different story on the ground with the Mountaineers rushing for 51 or less yards in seven different games.
“It’s huge,” now former West Virginia offensive tackle Kelby Wickline said regarding the offseason’s importance. “It’s probably bigger than the actual regular season in just being prepared. You gotta develop physically, mentally and learn schematics, technique. I mean it all comes hand in hand and that time’s really more crucial than anything.”
Outside of the team’s two tackles in Colton McKivitz and Wickline, who played their final season with the program in 2019, the interior line had its struggles when it came to getting a push up front against opposing Big 12 defensive lines.
Offensive line coach Matt Moore had the same issue during Neal Brown’s first season as Troy’s head coach in 2015 when the Trojans averaged 3.7 yards per carry and just under 120 rushing yards per game.
“The first year at Troy, we really struggled up front,” Moore said. “The second year, I brought in one junior college guy during the summer and it was a mixture of having that guy and also everybody getting better from the standpoint of the fundamentals and the things of the way we try to coach them and the things that we need to do.”
The following season, Troy’s rushing attack showed some improvement by averaging 4.5 yards per rush and 169.2 yards on the ground per game.
There were some positives to take away from the West Virginia offensive line this past year such as the group’s pass protection, the strides made by guards James Gmiter and Mike Brown as well as players like Briason Mays and John Hughes getting valuable playing time.
However, some of these players weren’t physically ready when it came to facing opposing defensive linemen in the conference which resulted in some growing pains.
“It’s tough when you go out there and you’re going against a guy that’s bigger and stronger than you,” Moore said.
“If you can use great technique and hang with these guys and then as you get stronger, you’re just going to continue to get better. That’s been in my experience in the past with the guys I’ve had. The young guys that really struggle early as they get older, as they become more mature and they become stronger and able to handle those guys and they keep that technique that they learned when they weren’t that strong.”
That was the case for McKivitz, who according to Moore, was overpowered early in his career, but with his solid technique and increased strength, he was able to become the team’s best lineman, earning First Team All-Big 12 honors this past season.
McKivitz knows the importance the offseason serves for offensive linemen, especially when it comes to performing in the weight room and embracing the process altogether.
“It kinda spits out guys where if you’re not all in, if you don’t take advantage of it, then it’s gonna show during the season,” McKivitz said. “They challenge you. They either make you a player or they don’t. I think you either run from them or attack them. I think that’s the biggest thing of those offseason workouts is you attack them or run from them.”
West Virginia added a JUCO offensive lineman in Tariq Stewart to its 2020 class and may potentially have another in Jacob Gamble, if he signs, and/or a transfer.
But it's up to this group, especially the younger underclassmen, to make strides this offseason when it comes to building more strength so they can be more physically ready to face the defensive linemen they’ll play against.
“Briason Mays, John Hughes—some of those guys really need to have a great offseason from a strength standpoint because I don’t think that both those guys didn’t really understand where they were,” Moore said. “Now you get out there and you go against some of these Big 12 players that are really good then you really understand like, ‘Hey, I’ve really got to get stronger, I really gotta be more physical.’”
On top of that, Moore is also looking for the group to make improvements on their mental toughness.
It’s a long offseason, but the process is crucial and all eyes will be on this group heading into next season.
“We’re gonna be better disciplined,” Moore said. “We’re gonna understand more what we gotta do and it’s gonna give me a full offseason to really get these guys going in the direction that we wanna go.”
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