The West Virginia Mountaineers football program has added some help in the future secondary with a commitment from Dallas (Tx.) South Oak Cliff 2026 athlete Rickey Giles.
Giles, 6-foot-0, 175-pounds, also received scholarship offers from Utah, Purdue, Oregon State, San Diego State, Boise State, Memphis, Tulsa, North Texas, Texas State, Coastal Carolina, Colorado State and more.
The Mountaineers jumped into the mix in early April when safeties coach Gabe Franklin extended a scholarship offer to the Lone Star State athlete.
The versatile defensive back took an official visit to Morgantown June 13-15 and the experience helped to push the Big 12 Conference program to the top of his list.
West Virginia is targeting Giles at the safety position after he finished his junior campaign by recording 51 tackles and 2 interceptions for South Oak Cliff.
WVSports.com breaks down the commitment of Giles and what it means to the West Virginia Mountaineers football program both now and in the future.
Skill set:
Giles has a good blend of size and speed at the position and displays the ability to cover a lot of ground in open space. Displays the ability to read the quarterback and make plays on the football. Plays the position aggressively and possesses a physical element when tasked in coverage or coming down to hit from his safety position. There is versatility here for Giles to move around to multiple positions at the safety spot and he should have no problems fitting into the scheme.
Giles plays to the whistle and is a strong tackler from the safety position.
Fitting the program:
West Virginia is going to need players that can step in at the safety and nickel spots as half of the dozen players currently on the roster will be gone at the end of 2025 due to graduation. That means that identifying and securing options that not only can help but have the versatility to move around to multiple spots is a priority in the 2026 recruiting class.
The Mountaineers have found a prospect in Giles that can play a number of roles in the defense and gives the program a good addition in the back end.
Texas continues to be an area that is receiving more attention under this current coaching staff given the ties with some of the coaches and is a talent-rich state that can open some pathways up for the coaching staff to find some key pieces willing to branch out.
Recruiting the position:
West Virginia is still going to be searching for some defensive back additions at the various spots given the turnover that is set to occur at the end of the season. The coaching staff has made some serious progress since the start of the summer but there needs to be more especially given the versatility that the coaching staff wants for players to bounce around to multiple spots.
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