One of the biggest tasks for the West Virginia coaching staff was rebuilding the offensive line.
The Mountaineers lost the top six options on the offensive front and a combined 4,598 snaps from just last season alone to graduation and the transfer portal. If you go by career snaps, that combined total is 12,275 meaning that a whole lot of experience walked out the door.
The unit was hit even harder when a pair of redshirt freshmen in Kyle Altuner and Lucas Austin elected to follow former offensive line coach Matt Moore to Virginia Tech.
That left just a combined 116 snaps at the position split between three players that saw the field in center Laden Livingston, offensive tackle Xavier Bausley, and offensive guard Nick Krahe.
So, naturally finding some options out of the transfer portal was a top priority for head coach Rich Rodriguez and his coaching staff after inheriting the football program.
West Virginia has added six transfer portal offensive linemen to the program in Princeton offensive tackle Will Reed, Tulsa offensive guard Walter Young Bear, LSU offensive guard Kimo Makane'ole, N.C. State offensive lineman Robby Martin, Arkansas offensive tackle Ty’kieast Crawford, and Youngstown State offensive lineman Wyatt Minor.
That group is a solid mixture of both potential and experience but in the case of West Virginia, the program simply needed capable bodies to round out the position room for both the spring and season ahead.
Reed has played 1,010 snaps the past two seasons with the Tigers where he appeared in 25 games and started 19 of those during that time. The Washington native was one of the premier options at the offensive tackle position in the transfer portal and helps to fill a major need with a seasoned option that had plenty of other opportunities.
Young Bear is the most experienced with 1,116 snaps and he started the final 14 games of his time with the Tulsa football program. A former walk-on, Young Bear is going to be asked to step into a starting role at one of the guard positions based on his experience alone.
Makane’ole was with the Tigers for four seasons but after spending his first three years on the offensive line was moved to the defensive side of the ball in his fourth. He will move back to offense in Morgantown and look to make the most of his final season there.
Martin is the youngest of the group and only spent one season with the Wolfpack before entering the transfer portal and returning home to West Virginia. The Huntington native has all four years remaining and is an athletic interior lineman who will have a chance to compete for time.
Crawford has experience at both Arkansas and Charlotte seeing action in 39 games over the course of his career and a total of 9 starts. The former four-star prospect only played 10 snaps in 2024 after he elected to redshirt in order to preserve a season of eligibility but over his career has played 643 snaps on the offensive line primarily at right tackle.
Finally, Minor is a former in-state native who has only appeared in one game over his two seasons with the Penguins but can give the Mountaineers another capable body there as the coaching staff looks to rebuild the room.
West Virginia now has a nice blend of offensive line options to add to what was already in the mix in order to give the coaching staff some options to try to build this offensive line in year one.
Now, even with these six transfer portal players in the mix, there is still a need for more options.
That will continue to be the focus as West Virginia moves toward the season.
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