Football

Rick Trickett is taking everyone back to basics to find WVU’s center

MORGANTOWN -- West Virginia football offensive line coach Rick Trickett is old school. Heck, he's 78, so what do you expect? But how he figures out what position each offensive lineman plays is a bit unique in the modern era of college football.

Normally, a player comes in, and they'll be labeled a tackle and will play tackle all their life, until the pros, where they get swapped up based on need. Trickett starts everyone from scratch, and that even goes for the center.

"I've done that for a long time," Trickett said.

Trickett's strategy has paid off a couple of times. Last year, in the season opener, Jacksonville State opened against Middle Tennessee, the Gamecocks center slipped and did a split on the first play of the game. He was out with an injury.

Cam Griffin, who is on the team now, went in at center.

"He had to go and play center the whole game," Trickett said. "We were able to win the ball game and stuff. You never know."

Center is a bit different from guard and tackle. There's more responsibility. Not only do you have to block, but you have to get everyone on the line lined up and snap the ball. In Rich Rodriguez's tempo offense, it's even harder, because you have to find the ref, get the ball and get ready to snap quickly.

Trickett's been working through a couple of centers through the spring and into the first practices this fall.

Wyoming transfer Wes King has snapped quite a bit since he transferred this offseason. King played left guard last year, playing in 12 games, and hasn't allowed a sack in 33 games. He's a big center, too, at 6-foot-3, 309 pounds, according to the online roster. King is a veteran and has snapping experience.

"He’s a really savvy football player," Rodriguez said. "He’s got a whole lot of experience, and so it was natural for him to be at center."

Last season, Landen Livingston was the center for the Mountaineers. He's one of the few returners on the team and has been with WVU since 2022. Livingston played in 11 games, missing the Utah game due to an injury.

Livingston has worked at center, carrying over some chemistry with quarterback Scotty Fox Jr. from last season. But with a new offensive line coach, Livingston might have to flex in at another position.

Griffin, who Trickett mentioned earlier as an emergency center, has worked in, too. He started in 13 games at three different positions, which included snapping the ball. Griffin graded out at 76.9% in pass blocking, being used on 422 snaps, and earned All-Conference USA First-Team honors.

"Cam Griffin played it for me before," Trickett said. "He’s solid in there and stuff. He didn’t have a great day today, but he was pretty good the first few days."

Trickett is already looking at a potential center for the future. True freshman Lamarcus Dillard is the fourth center working in. Dillard played both center and guard at St. Frances Academy, which is one of the best high schools in the country. He was a 3-star recruit and had offers from Maryland, Pitt and Boston College.

"I got a young kid named Lamarcus Dillard that down the road he has a chance to be a really, really good player," Trickett said.

Through Trickett's strategy of testing every lineman at every position, he's found four potential guys who can snap for the Mountaineers. There might even be more, but those are the four he called out by name.

With just King, Livingston and Griffin, there's a lot of experience, which bodes well for WVU.

"You can't have too many centers," Trickett said. "There’s no Dan Mozes out there right now, but we’re getting closer."