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Center of attention? Orlosky becomes face of West Virginia offense

NFL scouting guru Gil Brandt compared West Virginia center Tyler Orlosky to 2016 Colts first-round pick Ryan Kelly.

 

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Entering the Dallas Omni Hotel ballroom in July for his second annual media days appearance, West Virginia center Tyler Orlosky prepared for the barrage of reporters.

Only this time, the questions trickled.

“I think only four or five people came by during the entire breakout session, so hardly anybody was interested in West Virginia,” Orlosky said.

To his right, media members were stacked three-deep for preseason favorite Oklahoma. On the left, a pack of journalists quizzed Baylor regarding its uncomfortable offseason. At the Texas players’ table, back-to-back losing seasons didn’t dissuade TV crews from cramming shoulder-to-shoulder.

“To sit there and not have people talk to you, it puts in perspective what people really think about you. But that’s OK,” said Orlosky, who spent the previous night downing a 32-ounce ribeye at Del Frisco’s in Fort Worth. “I come more for the steak, anyway.”

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The preseason All-Big 12 pick, regarded as one of the nation’s top centers, hardly comes off as attention-starved. NFL scouting legend Gil Brandt recently likened Orlosky to 2015 Remington Award-winner Ryan Kelly, another Ohio native who became a first-round pick of the Colts.

High praise, though Orlosky can’t fathom how he became one of the faces of West Virginia’s 4-0 start.

“If anyone knows me that’s pretty interesting, because no one really cares who an offensive lineman is,” he said. “Those are the people who are over-consumed with football if they know who the hell I am.”

This BYU parody account certainly knew about Orlosky:

*****

Sounding nothing like a football junkie, Orlosky relishes his time away from the game. At the pinnacle of a productive college career — and on pace to make the third-most starts in school history — he possesses a low saturation point for film study, especially during the offseason, and mocks the football-is-my-life crowd.

“If football’s your life, something’s wrong with you,” he said.

Coincidentally, the 300-pounder who warns “you can’t let yourself be consumed by football,” envisions becoming a football coach.

And he would take cues from Mountaineers head coach Dana Holgorsen.

“Hopefully Dana doesn’t hate me and lets me come back and coach when I’m finished playing,” he said.

Finalizing his degree in sports and exercise psychology, Orlosky recognizes his potential stress triggers. He’s wary of coaching at the high school level where “parents get too involved,” and doubts his aptitude for college recruiting because “recruiting is all about lying.”

He laughed, then clarified he wasn’t joking.

“Good recruiters are liars. That’s how you get a good recruit — you lie to them,” Orlosky said. “I’m a very honest person and I tend to tell it how it is, so going into a house and selling kids and parents on your school, that would be hard for me.”

“Hopefully Dana doesn’t hate me and lets me come back and coach when I’m finished playing.”

*****

The 2010 squad at St. Edward High carried a 14-0 record into the Ohio state final where it trailed 21-7 in the third quarter against Braxton Miller and Wayne High.

That’s when St. Edward’s offensive line began dominating — what you’d expect from a unit that had Orlosky at guard, Michigan recruit Kyle Kalis at tackle and four other Division I signees surrounding them.

“We basically ran counter with Tyler pulling and kicking out and Kyle wrapping up on the linebacker,” recalled O-line coach Pat Conachan. “We took control from there on out and won 35-28.”

Days later Orlosky dropped in at a West Virginia bowl practice accompanied by Conachan, who played center for the Mountaineers from 1978-80. That struck up a mutual interest and the following summer Orlosky committed to WVU over Michigan State, Illinois and Northwestern.

Conachan knew his alma mater landed a player who embraced strength-training, understood technique and could convert to center. It also got a player with a Promethean streak.

“What I learned about him early on is he’s going to question everything and wants to know why you’re doing it,” Conachan said. “It’s good to know that you have a player who’s that engaged and curious. But it can also be a drawback, because sometimes you’d like a player to just do what you tell him to do.

“But once Tyler buys in and understands what you’re doing, it’s easy to overlook the other part of it.”

*****

Orlosky made West Virginia’s traveling squad his first season, an if-necessary option while redshirting. He was not delusional about his readiness.

“I had a good base of understanding, knew what was expected of me, but I don’t think me playing that year would’ve turned out too well,” he said. “I knew I wasn’t ready.”

That was exemplified during a 42-12 blowout over James Madison at FedEx Field.

“We were beating the piss out of them and Curtis Feigt turned to me and said ‘You better get ready — you might be going in.’ I couldn’t even find my helmet, didn’t know where the hell it was. So I said ‘I don’t think I’m going in, Curt.’”

“When I have a question about checks coming in, where we’re eating, what the schedule is, what plane are we taking, I go to Tyler. He knows it all.”

*****

When Skyler Howard became WVU’s quarterback during a relief stint in 2014 against K-State, he famously overruled Orlosky on a pre-snap check. That play unfolded as a touchdown pass to Kevin White and became Howard’s take-charge moment — one he often references during interviews.

Howard described Orlosky as “definitely somebody you’ve got to get used to” but likes how their relationship has strengthened during the 19 games since.

“We might have butted heads when I first got here, but now I let him do his thing because I know he’s going to be in the right spot, he’s going to take charge, he’s going to be that leader on the line that we need,” Howard said.

“I let him do his thing and he’s going to let me do mine. And we’re going to work together when we need to, making checks and calling stuff out in the box.”

Orlosky also fills the role of unofficial player rep. When the team switched charter flights from Delta to Jet Blue last season, Orlosky lobbied for a reversal because the Delta flights had more first-class seats to accommodate the linemen.

Said Howard: “When I have a question about checks coming in, where we’re eating, what the schedule is, what plane are we taking, I go to Tyler. He knows it all.”





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