Spring Valley football coach Brad Dingess isn’t quite sure when he realized what transpired Friday in Wyatt Milum becoming a third-round draft pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars would be possible.
“I don’t know if I’d really say I knew early,” Dingess said, “but you took notice when he played Youth League Football and Little League Baseball at Ceredo-Kenova just how big he was and the things he could do.”
In the years to come, Milum would spend his sophomore, junior and senior years at SVHS after attending nearby Wayne as a freshman, where he helped lead the Pioneers to a Class AA runner-up finish on the diamond.
As a sophomore and in his first season at Spring Valley, Milum earned second-team all-state honors for his play on an offensive front that also featured Division I-bound teammates Doug Nester (Virginia Tech/West Virginia) and Zach Williamson (Louisville). The Timberwolves finished Class AAA runner-up to Martinsburg a third straight season.
The next year, Dingess took notice to how Milum increased his strength and elevated his play.
“Going into his junior year when he started to put on a bit more weight, with his bend and explosion, you knew he was going to be something special,” Dingess said. “I don’t think you ever really say that guy’s going to be a top 3 round draft pick, but you knew he could be something special at the power conference level.”
Playing and practicing with numerous future college football players throughout his time with the Timberwolves helped Milum steadily progress to the point he was a first-team all-state pick as a junior and senior, the Stydahar Award winner in 2020 as the state’s top lineman and one of the more heralded in-state recruits over the last decade.
“His ability to finish and he just had that nasty to him,” Dingess said. “Being able to move and have that nasty really helped him out a lot. We had some kids with that size and he got to practice against the best in the state. He was with Doug Nester, Bryce Biggs, Corbin Paige, Zach Williamson, and those were Power 4 guys that he would go against. It helped him and the other guys, too. Usually, when you get a kid like that who comes along, you only have one of them, and we were lucky enough to have several of that size.”
Milum sorted through an abundance of offers from high-level programs before choosing West Virginia, where he became an immediate contributor and started eight games at right tackle as a true freshman in 2021.
Milum moved to left tackle the next season, and in 2023 and 2024, was a first-team all-Big 12 Conference selection, while not allowing a sack either season. In 34 of the last 36 games Milum played in as a Mountaineer, he did not allow a sack.
It all paid off on the second day of the draft for Milum, who married Lauren Sexton six days before receiving word he was a Jaguar.
Jacksonville fans now hope a similar pattern can follow as Milum turns his attention in the future toward protecting quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
“I did a good job at West Virginia not letting anyone touch the quarterback,” Milum said, “and that’s my goal is to not let anyone touch Trevor.”
While the nastiness Dingess described Milum possessing on the field helped his football career take off, the Kenova native is almost the opposite away from the gridiron.
Throughout his WVU career, Milum was generally rather reserved, true to his roots and simplistic in his approach.
“Even before the draft, he’d still come borrow the weight room keys off of me and come visit with me in my physical education class, too,” Dingess said. “He’s a pretty humble kid and he hasn’t let all the success and that stuff get to his head.”
Whether Milum’s initial opportunity in Jacksonville comes at guard or tackle is something the Jaguars will determine in the near future. At 6-foot-6 and 313 pounds, his stature could allow for snaps at both positions.
Just as he did in college, Milum hopes to make his presence felt immediately.
“They’re going to see somebody that loves to play the game of football, gives their all every play, plays through the whistle and someone that loves the game and enjoys it,” Milum said. “I love this game and wouldn’t know what to do without football. You’re going to get a hard worker. Not letting anyone touch the quarterback — I’m going to promise them that.”