MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Twenty years after completing his second stint on West Virginia’s coaching staff, Rick Trickett has returned to Morgantown.
One of the more well-respected and longest-tenured offensive line coaches throughout college football, Trickett pondered the decision plenty, leaving behind a spot on Jacksonville State’s staff.
“I really liked Jax State. I had a great time with great people, but I’m from West Virginia, and after talking to coach, I felt like we need to come back and get this thing right,” Trickett said.
A native of Masontown, Trickett speaks highly of his tenure at Jacksonville State, where he served as offensive line coach for four seasons, the first three working alongside Rich Rodriguez before Rodriguez also returned to WVU as head coach.
“College football has changed so much in the last three or four years,” Trickett said. “I didn’t know if it was a good fit for me to be up on this level or not.”
But Trickett has returned to the Mountaineer staff, and while much has changed in regards to college football, the same doesn’t apply to a man who has worked at Florida State, Division II Glenville State and Jacksonville State since his first go-around on the WVU staff.
“I haven’t changed from then to now. I’ve altered a few things, but I’m still going to demand out of them what I’ve demanded in the past,” Trickett said. “That’s the biggest issue. They haven’t had that until they get to a certain program, but if they really love football and want to play football, most of them, the cream will come to the top.”
Staying true to himself is a big part of what’s made Trickett remain consistent and successful through the decades, according to Rodriguez.
“You kind of have to do it a certain way. Part of his success, there’s nobody that looks after his guys more than Rick Trickett,” Rodriguez said. “Every day and what they’re going to do, how they’re living, being disciplined. There’s a reason why so many guys that he’s had that have gone on to play in the NFL and had success still keep in touch him and still appreciate what he’s done.”
With the well-documented struggles West Virginia had up front throughout 2025, Trickett’s work is cut out for him to make the unit much improved.
Several transfers and true freshman Kevin Brown are expected to provide immediate help after the Mountaineers finished 14th in the Big 12 Conference last season with an average of 349.5 yards, and too often struggled to generate a quality push in short-yardage situations.
“You bring guys in out of the portal and they come from different programs. I only have two of them out there that know what I really want and how far we have to go, because they’ve been with me for two or three years,” Trickett said. “The rest of them are learning. We’re a little bit maybe ahead of where I thought we might be at this time.”
Trickett worked last season alongside one of three sons, former West Virginia quarterback Clint Trickett, then the Gamecocks’ offensive coordinator who now holds that title at Maryland.
This year, he will work with his other two sons in senior offensive assistant Travis Trickett and director of player evaluation Chance Trickett.
“That’s not everything it’s cracked up to be,” said the eldest Trickett. “They had to separate Clint and me three or four times last year. Travis is a little different personality. But it’s fun. It’s not bad. I enjoy it.
“I just come to work and do my job, and if they’re involved with something I’m doing then I have it. Clint was the offensive coordinator, so he thought he was my boss last year. That didn’t fly. So [Jacksonville State head coach Charles Kelly] made me assistant head coach so I could tell him. It was fun. We had a lot of good times, but there were some intense times, too. I’m looking forward to getting these kids better right now.”
Trickett’s passion for coaching hasn’t wavered and the veteran responsible for guiding several of the better offensive lines in WVU football history in his first stint from 2001-06 hopes he can get the best out of the front five in his return.
“My whole thing is about taking a kid that couldn’t do this or that and I’ve coached him and all of a sudden, I see it being done,” Trickett said. “I just love coaching. After Florida State, I went to Glenville State just to coach for three years, and then I went to Jacksonville State. I was at Auburn and Terry [Bowden] quit, and there weren’t many jobs. went from assistant head coach at Auburn to [head] coach at Glenville and assistant head coach at LSU all within about eight months. I’m just going to coach. If I have to go over and coach St. Francis Catholic, I’d go over there and coach them. I just love coaching.”