MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Having played football since his junior year of high school, Cam Torbor remains raw and with little experience on the gridiron..
Yet as West Virginia continues preparations for its 2026 season, if Torbor and the Mountaineers alike have their way, he could be a household name in the near future.
A true freshman at WVU last year who appeared in four games and played no more than five snaps in any contest, Torbor used the campaign to redshirt as he continued to acclimate to college football and the sport as a whole.
“It’s definitely getting easier. The more you stay in the program, the more used to everything you get,” Torbor said. “I feel like I’m making my way and learning the defense.”
Considering he has only played football the last three years, the strides Torbor has made to put himself in position for meaningful playing time as a redshirt freshman in 2026 can be described as significant.
“I played basketball most of high school. Started playing football my junior year,” Torbor said. “I started talking to this coaching staff at Jacksonville State, and when they came up here, we kind of kept in contact. I wasn’t playing for that long and that’s just kind of how it turned out.”
A native of Hoover, Ala., Torbor played for a storied Hoover High School program.
He is the son of former Auburn standout and eight-year National Football League veteran Reggie Torbor.
Yet despite his dad playing football at a high level in college before he went on to become a fourth-round pick in the 2004 NFL Draft, Torbor didn’t give the sport a go until he was halfway through high school.
“High school coaches were telling me try it out and they just kept asking me and I just kind of went for it,” Torbor said.
“It was just a random thought,” he continued. “My best friend was on the football team at the high school. I just went for it.”
As a senior, Torbor was a first-team all-state selection by the Alabama Sports Writers Association and had shown enough that he was fielding offers from colleges.
WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez was at Jacksonville State at that time and took notice of Torbor.
“Cam Torbor was a great find for us, but we knew about him from our time in Alabama,” Rodriguez said. “I knew it then. We were going to try and get him at Jax State and I was like, ‘I hope nobody else finds out about this guy’, but when you come from the state of Alabama, people are going to know who you are.”
Fortunately for Rodriguez, Torbor landed at West Virginia.
Soon enough, the 6-foot-3, 239-pound linebacker is expected to be thrust into the most meaningful action of his young career.
“He’ll play on defense. He’s going to play on special teams,” Rodriguez said. “I’m really, really excited for Cam Torbor. He’s a great young man, too. He’s going to have a great future here.”
Torbor says he wants to do whatever he can to fit into a defense that has almost all new personnel from last season.
“It’s been the same from my point of view,” Torbor said. “I come in, work as hard as I can. Since I’ve been here, that’s kind of been my thing. Run to the ball — even if you don’t know what you’re doing, just run to the ball. That’s kind of what I’ve been doing since I got here and I think that’s kind of how I got to where I’m at.”
Torbor notices the benefits of the hard work, but tries not to let that play into his mindset.
“I can see it’s starting to pay off, but that doesn’t mean I slow down,” he said. “I need to keep working as hard as I can and keep doing everything I can do to make the team better.”
When his expanded opportunity arises, the Mountaineers are hopeful Torbor will showcase versatility that can aid a defense in search of a surplus of that skill.
Before long, he’ll get every opportunity to prove his worth, and Rodriguez has no reason to believe Torbor won’t make the most of it.
“He can run,” Rodriguez said. “He’s one of the biggest guys we have. He might be the fastest backer we have. He comes from good bloodlines with his family and he’s just a really good football player. I’d take a bunch of Cam Torbors. I can tell you that.”