As a player, Jack Bicknell Jr. never could beat the West Virginia University football team. But that didn’t stop him from joining the Mountaineers as their new offensive line coach.
Bicknell brings a well-traveled veteran presence – that has also been felt on coaching staffs in the SEC, ACC, Big Ten and the NFL – to Morgantown as a part of head coach Rich Rodriguez’s new staff. He said Tuesday that he was excited both for the potential in his offensive linemen and his opportunity to coach in an offensive system that benefits the position he coaches.
“I love tempo,” Bicknell said. “That tires out a D-line. A lot of times, it makes them more simple because they can’t get everything.
“If you’re disguising one side and bringing the blitz the other way, they can’t do that if we’re going fast,” he added. “So it’s a very friendly offensive line system. … I love it as an O-line coach. The tempo, we’ve very simple, yet we’re diverse enough that we can hit anywhere on the field.”
Rodriguez and Bickenell have a coaching history together. Bicknell served as offensive line coach at Ole Miss the year Rodriguez was offensive coordinator.
Rodriguez said that experience showed that Bicknell would be a great fit at WVU. The rest of Bicknell’s resume reinforces that notion, with stints as Louisiana Tech’s head coach, as well as offensive line coaching stops at Boston College, Ole Miss, Auburn, Louisville, North Carolina and Wisconsin, as well as the Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants, Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs.
“I really respect him as a coach,” Rodriguez said. “He’s a great person and an outstanding recruiter. He understands ball.”
Yet their connection goes even further back to their playing days. In those years at Boston College from 1981-85 when Bicknell – who was a center for his father, head coach Jack Bicknell Sr. – couldn’t beat WVU, even with Doug Flutie at quarterback, Rodriguez was part of the Mountaineer secondary.
Bicknell said Rodriguez has playfully reminded him of that this spring.
“Of all the teams to never have beat,” he said with a smile. “It’s tough, tough to live with, man. But can’t go back now.”
The mission now, Bicknell said, is to set up the Mountaineers offensive line for the future. West Virginia University has been home to great offensive lines and great offensive linemen in the past. Last year’s line was anchored by consensus All-American tackle Wyatt Milum and All-Big 12 honorable mention tackle Nick Malone while helping WVU finish 27th nationally in rushing offense with nearly 170 yards per game.
Rodriguez said he hasn’t seen a performance of that caliber on the practice field yet this spring, though he did say it was very early in the process. What he has seen is the desire in the offensive linemen to get better and reach those heights.
“I think the eagerness to learn, the want-to, is there,” he said. “There’s not a whole lot of experience … so that’s a concern, but I’m seeing steps every day where they get a little better.
“We’ve got some pretty good players up front,” Rodriguez added. “The one thing they have, they’re all eager to get a chance to play a lot, because none of them have.”
Bicknell agreed with Rodriguez that the offensive line’s spirit and drive will help them get to the level they desire.
“They’re a very willing group,” Bicknell said. “They want to be coached. They want to play hard. And I think that’s what we’re trying to show them when the coaches talk about a hard edge. What does that really mean? Everybody can talk about it, but you’ve got to live it and we’re trying to push them to that level.”
And while the future is the focus, Bicknell said the offensive line has to dip back into the past to learn the proper way to be and play in Rodriguez’s spread option offense. The most important thing, he said, is that the offensive line must be in shape and show athleticism.
“You can’t be one of those big, fat Sluggo guys just kind of waddling around,” he said. “That’s not going to work. So we need to have athletic linemen who are in shape, that can run, that can press the tempo.
“We’re going to do a lot of pulling and things of that nature,” Bicknell added. “So we need to have guys who are athletic, I would say ‘twitchy,’ who can come off the ball.”
Story by Derek Redd
