MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WV News) ā€” Zach Frazier is an All-American football player who is as quiet as he is tough, which in this day and age where players expect them to throw a dinner in their honor if they just do their job is a unique ā€” and welcome ā€” trait.

The All-American honor was bestowed upon him on Thursday when he was named the second team center on the Walter Camp All-American team.

That a center, who exists amidst the obscurity of the offensive line on a 6-6 team that was offensively challenged throughout a 6-6 season could attain such acclaim says more about Frazier than he'd ever say about himself.

Suffice it to say that when asked during the midseason bye week how he had changed from his freshman to sophomore season, Frazier offered up this insight into himself.

"As far as how far I came from last year, I'm definitely a different person," he said. "Last year I wouldn't say anything to anyone, so I've gotten better in that area. I don't think I'm all the way there yet, but I have gotten better and I work on it every day."

Most sophomores have to work on their technique at playing the position or on building themselves physically, but Frazier's biggest challenge is in becoming more vocally assertive as a leader.

Teammates naturally look up to him as a uniquely talented and dedicated athlete who dominates on the field.

"I have to work on talking. I like to lead by example. I've had to work on talking to everyone," he said.

Frazier was a huge get for WVU when he came out of Fairmont Senior, as did the Stills brothers before him, as an All-State player who doubled as the state's best wrestler.

He came on campus ready to play ... and Neal Brown took advantage of that.

A center in high school, Brown found a need for him as a guard and he smoothly transferred over, starting his first college game at the position as a true freshman.

Eventually, he went back to center and has been there ever since, proving himself far and away the best player on this year's team.

The problem is making anyone know about it. TV cameras do not focus on centers. SportsCenters Top 10 plays seldom, if ever, zero in on their play.

Yet they make the offense go, as evidenced this year as the offensive line struggled through the first half of the season trying come together with a number of newcomers surrounding Frazier. Oddly, probably the low point in the season was when Frazier, on consecutive plays, was hit with a penalty as he started to snapped the ball, then hesitated, followed by snapping it before quarterback Jarret Doege was ready, resulting in a 26-yard loss.

"The play before I had the bad snap I had the snap infraction," Frazier recalled at a midseason press conference. "I couldn't really hear, so I told myself if I hear anything I'm going to snap it. The linebacker called out something and I snapped it. It wasn't the quarterback who called it out."

He was able to shrug that off and through the second half of the season, as WVU went 4-2 down the stretch, anchor the O-line, which became the most improved unit the Mountaineers put on the field.

"The biggest thing for me is I don't want to have bad plays," he stressed. "I'd rather have good plays and eliminate my bad plays. I look most at my bad plays and try to get rid of them."

Oddly, when the season ended, Frazier had pushed that one unflattering moment out of the picture and was named second team All-Big 12 ... but even that makes him look underappreciated now that the Walter Camp committee saw to make him a second-team All-American.

Frazier was the 25th Mountaineer to be named a Walter Camp All-American. The Mountaineers have landed someone on the team the last six years and seven of the past eight.

Frazier started all 12 games for WVU this year. He also finished them, taking all 841 offensive snaps at center. He finished with 60 knockdown blocks and 28 great blocks while surrendering only two sacks the entire season.

Offensive lineman Zach Frazier had a freshman season that few players at his position enjoyed in their first year in a college uniform.

The Fairmont, West Virginia, native started nine of WVUā€™s 10 games in 2020, earning true freshman first-team All-America status from ESPN as well as a spot on the All-Big 12 Honorable Mention list for all classes.

In a position group where most first-year players donā€™t see the field at all, or get just a few snaps of mop-up duty, his performance stands alongside some of the best initial offensive line showings in Mountaineer history.

So, where does he go from here?

The automatic assumption from most is that heā€™ll continue on an upward arc and will be an anchor of West Virginiaā€™s line for years to come. Thatā€™s certainly not out of the question, but it should also be remembered that heā€™s changing positions this year, moving from the guard spot he manned for most of 2020, to center, where he will be making line calls and holding responsibility for communication with everyone up front.

Those will not be easy tasks, and while heā€™s definitely capable of clearing those hurdles, it should also be remembered that some of the best in WVU history had some hiccups when facing those same challenges.

Take, for example, Dan Mozes ā€“ the 2006 Rimington Award winner and arguably the greatest offensive lineman in Mountaineer annals. Mozes also made the move from guard to center during his career, and the immediate results were less than auspicious, as he sailed a few off-target snaps in his initial game and was nearly moved back to guard by impatient head coach Rich Rodriguez.

The good news is that Frazier already has a bit of experience at center, having started and played at the spot in last yearā€™s opener against Eastern Kentucky before moving over to guard for the remainder of the year. Frazierā€™s physical build (6-3, 305 lbs.) and skills also seem suited for center, as he plays with a low center of gravity and can call on his championship-caliber wrestling skills for many of the battles he will engage in after the snap.

ā€œIt taught me to be versatile,ā€ Frazier said of last yearā€™s experience at two positions. ā€œIn fall camp (in 2020), I learned center, and I know I have to use my voice now, where I havenā€™t had to do that. You donā€™t have to make any of the calls (at guard), but at center, you have to pretty much command the whole line. You have to communicate a lot more. The game speed has slowed down for me, though, because I understand the game more.ā€

Also working in his favor is his raw strength, which heā€™s improved after an offseasonā€™s worth of work. He had 26 knockdown blocks last year ā€“ the best on the team ā€“ and plays with an edge that belies his genial demeanor off the field.

Will all of those factors come together and allow him to continue on an arc that could culminate with him becoming one of the top linemen in the league? Without question, West Virginia needs that to happen if its offense is to improve in 2021.