WVU football: Jack Bicknell Jr. on the coaching path he was destined to follow

“I had no chance. I was going to be a coach,� West Virginia University’s new offensive line coach said. “Everybody I looked up to my whole life were coaches, including my dad.�

So, instead of moving to California out of college to work for some relatively new company called Apple, Bicknell accepted a job making $300 a month as a graduate assistant at Boston College, where he played center from 1981 through 1985.

From there, it was on to New Hampshire as a defensive line coach and then offensive line coach, and then to Louisiana Tech, where Bicknell became the coach in 1999. In eight seasons with the Bulldogs, Bicknell went 43-52, and he was let go following a 3-10 campaign in 2006.

Still, football was in his blood. Bicknell jumped right back into coaching, guiding the offensive line at BC before moving into the NFL. He spent seven seasons with the Giants, Chiefs, Steelers and Dolphins before heading back to the college game in 2017.

Bicknell coached the offensive line at Ole Miss, where he first coached with Rich Rodriguez, the Rebels’ offensive coordinator in 2019. He then went to Auburn, Louisville, North Carolina and Wisconsin before landing back with Rodriguez at WVU.

That’s where the surprising part of the story begins. When Bicknell was snapping the ball to Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie playing against the Mountaineers, he never dreamed he’d be coaching in Morgantown one day.

In fact, WVU didn’t fill Bicknell with happy memories. He was 0-5 against the Mountaineers during his playing days at BC, and a 21-20 setback in Morgantown in 1984 might have cost the Eagles, who finished 10-2 and ranked No. 5 in the country, a shot at playing for a national championship.

Playing defensive back on that team was Rodriguez, who won’t let Bicknell forget those days.

“Who would have thought over 40 years later that we would have never beat West Virginia and I would be at West Virginia?� Bicknell said. “And Rich Rod, who played against me, would be able to rub this in for the rest of my life. It’s a very difficult thing, for sure.�

Rodriguez is quick to bring up those days, and when Bicknell is touring prospects around WVU’s Hall of Traditions, one of the highlights that plays on the big screen is of that 1984 Mountaineer victory.

“It still stings a little bit. I’m not going to lie,� Bicknell said. “Coach Rodriguez never lets a moment go by where he doesn’t zing me.

“That’s a great credit to West Virginia, really. We beat everybody — Alabama, Clemson, Miami, you name it — except for West Virginia.�

So, when Rodriguez called and offered Bicknell a job on his new staff at WVU, there was understandably some hesitation. But ultimately, Bicknell’s respect for Rodriguez won the day.

“He brings it every single day to work, and his ability to make people rise up and get that wave going [is unique],� Bicknell said of his new boss. “I think the great head coaches do that, and he may be one of the best at doing that.

“It’s exciting to be back with him and something I’m really looking forward to.�

Bicknell isn’t just excited about Rodriguez as a person. He also is a fan of his offensive approach and directing an offensive line in his system.

“I love tempo because that tires out a D-line,� Rodriguez said. “A lot of times, it makes them more simple because they can’t get everything in if you’re going fast. It’s a very friendly offensive line system, and it’s a very similar system to what I’ve been in for many a year now.�

Bicknell also knows the type of player he needs to succeed in a Rodriguez offense.

“You have to be in shape,� Bicknell said. “You can’t be one of these big, fat, sluggo guys just wallowing around. That’s not going to work. We need to have athletic linemen who are in shape, can run and can press the tempo. We’re going to do a lot of pulling and things of that nature, so we need to have guys that can come off the ball.�

It’s a little different look than a 320-pound rock wall that just takes up space. At its core, though, Bicknell said the game’s fundamentals haven’t changed.

“Get lower than them and keep your hands inside,� he said simply of the goals for an offensive lineman. “That’s the way it’s been since I was in eighth grade. Leverage isn’t going to change unless human beings change.

“Everything outside is totally different, but the actual game hasn’t changed much.�

For Bicknell, that includes how to coach players, and it’s a lesson he learned from his dad. When the younger Bicknell took over at Louisiana Tech, he went to his father and asked for one piece of advice.

“Treat every player like they’re your own son,� said the older Bicknell, who with wife Helen are the parents of three — John, Katelyn and Alyse — and the grandfather of five — Jay, Asher, Noelle, Haven and Ben.

It’s a philosophy that WVU offensive line coach still employs today.

“I always try to keep that in mind,� he said. “My own son will tell you, I wasn’t always telling him everything he wanted to hear or not demanding excellence out of him. I want to make sure the players know that we truly do care about them, but we’re also going to push them to be at the highest level they can be. We’re not going to accept anything but their best.

“I enjoy my players. That’s why I do this. I hope I’m able to have an influence on a young man at a critical point in his life. It’s a blessing for me to be a part of it.�

Even if it’s in a place he never expected.