MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WV News) — 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 — and welcome — 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.
