Apr. 4—MORGANTOWN — Travis Trickett just opened a bank account after accepting his first job as the inside receivers coach at Samford in 2012 and was asked a security question. What was your dream job ? He answered work at West Virginia University.
Fast forward over a decade later, Trickett’s dream came true, accepting the offensive assistant position under his former coach, Rich Rodriguez, at West Virginia.
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“To be able to do that under my head coach that I was under when I was a student here, you can’t put a price on that, ” Trickett said. “This is home. This is where I went to school, my wife went to school. It’s done a lot for my family, not only myself and my family, but also Clint, my dad, so this job means a lot more to myself and my family.”
Trickett comes from a history of football coaches and scouts but was never pressured into becoming a coach. However, he wanted to coach, so as a student assistant at WVU, he walked into Rodriguez’s office asking if he could coach something. Rodriguez put him on offense for two years and then on defense for two. Then, he went to Alabama as a graduate assistant, helping out Nick Saban start the rebuild in 2007, and eventually made his way to work with Jimbo Fisher at Florida State.
Through his early years, he found his love for coaching.
“I found out I love to teach, ” Trickett said. “I got into coaching to compete, but then I found I love to teach … It’s so much more than just competing, even though competing is what drives all of us.”
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Trickett’s found a spot on Rodriguez’s staff. He’s not the offensive coordinator, though.
Rodriguez doesn’t have an offensive coordinator. He’s not going to have one because he is the head coach and the offensive coordinator. He’s had offensive coordinators in the past, but in his second tenure at West Virginia, Rodriguez will call the plays. He has a vast history as a play-caller, being the OC at Ole Miss, Clemson and Tulane.
The closest to the OC for West Virginia is Trickett, who is titled the offensive assistant. Rodriguez will call plays, hold offensive meetings and handle practice structures. Trickett’s job is to make sure standards are being upheld and everything Rodriguez wants done gets done.
“Coach has got it set up like an NFL model, ” Trickett said. “It’s kind of like the [Kansas City ] Chiefs. You got Andy Reid, who’s a head coach play-caller for them. We’re in the same situation.”
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Trickett’s the right guy for the role, too. Since being an assistant coach at West Virginia in the early 2000s, Trickett’s coached inside receivers, tight ends, quarterbacks and coached running backs briefly this spring while the Mountaineers looked for a new coach after Chad Scott left for Texas. He’s also been an OC.
“I’ve officially coached every position on offense, outside of offensive line, ” Trickett said. “As a coordinator background, I’ve called plays for, I think, 10 years, or something like that, you coach everybody.”
Trickett’s not labeled as an offensive coordinator like he was at Coastal Carolina a year ago. Accepting the offensive assistant position, he doesn’t think, is a downgrade and doesn’t hurt his ego.
“There’s no ego, ” Trickett said. “I don’t have an ego. I’ve never had. Coach Rodriguez will not have anybody in this building that has an ego unless it’s towards the job we’re doing and the product we’re putting out there for West Virginia University and for our fans.”
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Trickett’s job is interesting, but it solidifies the fact that this will be Rodriguez’s offense. Trickett is still an important part of the offense, despite not having the title of offensive coordinator.
Trickett’s enjoying his new role. Sometimes, he looks at special teams coordinator Pat Kirkland, who was on staff with him in 2005, and smiles because the band is back together from Rodriguez’s first term.
“It’s a blast, ” Trickett said. “I’m having a blast every day.”
