By: Justin “Couz” Walker | WV Sports Chat
When four-star offensive lineman Kevin Brown was looking at where he’d play college football, West Virginia University was barely on his radar. This despite the fact his dad, Tim Brown, was a player at WVU from 2000-2004. During an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show on November 18, 2025, Tim explained why his son was not seriously considering WVU under the previous coaching staff. However, it was also on that same Pat McAfee appearance that Kevin officially announced his commitment to WVU football. What made the difference? The Harrisburg, Pennsylvania native would now be playing for Rich Rodriguez; the same coach his dad played under during most of his career in Morgantown.
During a recent episode of the Old Grad Podcast, Tim Brown appeared alongside three of his former Mountaineer teammates; Lance Nimmo, Zach Dillow and Co-Host Justin “Whitey” Williams. The four of them reminisced about their days suiting up for WVU football. They talked a lot about the demands of playing for Rodriguez, but more specifically, the demands of playing for Offensive Line Coach, Rick Trickett.
During the show, Brown stated that initially, he did not want his son playing for Coach Trickett, who is reuniting with Rodriguez at WVU after a four-year stint at Jacksonville State.
“Yeah, it’s been a transition. I had to really try to see it for what it was because there was a lot of anger. We were fueled on anger,” said Brown, speaking of his own time under Coach Trickett.
“That was the only way to get through all of it, just straight anger….and early on in the recruiting process with Kevin, it was like, I don’t think I want that for [him], do I need that? Does he really want that laser eye on him?”
However, Tim eventually came around on the idea. It was actually Coach Trickett’s oldest son, Travis, who did the convincing during an official visit in November. Travis Trickett is the Lead Offensive Assistant for WVU football and was the lead recruiter for Kevin. During that time, Jack Bicknell was WVU’s offensive line coach. Bicknell would eventually be replaced by the elder Trickett.
Kevin Brown was intrigued by the intensity of the offensive line play he was able to see during his visit. However, it was not WVU’s o-line that he saw. “So during the recruiting process, they showed us video of Jackson[ville] State,” said Tim. “And the way they were coming off the ball…he wants that coached in a certain way. And it was a very modern style, and it was up to date, and it wasn’t archaic, because that’s my biggest fear with Trickett. I thought I was gonna put the film on, and it was gonna be WVU Circa 2001. The way we looked, the way we came off the ball, which was good for that time, but things have evolved a little bit. And sure enough, they freaking moved along. He evolved with it.”
“My heart changed,” Tim continued. “And Kevin, after the meeting, he’s like, I want that. Like, how do we get that off the line? And I was like, I know, there’s only one way to get it. Like, a coach you gotta have with that intensity that they were coming off the ball and playing at, you have to have the old man. You just have to.”
While West Virginia’s football facilities, training staff, and other amenities are state of the art, that was not what sold the 6-foot-5 inch tackle on WVU. “When they were recruiting Kevin, the only thing West Virginia could really win out on is football,” Tim said on the podcast. “That’s how they were going to win that recruiting battle with him. Like the schooling, all that stuff, everyone has about the same. The training staff, yeah, I mean, they all try to flex their training staff. Every school does that, but it really comes down to who can speak to Kevin football wise.”
Travis Trickett spoke Kevin Brown’s language. He spoke football. Brown not only wanted to be part of an offensive line that came off the ball with high intensity and modern techniques; he also needed to see how he would be used. More importantly, he wanted to see how the guards beside him were going to be used. According to Tim, “he knows what he wants for his guard on the inside of him. He’s thinking about that type of thing now. It’s just not about him, he knows how that affects his life.” Once he saw how WVU’s offensive staff coached their linemen, Kevin was convinced that Morgantown was the right place for him.
For dad, once he saw that Rick Trickett had evolved as a coach, he was convinced that the “old man” was the right man to lead his son and the West Virginia offensive line to greatness.
To a see a video that talks more about Brown’s recruitment and the evolution of Rick Trickett and Rich Rodriguez as coaches, check out this recent episode of Couz’s Corner on YouTube.
