Doug Nester Adds Experience to a Young Offensive Line
On Christmas night, Mountaineer fans received their Christmas wish as Doug Nester (So. 6'6". 327-lbs) announced he will be transferring to West Virginia after spending his first two years with the Virginia Tech Hokies. Looking ahead to next season, West Virginia will be adding much-needed experience to a young group and he has three years of eligibility remaining.
Nester will be among the more experienced offensive linemen for the Mountaineers and undoubtedly the favorite to take over the starting role at right guard heading into fall camp after redshirt senior Michael Brown opted to forgo his free year of eligibility.
The Kenova, WV native made his first career start during his freshman campaign of the 2019 season in just the second game at right guard. He was at the top of the depth chart, starting nearly the entire season despite a knee injury that sidelined him for two games in the back half of the season. He finished his Hokie career with 16 starts in 19 appearances.
Despite spending the majority of his time at right guard, Nester saw some action at right tackle. As an extension of Head Coach Neal Brown’s philosophy of putting the best 11 players on the field, offensive line coach Matt Moore puts the five best offensive linemen out there he feels gives the Mountaineers their best chance to be successful.
John Hughes (Jr. 6’5”, 298-lbs) started most of the season at right tackle splitting time with Parker Moorer before Briason Mays (r-So. 6’3”, 308-lbs) took over the starting role the final few games of the year. West Virginia recently signed Sports Illustrated No. 1 right tackle in the country and in-state product Wyatt Milum.
James Gmiter (6’3”, 300-lbs) has the most experience under the current staff with 19 appearances and 12 starts in two seasons spending much of his career at left guard. He started the first two games of the season before testing positive for COVID-19 and missing two games as a result. Although he was in the rotation, Gmiter never returned to the starting lineup as freshman Zach Frazier (6’2”. 308-lbs) took over the starting role. Frazier filled in for a suspended Chase Behrndt in the season-opening win over Eastern Kentucky and the assumption is that is where he will begin the 2021 season.
Brandon Yates (r-Fr. 6’4”, 306-lbs) started seven of the nine games this season at left tackle and will be the frontrunner in 2020 at that position.
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