‘Nothing Could Pull Me Out of Here’: Why Ben Cutter Refused to Leave WVU

In this day and age, it's rare to see a player stick at one school for four years.

West Virginia linebacker Ben Cutter is one of the very few in all of college sports who has. He could have left a year ago when WVU made the coaching change from Neal Brown to Rich Rodriguez, and he could have left this winter, too.

That was never an option for him. Morgantown is where he wanted to be, and since he stepped foot on campus, it's become his home away from home.

“I love this state. I love this team. I don’t think there’s anything that could pull me out of here," Cutter said when asked why portaling never crossed his mind. "And I want to be able to be a West Virginia fan for the rest of my life. I don’t know what people do, transferring around four different schools. Like, who do you support when you’re done playing college football? I want to support the Mountaineers, so that’s why I’m still here.”

Cutter is from Denver, North Carolina, which is about 25 minutes or so northwest of Charlotte. So, how on Earth did he fall in love with WVU and the state of West Virginia?

“Just being here for so long, seeing all the support… great fans that we have," he said. "Everybody loves West Virginia football that is from West Virginia and even outside of West Virginia. Like, we went to the bowl game in North Carolina, we played UNC, and it was 90% West Virginia fans in there. It’s just crazy to see all the support and love for this team. It’s why I have so much pride here.”

West Virginia University linebacker Ben Cutter | Christopher Hall – West Virginia on SI

Seeing a guy who takes great pride in the Flying WV and plays the game as hard as he does is what makes him an easy guy for fans to root for. Now that he's the old head in the room, he'll have a much larger role on the field and as the voice of the defense. Defensive coordinator Zac Alley is expecting big things from the soon-to-be senior.

“I got on Cutt today because I told him you’ve got to be the old man of the group," Alley said a couple of weeks ago. "You’ve got to know everything that everybody does on every play. That’s your expectation. That’s what we expect from him — to be that type of All-American, captain, call everybody out, tell everybody what to do every play type of guy."

Cutter admitted on Monday that when Alley first came to WVU, he was a little nervous to go into his office and ask questions and have in-depth conversations about the practice or film, simply because he was new, which is normal when you meet a new coach. That phase was brief, and he's developed a strong connection with Alley ever since.

It remains to be seen exactly what Cutter's role will be in 2026, but you can be assured that No. 15 will be on the field a bunch.