OL Nick Krahe Calls Decision to Pass on Portal and Stay at WVU a 'No-Brainer'

Nowadays, nothing is guaranteed in college football, and that includes a starter returning to your team for the following season. After spending the first couple of years of his career developing as a backup, Nick Krahe won the starting job at left tackle with zero starting experience and managed to hold his own against some of the best pass rushers the country has to offer.

In 395 pass plays, Krahe allowed just 17 pressures, 13 hurries, three quarterback hits, and one sack, landing him a pass protection grade of 71.9 on Pro Football Focus. He did an OK job in the run game, but the entire unit struggled, so it’s really hard to put much blame on him as a first-year starter. He was, however, one of the most consistent players in that area, along with center Landen Livingston.

On Monday, Krahe had the opportunity to meet with the media, and when asked about his decision to return to West Virginia. He responded, “It was a no-brainer for me coming back here. I love this whole staff. That’s a big thing for me, being a leader now, and being one of the only guys returning is pretty awesome. It’s going to be tough to set the culture and the standard, but if everyone just follows the guys who know how it is and listens to the coaches, I think it will be very good.”

Whether there is a benefit to sticking in the same program and in the same offensive scheme, Krahe will have to reset his mind to some degree as he will be working with his third offensive line coach in as many years following the hiring of Rick Trickett.

“To be honest, I didn’t think I was going to have to go through this, but I think it’s made me who I am today — just trying to learn in three different ways. Having three different coaches, you figure out what you need to do for each one, and I think all three are completely different, honestly," Krahe said. "It’s mainly scheme. With coach (Matt) Moore, we ran a lot of outside zone. Here, we do a little bit of, but it’s mainly inside zone. With Coach (Jack) Bicknell, it was kind of just trying to get movement off the ball, and now, it’s a whole new level of things.”

Fortunately, Krahe was able to get a little bit of a head start thanks to some tips and advice shared by former West Virginia offensive lineman Geoff Lewis, who played for Trickett in the early 2000s. Lewis is Krahe’s personal trainer back home in Pennsylvania.

“He told me some stories of how it was when he was here. Obviously it’s a different time period and everything, but it’s pretty much all the same. Hard work, getting down to the dirty work and the business, and all that stuff.