West Virginia Mountaineers Hire Ron Crook as Offensive Line Coach

The West Virginia Mountaineers lost their offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh to the Oklahoma Sooners last week, but have found a replacement.

According to multiple reports, the Mountaineers have hired former Stanford Cardinal offensive line and tight ends coach Ron Crook.

Crook has a great track record of success with developing tight ends and offensive linemen. At Stanford, he coached the offensive line for Indianapolis Colts star quarterback Andrew Luck, the Colts’ second round pick in 2012, tight end Coby Fleener, as well as Zach Ertz, a tight end projected to the first round of the 2013 NFL draft. He also coached Levine Toilolo, another tight end who declared for the NFL draft.

Zach Ertz has been on the record saying if West Virginia hires Crook that they will “have a hell of an offensive line.”

Crook is part of the reason Stanford has developed so well over the past few seasons and is a great addition to the WVU staff.  It goes without saying that West Virginia needs all the help it can get with its offensive line, as that has been an area of concern for the team for the past few seasons.

Many folks have felt as though the school should heavily recruit offensive lineman since WVU’s offensive line core has been so weak. Hiring a coach of this caliber, with the record of success he has, and his ability to develop players is huge for WVU.

Look for a vast improvement in WVU’s offensive line within the next few seasons.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll continue to say it. West Virginia will be highly competitive in the near future. If it isn’t 2013, it will be 2014. There is too much talent coming in with this season’s recruiting class and too many talented coaches on this roster for this team to not be good soon. Plus, another solid recruiting class of the same caliber would almost guarantee WVU a competitive team in 2014.

Now, nearly every weak position from 2012 has either been heavily recruited, or a much stronger coach was hired to replace the old one.

Look for big things out of Morgantown soon.

Follow Mike on Twitter at @MikeAtkinsonRS or visit his Rant Sports Author Page.