West Virginia University football coach Neal Brown has announced that Travis Trickett, who started his coaching career at WVU, will rejoin the Mountaineer coaching staff as an assistant coach on the offensive side. Brown will announce staff assignments at a later time.

   

“Travis has West Virginia roots, comes from a Mountaineer family and started his coaching career here in Morgantown,” Brown said. “He brings years of experience with him from various stops, including several years as an offensive coordinator, and has proven to be successful at developing players and as a recruiter.”

    

Trickett, who was a student assistant coach at West Virginia from 2003-07, is part of a Mountaineer football family. His father, Rick, a longtime collegiate offensive line coach, was an assistant coach at WVU in 1978-79 and 2001-06. His younger brother, Clint, was a starting quarterback for WVU during the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

    

“I’m very excited to return home to West Virginia and be a part of coach Neal Brown’s staff,” Trickett said. “I have a lot of respect for coach Brown and the success he has had during his career. This place is special to my family and I, and this is a great opportunity to come back and assist coach Brown in developing young men on and off the field. I look forward to being on the Mountaineer coaching staff again.”

    

Trickett returns to West Virginia after serving as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Georgia State for the past two years.

    

In 2018, his quarterback, Dan Ellington, threw only five interceptions in 292 pass attempts, ranking No. 2 in the Sun Belt Conference and No. 14 in the nation. One of his receivers, Penny Hart, a three-time All-Sun Belt selection, finished his career as the fourth-leading receiver in conference history and was selected to play in the Reese’s Senior Bowl. Offensive lineman Hunter Atkinson also was named to the all-league team.

    

In 2017, the Panthers finished with a school-record seven wins, marking their first winning season at the FBS level. His offense established school records for highest completion percentage and fewest interceptions in a season (9) as well as most total yards in a game (670) and most points against an FBS opponent (47).

    

Quarterback Conner Manning earned All-Sun Belt honors and was the most valuable player in the Panthers’ bowl win over Western Kentucky, the first bowl game victory in school history. Hart led the league with a school-record 74 receptions for 1,121 yards and eight touchdowns.

    

Trickett was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Florida Atlantic in 2016. His offensive unit set FAU season records for rushing yards, yards per carry and rushing touchdowns, as well as most yards in a game, while the Owls receiving corps produced seven 100-yard efforts.

    

Prior to FAU, Trickett served five seasons at Samford, including the last four as its offensive coordinator. He helped the Bulldogs record five straight winning seasons, highlighted by a Southern Conference championship and NCAA FCS playoff berth in 2013. He coached 23 all-conference selections in four years as the play-caller.

    

In 2015, Trickett employed a pair of quarterbacks, and the duo led the nation in completion percentage (69.7 percent) while combining for 3,662 yards and 22 touchdowns. The Bulldogs had a season-high 752 yards against Florida A&M and set school season records for completions (324) and first downs (324).

    

Samford’s 2014 offense averaged more than 30 points per game while posting the program’s largest margin of victory in a Southern Conference game (45-0 at Furman) and the program’s largest output in a SoCon game (63 vs. VMI).

    

In 2013, he mentored record-setting quarterback Andy Summerlin, the conference player of the year, who passed for a school-record 3,640 yards.

    

He originally went to Samford in 2011 to coach the slot receivers and tight ends.

    

Trickett’s coaching experience also includes graduate assistantships at Alabama and Florida State. He spent the 2007 season as an offensive graduate assistant on Nick Saban’s staff, and then three seasons (2008-10) with the Seminoles, working under Bobby Bowden and Jimbo Fisher.

    

During these two stints, he worked with standout quarterbacks John Parker Wilson and Greg McElroy at Alabama, and Christian Ponder and E.J. Manuel at FSU.

    

Trickett began his coaching career as a student assistant at West Virginia from 2003-07, where he served under coach Rich Rodriguez and had the opportunity to work with record-setting quarterback Pat White.

    

A native of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Trickett earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing from West Virginia in 2007 and his master’s degree from Florida State in sports administration in 2009.

    

Trickett, and his wife, Tiffany, also a WVU graduate with a bachelor’s degree in nursing, have two children, Maverick and Camilla.