MORGANTOWN — West Virginia football’s new running backs coach, Jay Boulware, has been around football for a long time, coaching at multiple different stops and positions. He played offensive line in college, and after he was injured, he moved on to coaching. That was in the 90s.

Boulware has coached the offensive line with Dan Roushar, who is the line coach with the Chicago Bears. Locally, coached under Mike Tomlin with the Pittsburgh Steelers, working with running backs. Guz Malzahn and Lincoln Riley are two others he named in his first press conference for WVU that he’s been on staff with.

Boulware, like most of WVU’s coaching staff, is a veteran with a lot of experience.

“I think I’ve had such a long productive career because I’m a football coach,” Boulware said. “I played O-line in college. My mentor is a guy by the name of Dan Roushar. He’s the O-line coach at the Bears. He once told me a long time ago, ‘Hey, if anybody ever asks what kind of coach you are. Tell them you’re not an O-line coach, you’re a football coach.’ He himself played quarterback in college. That in itself helped me throughout my career do a multitude of things because I’m a football coach.”

The most interesting part of Boulware’s backstory is that he was an offensive lineman. He has coached running backs numerous times at Oklahoma, Iowa State, as an assistant with the Steelers and most recently at Kentucky last season with Mark Stoops. But, it might be harder to relate since he didn’t play the position, unlike last season’s running backs coach, Larry Porter.

Boulware doesn’t think coaching running backs is too much different from the O-line.

“If you listen to Andy Reid talk, he said, ‘If you can coach O-line, you can coach any position,'” Boulware said. “Not only did I play O-line, but I coached O-line with my mentor when I was at Northern Illinois for three years. Had a really good O-line there, and had great running backs. Guy by the name of Michael Turner. Later on, Garrett Wolfe. There’s some really good players.”

Being a former offensive lineman and offensive line coach has helped his relationship with WVU’s current line coach, Rick Trickett, who was a factor in the transfer of stud running back Cam Cook to the Mountaineers. Having a running back and offensive line coach on the same page is important because of how the line creates running lanes for the backs.

To make the connection come along even faster, Boulware and Trickett’s offices are right next to each other.

“Anytime he wants to share a thought or an idea with me, just ‘Hey, stick your head over here real quick,'” Boulware said. “I’d get up and run over there because there’s a respect game from me. He’s a legendary O-line coach, and I understand that. Being a former O-lineman, sometimes I actually kind of jump when he’s yelling because I feel like it’s my old O-line coach getting on my tail a little bit. But, I think it’s a privilege to be out there with a guy like that.”

WVU’s running back room is completely new. The only returning back from last season was Andre Devine, who didn’t play last year. Aside from Devine and his father, Noel, who is the assistant coach, there’s nothing the same from the top down. Everyone is starting on a new slate.

Cook is expected to be the lead back, and there are a bunch of JUCO and freshmen who make up the rest of the room. So, Boulware gets to mold a new piece of clay.

“Everything is fresh,” Boulware said. “Guys have taken to that approach pretty well.”

Boulware, like Trickett, wants to make sure the running backs learn the fundamentals of playing the position because the players have done a “great job” already with assignment football. But, he said, that’s the easy part.

“We as coaches got to be great teachers and teachers of the fundamentals,” Boulware said. “Anybody can put stuff on the board and say what to do. They should be doing that themselves. You go to the NFL, they give you an iPad, and they tell you to learn the offense and come in the next day. That’s not coaching. Coaching is teaching these young men fundamentals and techniques to go along with those assignments.”

Cook said just after Boulware spoke that the two have a “good relationship.” Their relationship will be important in the fall because of how crucial the running backs are to Rodriguez’s offense.

Boulware quickly won over the respect of the room, even with his offensive line background. When he first arrived, Boulware made sure to tell everyone in the room he loved them. He told them they would learn how to play running back at the highest level, but also how to conduct themselves as good person in society.

“You can coach any player as hard as you want to, if they know you love them,” Boulware said. “I try to impress upon them, this is what God called me to do. God has called me to be a leader of men in my room and provide perspective for them. Not that I’m perfect because I’m far from it. I do impart upon them what it takes to be successful in life and to try and be a good human.”

Mountaineers earn commitment from 2027 linebacker

West Virginia football picked up another defensive commitment for the class of 2027. Linebacker Mason Cerovac announced his commitment to the Mountaineers on social media, becoming the second defensive recruit of the class. Cerovac is the third commitment for the 2027 class.

The Olmsted Falls, Ohio, native received multiple Division I offers, including Central Michigan, Ohio and Buffalo, but chose the Mountaineers after taking an official visit on March 27, along with multiple other recruits, who have taken visits this spring. Cerovac is listed at 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, according to his social media, and didn’t play football until his sophomore year. He’s not yet rated on recruiting sites.

Rich Rodriguez and his staff are starting to trickle in recruits after a big 2026 high school class, which was close to 50 players. There should be more commitments coming in the coming weeks, especially with multiple recruits on visits this spring.