MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Nick Malone has made huge strides in his lengthy career with West Virginia’s football team.
The Morgantown (W.Va.) High School grad made the short trip across town in the summer of 2019, enrolling at WVU and walking on to the Mountaineer football squad. A 6-foot-5, 260-pound athlete for the Mohigans, where he played mainly tight end and defensive line as a senior, he was also a stalwart in the post on the MHS basketball team. Once he arrived at WVU, Malone began to make the transition to offensive line for coach Neal Brown’s ball club.
Malone’s growth into gaining playing time in West Virginia’s offensive front began with him earning other game-day opportunities.
“For me, it didn’t really start on offensive line; it started on special teams,” he explained. “I went from tight end on field goal to shield on punt. Then I was a backup tight end and a backup tackle, and now I’m in the role of actually playing. For me, it’s been a matter of consistency.
“I tried to make myself valuable wherever they needed me.”
This year the Mountaineers will likely need Malone as their starting right tackle. He’s played 40 games in his WVU career and has made four starts in that time, but in 2024, he’s battling to be a full-time first-stringer. His experience at other positions helps, he says, though it’s also nice to settle in at one spot.
“It’s been beneficial to have played all of them, but it is helpful now to just focus on right tackle,” Malone explained. “In the grand scheme of things, knowing what everyone has to do helps my game.”
This spring Malone is refining his craft.
“Especially in the spring, I work on the little things,” he said. “For me, running off the ball to the point of attack was one of the things I lacked at times last year. I’ve building on that and doing it better in the spring and will continue it into the fall.”
The son of Nancy and Wayne Malone, Nick began his West Virginia career as a walk-on. He was awarded a scholarship a couple of years ago. He rewarded the faith WVU’s coaches have shown in him by now being one of the leaders in the Mountaineer offensive line. This was a unit that led West Virginia’s offense to a Big 12-best 228.9 rushing yards per game last year. Center Zach Frazier and tackle Doug Nester are gone from that 2023 o-line, but Malone doesn’t foresee any steps backward in 2024.
“We’ll definitely miss Zach and Doug,” noted Malone, who now goes 6-foot-5 and 302 pounds. “They led the room and led by example, but as has been said before, it’s not a rebuild but a reload.”
Malone is a major part of that reload.
In his sixth and final season with the Mountaineers, offensive lineman Nick Malone is looking for a strong finish to his career.
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