Nearly a week after the speculation first surfaced, West Virginia’s hiring of a Pac-12 assistant has been made official.
In a release Monday night, WVU announced that Dana Holgorsen has hired Ron Crook to be his offensive line coach. Crook had spent the past two seasons as the tight ends and offensive tackles coach at Stanford.
Bill Bedenbaugh had left the Mountaineers for the same job at Oklahoma, triggering Holgorsen’s need for a new line coach.
“Ron brings many years of outstanding offensive line coaching experience to West Virginia,” Holgorsen said. “He has helped developed winners at his stops and comes highly recommended. He brings a professional and positive attitude and expects toughness from the players. He has a proven track record as a teacher, coach and recruiter. He is a West Virginia native, who wants to be here, and I look forward to his contribution to our coaching staff.”
Crook was raised in Parkersburg, W.Va., and has extensive coaching ties to his home state. While at levels lower than the FBS, Crook knows football in God’s Country through coaching stops at his alma mater West Liberty, West Virginia Tech and Glenville State.
“One of the main reasons I wanted to come here was because I know how important football is in the state of West Virginia, especially the Mountaineer football program,” Crook said. “I’m very excited about this opportunity to work at a program with the history and tradition that it has. I understand the responsibility that it involves, and I don’t take that lightly.”
Prior to his time with the Cardinal, Crook had spent eight seasons as the line coach at Harvard.
(Photo credit: West Virginia athletics)