Interview: Kenny Bigelow talks WVU career and future of the program

Last Friday, we were joined by former West Virginia defensive lineman Kenny Bigelow on the Between the Eers podcast. You can listen to the full interview with the link provided below.

Listen to the full show —> HERE

Right off the bat, we had to get Kenny’s thoughts on his experience playing in the Mountain State and the direction of the program in 2019.

His answers were very telling.

“West Virginia was amazing man. The people there, the fans how much they truly love and support that old gold and blue is really amazing,” Bigelow said.

Kenny Bigelow was a highly recruited five star recruit out of Delaware that initially chose to play for USC. He spent four seasons at USC prior to transferring to West Virginia. I asked Kenny what made him fall in love with the idea of coming to Morgantown. “I came down and watched the guys workout and practice and I was like, dang these dudes really down here getting after it. So, I saw an opportunity for myself to make some plays alongside some good defenders. I saw an offense that could be the best in the country and I said, ‘it’s a no-brainer’.”

Former West Virginia defensive coordinator Tony Gibson is now off to a new start as the co-defensive coordinator at N.C. State. Gibson was loved by the players and many current and former players vouched for him to get the head coaching job here at West Virginia, including Kenny Bigelow. “There is nobody that bleeds blue and gold like that man right there does. There’s nobody that cares for that program and those guys the way Tony Gibson does. From our first conversation together I realized that he really cares, he’s passionate about West Virginia football and he wants to win.” he said.

Ultimately, the game of the year in the Big 12 and easily one of the most thrilling finishes in college football this year was the Mountaineers win in Austin over Texas. Kenny described his emotions during the game. “They were 100,000 strong and they didn’t sit down. I remember my heart pumping, I remember that first pass goes up and I’m like I can’t watch this anymore. I couldn’t even watch the two point conversion. I told myself I was going to let the crowd tell me what happens and the ball went up and the place explodes. I turn around and all our guys jumping up and down and doing flips, I was excited.” he told us.

Although he only spent eight months in Morgantown, Bigelow became a leader right away. He helped develop some of the younger guys who will have much bigger roles in 2019. “West Virginia’s defense is in great hands I can promise you that. Dante (Stills), Darius (Stills), Jeff (Pooler), Reese (Donahue), those guys are going to mature and I saw so much growth from the time I got there until the time I left. Dante made freshman All-American, he’s a hell of a player. He kind of reminds me a lot of myself coming out of high school with the build, the size, the power, the quickness. I think he’ll be an All-American before it’s all said and done.”

One of the best linebackers in the country and the Big 12 defensive player of the year is one of Kenny Bigelow’s favorite players to play alongside. He went into detail about how special he really is. “If David Long was 6’3” or 6’4”, people would be talking about him as a top five or top ten pick. He’s the emotional leader of that defense and the vocal leader of that defense. He’s super instinctual and his football IQ is through the roof.”

The 2019 football season has a lot of excitement with a new head coach and new pieces coming in. I asked Kenny who is one player that no one is talking about right now that we will need to keep an eye on in 2019. “Leddie Brown and it’s not even going to be close. Be prepared for him to really explode on the scene next year.”

You can stream the Between the Eers podcast on SoundCloud or any other streaming device every Friday. If you are in the greater Charleston area, be sure to tune in each Friday at 6 p.m. on WBES 950 AM Charleston for our show!