WVU OL Doug Nester Opens Up About Decision to Return to Mountaineers

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia offensive lineman Doug Nester is now opening up about why he decided to return to WVU for another season.

Much to the surprise of those that follow the Mountaineers, Nester announced that he would be coming back to West Virginia for one more year in January. He did this despite prior speculation that he would declare for the 2023 NFL Draft.

Nester tweeted a graphic that read “I’m back” with a simple message of “One Last Time” as the headline attached to it.

Doug Nester Announces Return to WVU with ‘I’m Back’ Message

The senior offensive lineman, who is now in his third year at West Virginia after transferring from Virginia Tech, said he sat down with head coach Neal Brown and others at the program to get their honest assessment of his game and if they believe he is ready for the NFL. Nester also confirmed that he never considered transferring again and playing for another college team.

Nester didn’t go into detail on what Brown actually said in terms of his evaluation of his veteran lineman, but did specify he asked for complete honesty. For an interesting “behind the curtain” revelation, Nester did admit WVU did have to re-recruit him. This implies, that regardless of what type of projections about where he would be drafted, Nester did certainly consider leaving college and trying to pursue the NFL this year.

While his life is likely much different from most of his teammates, most notably because he’s about to be married and will be playing to increase his draft stock, keeping Nester on the roster is a big deal for WVU. This allows the Mountaineers to bring back its starting group that ended last season. Nester’s presence will serve the team well as they embark on a very important year for the program and a new look for the offense in many as well.