It has now been a week since West Virginia’s Zach Frazier was drafted 51st overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2024 NFL draft.
Frazier put together a storied career with the Mountaineers, including being a three-time team captain and two-time All-American. He was WVU’s highest-drafted player since Karl Joseph in 2014 and overall one of their most highly-touted prospects in recent years.
Having coached him the entirety of his career, West Virginia head coach Neal Brown spoke on the significance of Frazier getting drafted, after the Gold-Blue spring game last Saturday.
“Sitting in Frazier’s uncle’s house last night with that family and and sitting across and Dante Stills being there and goes and has a great rookie season and then Zach’s the 51st pick in the draft and then you got Pat McAfee who’s coming in who’s got maybe the most popular show in the entire country right now,” Brown said. “The thing that I try to tell our players is any dream you have or anything that you want to achieve in life, you know, you can achieve those things going right here through West Virginia University.”
Going to a local team with a rich history, Frazier is set up for a great opportunity to continue to prove himself in the league and possibly find success at the next level. Being a local guy from Fairmont, Frazier can be used as a that if you work hard and stay focused, you can achieve any dream you set your mind to.
“To me, he was a first-round pick I think he’s going to play for a really long time but I’m not in that league and I’m biased because he was here, but I do know this, like he’s going to be a significant player in the NFL and so for him to go to the Steelers you know so happy for him and his family,” Brown said. “Seeing a dream come true um but those people being there for him you know. (It) just kind of brought back and I’m not trying to be sappy on this or anything but just brought back man, there’s some real camaraderie in this game and just really a proud kind of ‘hey sit back and kind of watch all this’, really proud moment for me”
