MEMPHIS, Tenn. — West Virginia senior quarterback Clint Trickett is retiring from football because of concussions and won’t play in the Liberty Bowl on Monday against Texas A&M.
Trickett said Friday that he had endured five concussions over the last 14 months.
“It would be dangerous for me to be out there,” Trickett said.
West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen indicated that Trickett wasn’t cleared to play in the bowl game and that sophomore Skyler Howard would start at quarterback for the Mountaineers (7-5) against Texas A&M (7-5).
Trickett hasn’t played since being knocked out of a 26-20 loss to Kansas State on Nov. 20. After disclosing Friday all the concussions he’d sustained over the last 14 months, Trickett suggested he hadn’t told the team’s medical staff about some of them at the time they happened.
“That was on me,” Trickett said. “If they would have known, they probably would have been more cautious about it, but I was trying to push through it.”
Trickett said he plans to go into coaching and referred to it as the “family business.” Trickett is the son of Florida State offensive line coach Rick Trickett and began his college career with the Seminoles before transferring to West Virginia.
“I know he’s going to be a hell of a coach one day,” Holgorsen said.
Howard is 36 of 65 for 483 yards with five touchdown passes and no interceptions in three games this season. He started West Virginia’s regular-season finale against Iowa State and threw for 285 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 69 more yards in the Mountaineers’ 37-24 victory.
“The improvements that he made in the last two months, I’ve never seen it with a quarterback before, not as a true sophomore,” Holgorsen said.
Trickett completed 67.1 percent of his passes for 3,285 yards and 18 touchdowns with 10 interceptions this season.
“I would love to be out there and finish the season with my guys my last game,” Trickett said. “It’s unfortunate how it ended, but I had a great senior year.”
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