Anthony Becht interviews for West Virginia job

A long-time fixture in pro football is potentially heading to college football as a head coach.

And not that one.

Anthony Becht, a first-round pick on the Jets who played for 11 years in the NFL as a tight end, has interviewed for the West Virginia head-coaching job, PFT has confirmed.

It was, we’re told, a Zoom interview. It’s unknown whether Becht will get an in-person interview.

Why shouldn’t he? He seems to be interested, and it’s not like the program had a short list of clear favorites for the job.

There’s plenty of chatter locally about a potential return by Rich Rodriguez, 17 years after he left to coach at Michigan. Fired after three years with the Wolverines, Rodriguez landed at Arizona. He was fired in Arizona after the 2017 season, after an internal investigation sparked by the filing of a hostile work environment lawsuit. Rodriguez has spent the last three seasons as the head coach at Jacksonville State.

Becht spent five years as a player at West Virginia. He’s currently the head coach of the St. Louis Battlehawks. This season, he replaced Marty Lyons as the analyst for the radio broadcast of New York Jets games.

Becht’s son, Rocco, is the starting quarterback at Iowa State. The Cyclones beat West Virginia in October; that same night, the Mountaineers honored Anthony Becht’s induction into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame.

Eight days ago, West Virginia fired Neal Brown, who served as the head coach for six seasons.