MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Winds of change have blown across the West Virginia University campus during the last two months.

But Don Barclay is proud to say he's still a Mountaineer.

The 2007 Seneca Valley graduate was a redshirt offensive tackle for WVU's football team this season.

The Mountaineers entered their Dec. 1 game against the University of Pittsburgh at No. 2 in the country.

A win would have sent the team to the Bowl Championship Series national title game, but WVU dropped a 13-9 decision to the Panthers and instead were placed in the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma.

That was just the beginning of a crazy end to the season.

On Dec. 19, just two weeks before the Mountaineers were to play the Sooners, veteran coach Rich Rodriguez announced he was leaving to become the head coach at the University of Michigan.

The change was immediate and Rodriguez did not coach WVU in the bowl game. Assistant Bill Stewart served as the interim coach.

"I felt bad at first because the coach who recruited me left the team," said Barclay. "But a couple of days later, I had gotten over it. You just learn to go with the flow."

After losing the regular-season finale to Pitt and its head coach in less than three weeks, few people gave WVU a chance against Oklahoma.

"ESPN ran that poll where 84 percent of fans across the country believed we would lose," said Barclay. "But after we got to Arizona and started practicing, the atmosphere was good. We just tried to stay away from the distractions."

The Mountaineers responded by thumping the favored Sooners 48-28. WVU ended the season ranked sixth with a record of 11-2.

The next day, Stewart was rewarded when he was named head coach of WVU.

"I think we can end up doing even better with Coach Stewart," said Barclay. "He's a great guy, a great coach and I think we'll continue to run the spread option. All the guys here have been recruited to play in this type of offense."

Barclay is not sure where he will be listed on the depth chart for the upcoming spring drills.

He practiced mostly at right tackle this season, though he did see time at right guard as well.

"I'm expecting to enter the spring practices as a tackle," said Barclay, who is 6-feet-4 and 290 pounds. "But you just have to prove yourself in the spring. In fact, you have to prove yourself every day. If you're not getting the job done, you will be replaced."

It wasn't until during the season-opening game against Western Michigan on Sept. 1, a 62-24 WVU win, that Barclay was told he would be redshirted.

"I entered that game as the second-string right tackle," said Barclay, who traveled to every game this season. "I was just about ready to get in the game when they told me I would be redshirted.

"I was a bit disappointed at the time because I was a step away from playing," Barclay said. "But I realized that it was best for me in the long run."

Barclay, who starred on both the offensive and defensive lines at Seneca Valley, is hoping the experience he gained, along with his time in the weight room, will result in playing time sooner rather than later.

"Back in the first few practices I was involved in, I didn't know what I was doing," Barclay said. "But the older players helped me out a lot.

"If you know the offense, you can just worry about going out there and knocking some guy on his butt."