Beyond The Pads: Colton McKivitz

Hi, I'm Max Starks. We're here at OLP Studios for Beyond the Pads. I'm joined by offensive tackle from West Virginia, Colton McKivitts. So Colton, first thing I want to ask you is why? Why play football? Why do you want to go to the NFL? And more importantly, Why play offensive tackle if so?

Yeah, first off, the reason behind playing it was it was a way for me to express myself. Really, you know, love competition and sports and just being part of a team, but for me it was a way to express myself. I was always the outlier, wasn't really accepted just because I was a, you know, private school kid with the public school kids, so wasn't really accepted. So it was a way for me to show that I belong with those kids and express myself. And then On the flip side, at tackle, it's a challenge. I love a challenge and I love chasing perfection. So for me at tackle, you know, it's, you're on the island, you know, you live in your own world, you have your own setup. Everyone's different, but when it comes down to you, you know, that's why they're the highest paid guys. And you know, every tackle's different. They got their own method just because it's, you know, it's your own thing out there on the island.

Who are some of the guys in the league that you look to as kind of those role models or individuals to watch as growing up?

Yeah, Joe Thomas was, you know, he was a huge one. Personally, I was a Steelers guy, but even watching Joe, it was, you know, it was clean, it was perfection. And then another one that's newer for me is that I like to, you know, idol my game after is Taylor Lewan. He kind of reminds me of myself in the way he plays. You know, he's kind of a prick on the field and then He just plays the game hard. He's a fighter and every guy in that locker room knows that, you know, he's got their back and is willing to do anything for them. So that kind of, kind of the way I like to play the game.

Now, what would you say kind of as one of your own, watching film, judging you off of your last year, what would you say personally self-scouting yourself you think is the biggest thing that you need to work on or biggest thing that you think people would have a question about at the next level?

Yeah, it'd be my hands. I like to carry them low for some reason. That's one thing I've noticed, that, you know, once a defender gets in on my chest, then, you know, usually I'm pretty good at sitting the bull rush down, but, you know, something that would really help me is actually, you know, being assertive with my punch instead of, you know, catching a lot of times.

Now, obviously, you've played against a lot of competition being at West Virginia. I mean, I just think about last year, kind of the run you guys had towards the end of the year and just some fantastic games. What was, you would say, going into this year, what was your best game this year and what was the game that you feel you didn't play at your top level? Mm-hmm.

Best game would have been Iowa State. Just, you know, physically dominated that game. It was one thing that, you know, a couple people had seen that it looked like a completely different player from junior year to senior year was just physical presence. And then, you know, a game I'd like to play a lot better in would have been Baylor. You know, same thing with the hands was, you know, I was letting them get inside presence and, you know, he was winning the leverage battle, so I kind of gave up some inside pressure on that.

Alright, last thing before we get going. One word to describe yourself to the rest of the world. Colton McKivitt's offensive tackle from West Virginia. What's your one word?

Reliable.

Okay. Okay. I like that. I like that. And with that, he's Colton McKivitt. I'm Max Starks. This is Beyond the Pads.