The video on Tyler Sumpter’s Twitter account Sunday evening first shows him paddling down a gently flowing river in a kayak.
It then cuts to him lying back as if taking a nap with sounds of a football game playing in his head. Once back awake, the video has Sumpter paddling with a University of West Virginia flag attached to the back of the kayak.
It was in this way that Sumpter, who spent the past three seasons at the kicker for Troy University, let the college football world know he was committing to the University of West Virginia as a graduate transfer to play his final year of eligibility.
It will reunite Sumpter with Neal Brown, the former Troy head coach who is coming off his first season in charge of the Mountaineers.
But it will also be like going home in a way for Sumpter, whose parents grew up in West Virginia.
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“My whole family is from West Virginia — both sides,” Sumpter said of his parents. “We wanted to do something (video) that kind of symbolized West Virginia and our family, and kind of give them (WVU fans) an intro of what we’re about.
“Me coming to West Virginia is not only reuniting me with coach Brown, but it’s just about the culture of West Virginia and the WVU flying flag and the gold and blue — all the tradition and culture of the state.”
Sumpter punted and kicked for the Trojans — connecting on 39-of-51 field goals during his career. As a punter, he averaged 42.1 yards.
The decision to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal was made several weeks after the end of the last season.
“To be my last year, ultimately I wanted to play at the biggest level I could play at and just relocate for my last year and just try and see what the options were,” Sumpter said.
Arkansas, Louisiana Tech and Temple were among the schools with West Virginia that showed interest in Sumpter. Once the coronavirus hit, Sumpter became a bit nervous about landing at another school.
“Once the corona hit, really besides La. Tech they (West Virginia) are the only school that had offered me at that point,” Sumpter said. “Everything else just kind of shut down. I had visits set with Temple and La. Tech and both of those got shut down with the corona stuff.”
Sumpter will likely have a strong opportunity to earn the starting punting job, and could also be in the mix as a placekicker.
“They had a punter graduate, so I think punting is the main concern,” Sumpter said.
Sumpter was born in Tuscaloosa and played high school football at Spain Park in Birmingham, but grew up rooting for West Virginia.
“People would ask me are you an Alabama or Auburn fan, and I would say West Virginia,” Sumpter said.
Coming out of high school, Sumpter’s only scholarship offer for football was from Brown at Troy.
He said being coached by Brown again was one of the deciding factors in his choice.
“Besides my family deal, that’s really the biggest one,” Sumpter said. “It was huge. “Coach Brown really gave me my only opportunity to play college football, so to be able to be reunited with him and play for my family’s hometown team — I mean there’s nothing better.”