MORGANTOWN — West Virginia has picked up a commitment from its first specialist of this transfer portal period. The Mountaineers also had a defensive end commit shortly after.

Colorado State punter Bryan Hansen announced his commitment to WVU on social media. A few minutes later, Western Kentucky pass rusher Harper Holloman announced his commitment in the same way.

Hansen walked on to the Rams in 2022 and made one appearance on one snap. He redshirted and handled most of the kickoff duties his redshirt freshman season. Out of 45 kickoffs, 27 of them were for touchbacks. In 2024, he appeared in all 13 games as the starting kickoff guy. Hansen also punted in nine games for an average of 41.1, with five inside the 20 and a pair going over 50 yards.

Last season was when Hansen really made a case to be a Power Four player. Hansen had 57 punts and averaged 47.89 yards per punt, which was third in the FBS. He also had a high NET punting average of 44.2 yards, according to his X account. He also had 13 punts inside the 20 and 23 punts over 50 yards.

WVU needed a punter. Long-time punter Oliver Straw ran out of eligibility, so Hansen should be next year’s starter. The Mountaineers punted a lot in 2025, so having a talented punter is a necessity.

Pass rusher Holloman was also a nice pickup for Rich Rodriguez. Holloman made an immediate impact in his true freshman season. He played in eight games and had nine total tackles, with one for loss. Holloman faced Rodriguez’s Jacksonville State in 2024, and he had a tackle for loss in that game. In 2025, Holloman had 39 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and two sacks.

Holloman has a lot of eligibility left, so he should develop in the years to come. He’s another one of the many young transfers added by Rodriguez, playing into his plan of building WVU from the ground up. Rodriguez added 49 players to the 2026 freshman class.

He’s the second pass rusher for WVU and the third defensive lineman. Holloman joined Bowling Green EDGE David Afogho and Division II starter Will LeBlanc as the three in the D-line room. Defensive coordinator Zac Alley wanted to make getting into the backfield a point of emphasis in 2025, and they were off to a hot start, but fizzled out at the end of the season.

The Mountaineers have now added 21 transfers just a week after the portal opened on Jan. 2. Rodriguez didn’t want to add too many transfers, but there were a lot of departures, making it necessary.