DURHAM -- For as long as he can remember, University of New Hampshire football has been a big part of Seamus O'Neill's life.

Both his father and uncle played for the Wildcats, and he has fond memories of going to UNH football games throughout his childhood.

Now, this season he figures to be a big part of the team.

The former standout at Manchester Central High School is part of a Wildcat offensive line that will be tasked with protecting redshirt freshman Sean Goldrich, who will be taking over at quarterback. And not only is O'Neill on the line, but he is the left tackle, so he will also have to guard the new signal caller's blind side.

“Probably the most important position on the offensive line is left tackle,” UNH coach Sean McDonnell said. “He's a big part of the offensive line. He's got to be the guy that anchors it that way.”

Now with two years of experience under his belt, O'Neill could be that guy. He is a preseason all Colonial Athletic Association second-team selection and ranked by one publication as the No. 36 offensive tackle in the country.

At 6-foot-3 and 281 pounds, he's got the size, and O'Neill says he and his cohorts on the offensive line are up to the challenge of protecting Goldrich, who has not taken a snap in a college game.

“Everything has been clicking,” O'Neill said. “We see the blitzes, we read the defenses. Once it comes to games it's going to be a major component of our offense.”

O'Neill started playing football in high school, where he fine-tuned his craft under a pretty good offensive lineman in his own day, Little Green coach Ryan Ray. Ray played for Manchester Memorial and went to the University of Maine on a football scholarship.

Having someone like that to mentor him as he learned the game was a big boost for O'Neill and gave him the confidence that someday he could play at the next level.

“He helped me a lot,” O'Neill said. “He said 'You've got a really good chance of playing college football. You've got to buy into the program' and him telling me that helped drive me.'”

O'Neill redshirted a year and then played in eight games and started five at right guard his rookie season in 2010. Last season, he started 11 games and this year he is part of an offensive line that returns every starter from a year ago.

The line has the experience, and O'Neill said they work well together. The guys lining up alongside him are Zarkoskie at left guard, Mike Coccia at center, Ricky Archer at right guard and Mickey Dilima at right tackle.

The group has a sort of sixth sense. They communicate well and know how to work with each other to keep a good flow going and everything running smoothly.

“I feel like I've developed a lot,” O'Neill said. “A lot of that goes to me playing next to Chris Zarkoskie. We've played next to each other and this is going to be our third year.”

O'Neill is the latest in a long list of local offensive lineman to play at UNH, a list that includes players like Manchester's Greg Krause, Londonderry's Jason Ball and Nick Couturier of Dover. The difference is, Krause had Jerry Azumah in his backfield, Ball had Ryan Day and Couturier had Ricky Santos. Both Azumah and Santos won the Walter Payton Award for the best offensive player in the football championship subdivision, and Day is one of the best quarterbacks to ever play at UNH.

This season is different. There will be an untested play caller trying to run one of the most prolific offenses in the country, so keeping him upright will be crucial to the team's success.

“Regardless of whose back there we're going to play our game,” O'Neill said. “Whether we're running the ball more or passing the ball more we know the quarterback and running backs are going to get it done.”

Their first test they will face comes next Thursday when the Wildcats travel to Holy Cross to open the season.

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Mark Quirk may be reached at mquirk@unionleader.com.