--West Virginia head coach Neal Brown said that his team is right in the middle and one through eight is a lot of drills and practice nine was all team, practice ten was like they did today. Mostly team on Friday and Tuesday then Thursday is a helmet practice and then there is the spring game. They are working drills for skills development and working a lot of team to see where the personnel is to see who has taken the next step. Who are the guys that are ready to step up and they are trying to work on opponent stuff. You want to rep schemes but you don't want to just always do basic looks to help them get ready for the season.
--From a special teams standpoint, Jaylen Anderson is standing out. He has came and done really well. TJ Johnson redshirted last year and is starting to show in competition drills on special teams. Colin McBee is another that has done that. Reid Carrico ever since Friday has put several nice days together on defense and special teams. Zae Jennings is an early enrollee but is a really good football player and while it's happening fast on defense he can help on special teams. Derek Berlitz should help on punt shield and the backline on kickoff return. Jordan Jackson has shown some growth this spring as well.
--In the past you were trying to get a bunch of reps with the first team and second team but now there is movement so what you try to do is rotate guys because everybody has to learn to play with everybody because you don't know what the fall will look like. They just play a lot of football and a lot of 11 on 11 situations.
--Israel Boyce is coming along. Nate Gabriel is big athlete and is learning. Physically he is ready to help them at the nose spot. Elijah Kinsler got more reps. He's going to be a really good player and they're moving him around. Jack Sammarco has to get stronger but he has really good hands and is going to be better as he gets bigger.
--Brown said that they're missing some pieces whether that's portal, signees that haven't gotten here and more but they should have more players in the fall that are ready to play. Where that really shows up is on special teams and it's been by far the most competitive and good on good reps.
--Brown said they made it a point of emphasis to make those tackles they were missing on special teams in a controlled environment.
--After that season in 2022 where he felt like they underachieved he hit the reset button on all of it. He didn't have a six year plan but after the 2022 season where they didn't play as well as they could in any phase they changed a lot of what they're doing. There was a reset in the program and they are in month 16 in the reboot and they are making progress. From a simple football point, West Virginia wants to be a team that is disciplined, strains, is tough and is smart. And all those traits take no talent. They have things they do throughout the year leading up to the season that is working that identity of who they have to be to be successful. West Virginia is tackling much better in the spring which is a fruit of that labor and they're in month 16 of how they taught tackling and worked it. And how they worked angles and deceleration in the winter. They're showing signs that they are a much better tackling team and they work it. They're in progress of the identity where they need to be.
--Asani Redwood won't be back in the spring. TJ Crandall has a nagging hamstring injury. Jacolby Spells will be right up until the fall. CJ Donaldson has done everything except take contact but he'll be fine. Kole Taylor will be full go. They're doing individual drills and no contact. Tomas Rimac is doing individual work. Graeson Malashevich had a procedure and is a month out. Corey McIntyre had a lower body injury Monday and they'll know more later in the week but it didn't look good.
--West Virginia is challenging wide receivers so they know all the spots. It's trial and error and teaching them the concepts.
--There is a lot of competition in the linebacker room. They have six guys that are competing and they are playing both positions so it keeps them on their toes. Josiah Trotter just plays the game the right way. He makes mistakes but he plays hard and has a physical presence.
--The portal is open it's not like we hope they don't figure out the portal is open. Everybody is a free agent and everybody has individual choices. Money is a factor for some and it's a little bit misleading with the narrative and finding the truth is hard. There is a ton of benefits of being a college football player. There is an added pressure element with that money and a comparison component that wasn't there when Brown was playing. That puts a lot of stress and a lot of guys get stressed from outside influences. Those pressures are real and he feels for them. Money and experience and the individual situations are a factor. They have to think about those things and he wants everybody as part of their program but at the same time he gets those decisions. Secondary they need one or two more bodies. Defensive line they need a potential area of need.
--Rodney Gallagher played corner in high school and can play man coverage. He didn't spend any time on it then but he has played there some in practice at nickel. They're teaching him a little bit. Gallagher is an offensive player and they're going to get him the ball and had a great scrimmage but he's also a guy that could potentially give them some snaps at nickel. Brown said it's doable to envision him as a two-way player where he could play six to ten on defense and it wouldn't take away anything he's doing on offense. You have to be open to it. They've done that in the past with Marcus Jones at Troy.
--Brown said that it's easier because he doesn't have to deal with the narrative he had last year in recruiting. They've also had a lot of success with freshmen and that helps. Brown has been pushing spring visits and things happen fast so they've had a lot of kids here to observe practice to see things they don't get on a normal visit. They see the depth and the schematics and the coach to player/ player to play interactions. They also can get a look at the environment on practice.
--Brown likes the body types outside at wide receiver. They're missing a real long guy in the wide receiver room like a 6-foot-4 type.
--Change of scenery in fall camp and other practices can be good. The spring game stuff they've done a little bit of everything. At Troy they'd make it a celebration and fun. The spring game is unique and Brown wants to do something fun. He wants to get the young people involved and getting young fans on the field. They aren't going to play four quarters of live football but they want to do some competitions and get some people involved and do some things to make fans bring their young people. How can they do some things in the spring game to meet a player and make it special.
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--From a special teams standpoint, Jaylen Anderson is standing out. He has came and done really well. TJ Johnson redshirted last year and is starting to show in competition drills on special teams. Colin McBee is another that has done that. Reid Carrico ever since Friday has put several nice days together on defense and special teams. Zae Jennings is an early enrollee but is a really good football player and while it's happening fast on defense he can help on special teams. Derek Berlitz should help on punt shield and the backline on kickoff return. Jordan Jackson has shown some growth this spring as well.
--In the past you were trying to get a bunch of reps with the first team and second team but now there is movement so what you try to do is rotate guys because everybody has to learn to play with everybody because you don't know what the fall will look like. They just play a lot of football and a lot of 11 on 11 situations.
--Israel Boyce is coming along. Nate Gabriel is big athlete and is learning. Physically he is ready to help them at the nose spot. Elijah Kinsler got more reps. He's going to be a really good player and they're moving him around. Jack Sammarco has to get stronger but he has really good hands and is going to be better as he gets bigger.
--Brown said that they're missing some pieces whether that's portal, signees that haven't gotten here and more but they should have more players in the fall that are ready to play. Where that really shows up is on special teams and it's been by far the most competitive and good on good reps.
--Brown said they made it a point of emphasis to make those tackles they were missing on special teams in a controlled environment.
--After that season in 2022 where he felt like they underachieved he hit the reset button on all of it. He didn't have a six year plan but after the 2022 season where they didn't play as well as they could in any phase they changed a lot of what they're doing. There was a reset in the program and they are in month 16 in the reboot and they are making progress. From a simple football point, West Virginia wants to be a team that is disciplined, strains, is tough and is smart. And all those traits take no talent. They have things they do throughout the year leading up to the season that is working that identity of who they have to be to be successful. West Virginia is tackling much better in the spring which is a fruit of that labor and they're in month 16 of how they taught tackling and worked it. And how they worked angles and deceleration in the winter. They're showing signs that they are a much better tackling team and they work it. They're in progress of the identity where they need to be.
--Asani Redwood won't be back in the spring. TJ Crandall has a nagging hamstring injury. Jacolby Spells will be right up until the fall. CJ Donaldson has done everything except take contact but he'll be fine. Kole Taylor will be full go. They're doing individual drills and no contact. Tomas Rimac is doing individual work. Graeson Malashevich had a procedure and is a month out. Corey McIntyre had a lower body injury Monday and they'll know more later in the week but it didn't look good.
--West Virginia is challenging wide receivers so they know all the spots. It's trial and error and teaching them the concepts.
--There is a lot of competition in the linebacker room. They have six guys that are competing and they are playing both positions so it keeps them on their toes. Josiah Trotter just plays the game the right way. He makes mistakes but he plays hard and has a physical presence.
--The portal is open it's not like we hope they don't figure out the portal is open. Everybody is a free agent and everybody has individual choices. Money is a factor for some and it's a little bit misleading with the narrative and finding the truth is hard. There is a ton of benefits of being a college football player. There is an added pressure element with that money and a comparison component that wasn't there when Brown was playing. That puts a lot of stress and a lot of guys get stressed from outside influences. Those pressures are real and he feels for them. Money and experience and the individual situations are a factor. They have to think about those things and he wants everybody as part of their program but at the same time he gets those decisions. Secondary they need one or two more bodies. Defensive line they need a potential area of need.
--Rodney Gallagher played corner in high school and can play man coverage. He didn't spend any time on it then but he has played there some in practice at nickel. They're teaching him a little bit. Gallagher is an offensive player and they're going to get him the ball and had a great scrimmage but he's also a guy that could potentially give them some snaps at nickel. Brown said it's doable to envision him as a two-way player where he could play six to ten on defense and it wouldn't take away anything he's doing on offense. You have to be open to it. They've done that in the past with Marcus Jones at Troy.
--Brown said that it's easier because he doesn't have to deal with the narrative he had last year in recruiting. They've also had a lot of success with freshmen and that helps. Brown has been pushing spring visits and things happen fast so they've had a lot of kids here to observe practice to see things they don't get on a normal visit. They see the depth and the schematics and the coach to player/ player to play interactions. They also can get a look at the environment on practice.
--Brown likes the body types outside at wide receiver. They're missing a real long guy in the wide receiver room like a 6-foot-4 type.
--Change of scenery in fall camp and other practices can be good. The spring game stuff they've done a little bit of everything. At Troy they'd make it a celebration and fun. The spring game is unique and Brown wants to do something fun. He wants to get the young people involved and getting young fans on the field. They aren't going to play four quarters of live football but they want to do some competitions and get some people involved and do some things to make fans bring their young people. How can they do some things in the spring game to meet a player and make it special.
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