MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (September 4, 2018) - West Virginia University assistant coaches and select members of the West Virginia University football team met with the media on Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018, at the Milan Puskar Center Team Room.
Associate Head Coach (Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers) Tony Gibson
On what he saw from redshirt junior linebacker Shea Campbell against Tennessee
Early on, I think he was a little nervous, but once he settled in, I thought he did some good things for us. He made a few tackles. Shea’s very smart, and he knows our system. Again, you can’t say enough about a West Virginia kid playing for the Mountaineers. It means a whole lot to him. I like that. He’s a guy that I have confidence in to put in the game. Do I have confidence to put him in for 80 snaps right now? No, and Shea understands that. He has to get better, as we all do, but he’s going to work. He’s going to be a guy who is going to have to play a lot of defense for us.
On his impressions of sophomore defensive lineman Darius Stills against Tennessee
I thought Darius played really well. Darius made some huge plays in an important time of that game. Also, I thought (junior defensive lineman) Reese Donahue was a guy that nobody has really talked about. Reese graded out the best of all our d-linemen. Reese strains, as we all know. I thought the whole front played extremely well. They did some things, at times, that may have hurt us a little bit just like everybody – the safeties, the linebackers, the corners. But, overall, I was very impressed with the way they played and with the energy that they played with.
On his initial thoughts of freshman defensive lineman Dante Stills
It was good. He got an early shot against (Tennessee sophomore offensive lineman) Trey Smith, who is a really good offensive lineman for Tennessee. He held his own. I don’t think any moment is too big for him. I think he’s confident in what he does and with his talent. I think he’s going to be a really, really, really good player here.
Assistant Coach (Safeties) Matt Caponi
On how having a four-down, defensive line front affects the safeties
It doesn’t affect it much. We try to keep it simple and keep everybody’s assignments the same. It’s just adding another big body up there to help clog up some of those gaps. So, we just teach it the same way in certain formations, and certain situations can dictate otherwise. But it’s nothing to the point where it’s going to get really complicated on them.
On how the safety group can bring an added element of pressure to the defense
That’s something that we can obviously build on and adapt to is more pressure. Just based on how we develop and what we see from a game plan standpoint, that’ll be something that we want to do. Run or throw, we feel like we have the guys up front who can penetrate gaps. It’s obviously a little better in throwing situations, because we can get some more pressure on the quarterback. With some depth issues, it’s all about keeping those guys fresh, and planning to get our best guys on the field.
On redshirt senior safety Dravon Askew-Henry’s first career start at SPUR
I thought he played really well. He looked comfortable. He did some good things. He tackled well and was physical. That’s really all you need to do out there is do your job, and I thought he covered well on third down. I was very, very pleased.
Assistant Coach (Defensive Line) Bruce Tall
On the importance of halftime for assistant coaches
It’s such a short limit of time. We’re in and out of there fast. Saturday was interesting, because you plan for a normal one, and all of a sudden, you’re ready to go and you find that you have some time. We were able to sit down, talk some things through and work out some things that we needed to talk about.
On how the defensive line unit coped with making in-game adjustments against Tennessee
They were having great communication with each other. They were coming to the sidelines, talking to each other, talking about what they saw out there and they were in tune. They were ready, right behind me saying they were ready. Everybody wants to get in, everybody was anxious to get in. But they stayed ready the whole time.
On redshirt senior defensive lineman Kenny Bigelow Jr.
It was basically his first college start, and like anyone, you’re first college start is always exciting.
Assistant Coach (Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks) Jake Spavital
On the cohesiveness of the offensive unit
I feel like this way every year – I think that they’re on the same page. I think that’s what is making them play well. You can tell (redshirt senior quarterback) Will (Grier) has spent a lot of time with these guys. The throws to (senior wide receiver) Gary (Jennings Jr.) – you can’t really coach that. He just has the sense of where Will is going to put it and make the catch. That’s the thing I am the most impressed about with these guys right now is that they’re playing well together.
On the running back situation
It’s a tough situation. The thing that is hard about it is we only had 61 snaps. So, you’re not going to get those kids the right amount of touches, which is naturally going to play out over the course of the season. But you have to go with a guy, and if he has the hot hand, then you have to stay with it. It really is putting the pressure on that room. When they have the opportunity to perform by playing, it’ll get to the point where we won’t take you out of the game. We’re going to utilize all of these (running) backs. You can see that we’re going to try and get it to all of them. They all ended up having certain touches at certain point of the game. That’s going to increase based off having more opportunity.
On starting junior running back Martell Pettaway against Tennessee
He deserved it. The kid had an unbelievable summer. He’s worked tremendously hard, and he’s motivated. He’s a selfless guy; he doesn’t care if he gets the ball or not. He just wants to be out there on the field. He blocks very well, and he has increased his ball skills. You can see that we utilized him in the pass game. In the running game, he has the ability to hit that home run shot now. He’s turned into a great, all-around back just from the work that he put in. With how consistent he was, he deserved to go out with the first group.
Assistant Coach (Wide Receivers) Tyron Carrier
On utilizing the younger wide receivers
We’re going to use the redshirt rule to its full effect. I didn’t want to put them in on such a big stage. I want to put them in at a home game, in a good environment and see how they respond to that. That’s the same thing I did a year before. I’m eager to see what those young guys will do when their number is called.
On the backup receivers
They didn’t miss a beat. They came in, and you couldn’t tell that there was a drop-off. That’s something that I’m really happy about for those kids. They busted their butt this offseason. I just want to see them succeed.
On redshirt sophomore wide receiver T.J. Simmons and his first career touchdown
I didn’t know he could run that fast. I told him, ‘That’s the fastest I’ve ever seen you run.’ We knew we could get that out of him. He’s a special kid. Just getting everybody in and off the field will be the difference the year. (Senior wide receiver) David (Sills V) can stay fresh, (senior wide receiver) Gary (Jennings Jr.) can stay fresh and (junior wide receiver) Marcus (Simms) can stay fresh. We all need each other. We can move people around, rotate them and we can really get a beat on what guys run certain routes well, because they all do. Everybody knows each other’s position. So, it just makes it so easy.
Assistant Coach (Offensive Line) Joe Wickline
On using two centers throughout the season
That’s up to them. It’s not up to me or you or anybody else. It’s up to the players, the student-athlete. It’s like a running back – the hot guy gets the ball – or like a receiver, DB or anybody else. It’s the guy who’s going to perform the best that specifies the number of reps and how we rotate. The good news is that (redshirt sophomore offensive lineman) Jacob (Buccigrossi) and (redshirt junior offensive lineman) Matt (Jones) are good people, and they’re good players. They love West Virginia. They’re lucky they’re here, and they got us through the first game.
On what he saw from the offensive line rotation against Tennessee
No question. I think they all threw their hat in the ring. They were all involved and had a good mindset. I probably made some mistakes. I did make some mistakes on what I should do in this area and what I should do in that area. Just like the players, the coach has to clean things up. There were some issues there, but we’ll work on it. Obviously, that’s what practice is for, and we’re back to the drawing board. We’re starting all over again. New week, new game, same team.
On redshirt junior offensive lineman Joe Brown
He took a step. He’s not ready to quit practice yet. I’m glad we have him – he and (redshirt junior offensive lineman Michael) Mike (Brown). They’re a great addition, like all the guys in the room. I don’t see him going backwards. I only see him going forwards, and he’s interested in the game. He has a lot of pride and wants to be good. That’s the first part of the recipe. If you want to be good and you want to get it fixed, then you’re going to figure out how to get it fixed. So, we’re proud that he’s here and we’re glad that he’s a Mountaineer.
Redshirt Senior Defensive Lineman Kenny Bigelow Jr.
On his first career start against Tennessee
It was great. I was very excited to be out there with all those guys.
On why he chose to come to West Virginia
It was a mutual thing, on both sides. I was working out with a high school teammate when I was home, and I sent some video down. I got to talking with some guys. I came down and visited during the spring, and fell in love with it.
On sophomore defensive lineman Darius Stills and freshman defensive lineman Dante Stills
They’re great. They’re talented, talented, talented guys. They’re young, and they have to remain coaching, remain humble and believe and trust in the process.
On being a mentor to the Stills brothers
I try my best to help whenever I can. I see the talent in those guys. I see the potential in them. I see a lot of my younger self in both of them – the good and the bad. Whenever I see something, I make sure to say the things that I wish somebody would’ve said to me. I just try to encourage and talk to them when I can.
Senior Defensive Lineman Ezekiel Rose
On redshirt senior defensive lineman Kenny Bigelow Jr.
He can do it at all times. As long as he’s not gassed, he can get it all the time. I think he can do it while he’s gassed, too. He’s actually a really good player. I love watching Kenny play. I was on the sidelines looking at him, and as soon as he came up and did what he did, I said ‘Run that back. Do it again, Kenny.’ A couple plays later he did it again. That’s what I was talking about.
On being able to rest more as a defensive lineman this year
Even though it’s the first game, we’re splitting reps, and we’re all getting quality reps. I feel like that really helps, like with (sophomore) Darius (Stills) playing and even (freshman) Dante (Stills) got some good reps in. I was pleased to see that. (Redshirt sophomore) Jeffery Pooler (Jr.) came in and did a good job. He was out there rotating with the one’s in the nickel package. Just having that many people in the rotation helped out a lot.
On his impressions of defending the run
I feel confident in our defense. Our defensive line is getting some great push, and our linebackers fill in the gaps. It all plays into what we’ve been talking about since spring. Since the first day of spring, we’ve been talking about it in meetings. We’ll talk about it when we see each other. It’ll just come up in conversation, and it just sets itself true.
Senior Wide Receiver Gary Jennings Jr.
On the season opener against Tennessee
I think we did very well. In the first half, it took some time to get under our legs, but in the second half, we came out swinging.
On what the offense needs to do to prepare for Youngstown State
We just, mainly, need to stay consistent and not back off because they’re an FCS school. We have to turn it up.
On assistant coach (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks) Jake Spavital’s plans to get him into the end zone
That’s the goal. We have to win, and I’m definitely going to be in the end zone a lot more this year.
On his first touchdown of the year against Tennessee
The thing is, they kind of keyed on it that play. They backed off a little bit, but (redshirt senior quarterback) Will (Grier) still had the trust in me to use my technique, and he put a great ball over the outside shoulder where the defender couldn’t get it. He makes those plays all the time. So, it’s nothing new for me.
Junior Running Back Martell Pettaway
On earning the start against Tennessee
I was just ready to play. It was nothing crazy. I was just ready to play.
On what he saw from the younger running backs
They reacted well to playing the first game. They did well for their first game. That’s what I like to see.
On how having a dynamic group of running backs helps the offense
It just kept us fresh. We needed that. It was hot. They were getting tired on defense. So, we just kept rotating while they were tired. It helped us a lot.
On keeping momentum going into the home opener against Youngstown State
Even though they’re not as tough as Tennessee, it doesn’t matter. We respect every opponent. It doesn’t matter who we play. We play everybody the same way.
Redshirt Senior Tight End Trevon Wesco
On his long catch against Tennessee
When I get the ball, I just try not to go down. That’s the whole key.
On his style of running after the catch
I just get north. I don’t need moves. I just get north.
On having a variety of players contribute to the offense
Of course, it makes everybody excited. Everybody wants to get a piece of the pie. Everybody pretty much did, and it’s good for our team.
On having so many homegrown, West Virginia players being able to contribute to the team
That’s a good thing. We all look forward to it. It’s a dream come true for all of them. When you’re born and raised here, it’s just different. This is all I know is blue and gold. It’s special.
Associate Head Coach (Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers) Tony Gibson
On what he saw from redshirt junior linebacker Shea Campbell against Tennessee
Early on, I think he was a little nervous, but once he settled in, I thought he did some good things for us. He made a few tackles. Shea’s very smart, and he knows our system. Again, you can’t say enough about a West Virginia kid playing for the Mountaineers. It means a whole lot to him. I like that. He’s a guy that I have confidence in to put in the game. Do I have confidence to put him in for 80 snaps right now? No, and Shea understands that. He has to get better, as we all do, but he’s going to work. He’s going to be a guy who is going to have to play a lot of defense for us.
On his impressions of sophomore defensive lineman Darius Stills against Tennessee
I thought Darius played really well. Darius made some huge plays in an important time of that game. Also, I thought (junior defensive lineman) Reese Donahue was a guy that nobody has really talked about. Reese graded out the best of all our d-linemen. Reese strains, as we all know. I thought the whole front played extremely well. They did some things, at times, that may have hurt us a little bit just like everybody – the safeties, the linebackers, the corners. But, overall, I was very impressed with the way they played and with the energy that they played with.
On his initial thoughts of freshman defensive lineman Dante Stills
It was good. He got an early shot against (Tennessee sophomore offensive lineman) Trey Smith, who is a really good offensive lineman for Tennessee. He held his own. I don’t think any moment is too big for him. I think he’s confident in what he does and with his talent. I think he’s going to be a really, really, really good player here.
Assistant Coach (Safeties) Matt Caponi
On how having a four-down, defensive line front affects the safeties
It doesn’t affect it much. We try to keep it simple and keep everybody’s assignments the same. It’s just adding another big body up there to help clog up some of those gaps. So, we just teach it the same way in certain formations, and certain situations can dictate otherwise. But it’s nothing to the point where it’s going to get really complicated on them.
On how the safety group can bring an added element of pressure to the defense
That’s something that we can obviously build on and adapt to is more pressure. Just based on how we develop and what we see from a game plan standpoint, that’ll be something that we want to do. Run or throw, we feel like we have the guys up front who can penetrate gaps. It’s obviously a little better in throwing situations, because we can get some more pressure on the quarterback. With some depth issues, it’s all about keeping those guys fresh, and planning to get our best guys on the field.
On redshirt senior safety Dravon Askew-Henry’s first career start at SPUR
I thought he played really well. He looked comfortable. He did some good things. He tackled well and was physical. That’s really all you need to do out there is do your job, and I thought he covered well on third down. I was very, very pleased.
Assistant Coach (Defensive Line) Bruce Tall
On the importance of halftime for assistant coaches
It’s such a short limit of time. We’re in and out of there fast. Saturday was interesting, because you plan for a normal one, and all of a sudden, you’re ready to go and you find that you have some time. We were able to sit down, talk some things through and work out some things that we needed to talk about.
On how the defensive line unit coped with making in-game adjustments against Tennessee
They were having great communication with each other. They were coming to the sidelines, talking to each other, talking about what they saw out there and they were in tune. They were ready, right behind me saying they were ready. Everybody wants to get in, everybody was anxious to get in. But they stayed ready the whole time.
On redshirt senior defensive lineman Kenny Bigelow Jr.
It was basically his first college start, and like anyone, you’re first college start is always exciting.
Assistant Coach (Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks) Jake Spavital
On the cohesiveness of the offensive unit
I feel like this way every year – I think that they’re on the same page. I think that’s what is making them play well. You can tell (redshirt senior quarterback) Will (Grier) has spent a lot of time with these guys. The throws to (senior wide receiver) Gary (Jennings Jr.) – you can’t really coach that. He just has the sense of where Will is going to put it and make the catch. That’s the thing I am the most impressed about with these guys right now is that they’re playing well together.
On the running back situation
It’s a tough situation. The thing that is hard about it is we only had 61 snaps. So, you’re not going to get those kids the right amount of touches, which is naturally going to play out over the course of the season. But you have to go with a guy, and if he has the hot hand, then you have to stay with it. It really is putting the pressure on that room. When they have the opportunity to perform by playing, it’ll get to the point where we won’t take you out of the game. We’re going to utilize all of these (running) backs. You can see that we’re going to try and get it to all of them. They all ended up having certain touches at certain point of the game. That’s going to increase based off having more opportunity.
On starting junior running back Martell Pettaway against Tennessee
He deserved it. The kid had an unbelievable summer. He’s worked tremendously hard, and he’s motivated. He’s a selfless guy; he doesn’t care if he gets the ball or not. He just wants to be out there on the field. He blocks very well, and he has increased his ball skills. You can see that we utilized him in the pass game. In the running game, he has the ability to hit that home run shot now. He’s turned into a great, all-around back just from the work that he put in. With how consistent he was, he deserved to go out with the first group.
Assistant Coach (Wide Receivers) Tyron Carrier
On utilizing the younger wide receivers
We’re going to use the redshirt rule to its full effect. I didn’t want to put them in on such a big stage. I want to put them in at a home game, in a good environment and see how they respond to that. That’s the same thing I did a year before. I’m eager to see what those young guys will do when their number is called.
On the backup receivers
They didn’t miss a beat. They came in, and you couldn’t tell that there was a drop-off. That’s something that I’m really happy about for those kids. They busted their butt this offseason. I just want to see them succeed.
On redshirt sophomore wide receiver T.J. Simmons and his first career touchdown
I didn’t know he could run that fast. I told him, ‘That’s the fastest I’ve ever seen you run.’ We knew we could get that out of him. He’s a special kid. Just getting everybody in and off the field will be the difference the year. (Senior wide receiver) David (Sills V) can stay fresh, (senior wide receiver) Gary (Jennings Jr.) can stay fresh and (junior wide receiver) Marcus (Simms) can stay fresh. We all need each other. We can move people around, rotate them and we can really get a beat on what guys run certain routes well, because they all do. Everybody knows each other’s position. So, it just makes it so easy.
Assistant Coach (Offensive Line) Joe Wickline
On using two centers throughout the season
That’s up to them. It’s not up to me or you or anybody else. It’s up to the players, the student-athlete. It’s like a running back – the hot guy gets the ball – or like a receiver, DB or anybody else. It’s the guy who’s going to perform the best that specifies the number of reps and how we rotate. The good news is that (redshirt sophomore offensive lineman) Jacob (Buccigrossi) and (redshirt junior offensive lineman) Matt (Jones) are good people, and they’re good players. They love West Virginia. They’re lucky they’re here, and they got us through the first game.
On what he saw from the offensive line rotation against Tennessee
No question. I think they all threw their hat in the ring. They were all involved and had a good mindset. I probably made some mistakes. I did make some mistakes on what I should do in this area and what I should do in that area. Just like the players, the coach has to clean things up. There were some issues there, but we’ll work on it. Obviously, that’s what practice is for, and we’re back to the drawing board. We’re starting all over again. New week, new game, same team.
On redshirt junior offensive lineman Joe Brown
He took a step. He’s not ready to quit practice yet. I’m glad we have him – he and (redshirt junior offensive lineman Michael) Mike (Brown). They’re a great addition, like all the guys in the room. I don’t see him going backwards. I only see him going forwards, and he’s interested in the game. He has a lot of pride and wants to be good. That’s the first part of the recipe. If you want to be good and you want to get it fixed, then you’re going to figure out how to get it fixed. So, we’re proud that he’s here and we’re glad that he’s a Mountaineer.
Redshirt Senior Defensive Lineman Kenny Bigelow Jr.
On his first career start against Tennessee
It was great. I was very excited to be out there with all those guys.
On why he chose to come to West Virginia
It was a mutual thing, on both sides. I was working out with a high school teammate when I was home, and I sent some video down. I got to talking with some guys. I came down and visited during the spring, and fell in love with it.
On sophomore defensive lineman Darius Stills and freshman defensive lineman Dante Stills
They’re great. They’re talented, talented, talented guys. They’re young, and they have to remain coaching, remain humble and believe and trust in the process.
On being a mentor to the Stills brothers
I try my best to help whenever I can. I see the talent in those guys. I see the potential in them. I see a lot of my younger self in both of them – the good and the bad. Whenever I see something, I make sure to say the things that I wish somebody would’ve said to me. I just try to encourage and talk to them when I can.
Senior Defensive Lineman Ezekiel Rose
On redshirt senior defensive lineman Kenny Bigelow Jr.
He can do it at all times. As long as he’s not gassed, he can get it all the time. I think he can do it while he’s gassed, too. He’s actually a really good player. I love watching Kenny play. I was on the sidelines looking at him, and as soon as he came up and did what he did, I said ‘Run that back. Do it again, Kenny.’ A couple plays later he did it again. That’s what I was talking about.
On being able to rest more as a defensive lineman this year
Even though it’s the first game, we’re splitting reps, and we’re all getting quality reps. I feel like that really helps, like with (sophomore) Darius (Stills) playing and even (freshman) Dante (Stills) got some good reps in. I was pleased to see that. (Redshirt sophomore) Jeffery Pooler (Jr.) came in and did a good job. He was out there rotating with the one’s in the nickel package. Just having that many people in the rotation helped out a lot.
On his impressions of defending the run
I feel confident in our defense. Our defensive line is getting some great push, and our linebackers fill in the gaps. It all plays into what we’ve been talking about since spring. Since the first day of spring, we’ve been talking about it in meetings. We’ll talk about it when we see each other. It’ll just come up in conversation, and it just sets itself true.
Senior Wide Receiver Gary Jennings Jr.
On the season opener against Tennessee
I think we did very well. In the first half, it took some time to get under our legs, but in the second half, we came out swinging.
On what the offense needs to do to prepare for Youngstown State
We just, mainly, need to stay consistent and not back off because they’re an FCS school. We have to turn it up.
On assistant coach (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks) Jake Spavital’s plans to get him into the end zone
That’s the goal. We have to win, and I’m definitely going to be in the end zone a lot more this year.
On his first touchdown of the year against Tennessee
The thing is, they kind of keyed on it that play. They backed off a little bit, but (redshirt senior quarterback) Will (Grier) still had the trust in me to use my technique, and he put a great ball over the outside shoulder where the defender couldn’t get it. He makes those plays all the time. So, it’s nothing new for me.
Junior Running Back Martell Pettaway
On earning the start against Tennessee
I was just ready to play. It was nothing crazy. I was just ready to play.
On what he saw from the younger running backs
They reacted well to playing the first game. They did well for their first game. That’s what I like to see.
On how having a dynamic group of running backs helps the offense
It just kept us fresh. We needed that. It was hot. They were getting tired on defense. So, we just kept rotating while they were tired. It helped us a lot.
On keeping momentum going into the home opener against Youngstown State
Even though they’re not as tough as Tennessee, it doesn’t matter. We respect every opponent. It doesn’t matter who we play. We play everybody the same way.
Redshirt Senior Tight End Trevon Wesco
On his long catch against Tennessee
When I get the ball, I just try not to go down. That’s the whole key.
On his style of running after the catch
I just get north. I don’t need moves. I just get north.
On having a variety of players contribute to the offense
Of course, it makes everybody excited. Everybody wants to get a piece of the pie. Everybody pretty much did, and it’s good for our team.
On having so many homegrown, West Virginia players being able to contribute to the team
That’s a good thing. We all look forward to it. It’s a dream come true for all of them. When you’re born and raised here, it’s just different. This is all I know is blue and gold. It’s special.
