Mountaineers Practice at Shepherd University[/B]
SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. (April 4, 2014) - West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen met with members of the media prior to the Mountaineers' Saturday afternoon practice at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, W.Va.:
Q: Coach, what does it mean to get back to touring the state again?
DH: It's always fun. The kids get excited about it. This is practice six so anything you can do to spice things up a little bit they get pretty excited about. Coming to a different part of the state was important to us and I think our guys are pretty excited about going out there and getting another practice in.
Q: Are you adjusting to your somewhat new role working with the quarterbacks?
DH: It's not new. I mean my job has been the same. I'm spending a little bit more hands-on time with them in the meeting room but other than that my job hasn't changed.
Q: How are the quarterbacks progressing - Skyler (Howard), William (Crest) - how have they looked?
DH: Both of them good. Skyler is operating extremely well. He's had a lot more reps. When we pulled his redshirt last year he started getting a bunch more reps but you can tell William has also taken some reps. He was the backup there early for a few games during the year but both of those guys are much farther ahead than the two young pups but those young guys are attentive; they're both smart. Both David (Sills) and Chris (Chugunov) are smart kids and they're picking things up. No matter who I'm talking to they're listening so I'm excited about those guys and it's going to be fun to watch those guys progress. For the time being we're going to have to dump all of the reps into Skyler and William - that's who you will see get the reps today.
Q: You said practice six. Do you know anything more about this team now than you did just a few weeks ago?
DH: Not really. I like where we're at. I like this team. I've said this numerous times but we've got a lot of veteran guys that have played a lot of football. You'll see our defense out there flying around. Our defense looks good and they should. It's the second year in the same system for a guy like (Jared) Barber and (Nick) Kwiatkoski when they first got here they were learning this system so it makes sense to them, they know what they're doing. All of those guys have got a bunch of experience and they look real good so. Offensively it's the same thing. We've got a bunch of guys that have been taught the same stuff here for the last several years. It's a veteran group; it's one we've been looking forward to for quite some time.
Q: How is Barber looking getting back out there?
DH: Great. This is the best I've seen him. He's in shape. He's motivated. He knows the defense as well as any of our defensive coaches do just because he's been here so long. We call him Coach Barber for a reason. He spent the whole year in rehab coaching basically. He brings another veteran leader to the defense and you can't have enough of those guys.
Q: Have you seen the changes and the progression along the defensive line that you've wanted with the new coaches?
DH: I have. Bruce (Tall) has done a great job. Damon (Cogdell) is still learning and continues to kind of figure out his way but - just an unbelievable motivator is what I see out of him, but Bruce you can see from a technique point of view it looks different. Christian Brown looks good. Noble (Nwachukwu) looks better. Those guys have got some ability and they've played a lot of football. From a technique point of view it looks like it's night and day.
Q: What have you seen from the outside receiver battle?
DH: It's nothing yet. We've got five of them repping. They're just really, really, really inexperienced and really green - a lot of young guys. Shelton (Gibson) is made a couple of plays downfield; (Devonte) Mathis has probably been our most steady guy but by no means are we ready to make any decisions on those guys whatsoever. Plus, we've got three new guys coming in. All three of them are going to be on the outside. We'll line up with eight guys at the start of camp and we'll probably have our most serious battles and serious talks during camp.
Q: (Adam) Pankey moving inside looking like still the right thing to do?
DH: Yeah, he's looked great there. He's more comfortable there. He's adjusting really well. The tackle spot, Yodny Cajuste out there today but it's far from over.
Q: Nick O'Toole had struggled directionally toward the end of the season. Has he kind of picked that back up?
DH: He knows he didn't have his best year. Coming off of an all-Big 12 performance anything short of that is going to be disappointing to you and I was hard on him at times just because I know what he's capable of. He's capable of being an All-American punter. And he knows that and so he's very motivated at this point.
Q: What have you seen out of the running backs, and particularly what you've got coming back and also a guy like (Donte) Thomas-Williams who is really making his case this spring?
DH: Jacky Marcellus to running back and he's showing some promise. He's a tough kid that will stick his nose up in there. And then (Elijah) Wellman is getting a bunch of carries and he always falls forward, which is important for a running back.
Q: You mentioned Smallwood there, versatility - you mentioned with Sims all of the things you were able to do with him. How much does that open things up for you when you've got a guy that can kind of do it all?
DH: The more the better. The more of those guys that we can play at running back that block, that can move to a variety of positions and can catch that makes it hard defensively to keep track of guys. They are going to have to find four or five different spots that he can line up at, which is going to make it hard to defend him.
Q: What have you seen from (new assistant coach) Mark Scott since he's gotten out there full-time in that job?
DH: It's been good. I don't see much of him because he's on the defensive side but he's doing a lot of the special teams and he's Gibbie's (defensive coordinator Tony Gibson) go to guy in the box. He can coach all of the positions on defense and is going to continue to become the guy that does a lot special teams wise to take some of that off of his plate.
Q: Have you found any punt returners?
DH: We will be working four of them. We call them the small squad. We've got Vernon (Davis Jr.); we've got Jacky (Marcellus); we've got Lamar Parker and we've got Squirt (Jordan Thompson). We've got four of the smallest human beings that play college football will be back there. It makes me look like a giant, but those four we will continue to work them.
Q: Any other position changes? You mentioned Jacky. Anybody else moving around?
DH: No, not really. Not that I'm aware of. We're constantly try different things but it's pretty much settled in.
SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. (April 4, 2014) - West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen met with members of the media prior to the Mountaineers' Saturday afternoon practice at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, W.Va.:
Q: Coach, what does it mean to get back to touring the state again?
DH: It's always fun. The kids get excited about it. This is practice six so anything you can do to spice things up a little bit they get pretty excited about. Coming to a different part of the state was important to us and I think our guys are pretty excited about going out there and getting another practice in.
Q: Are you adjusting to your somewhat new role working with the quarterbacks?
DH: It's not new. I mean my job has been the same. I'm spending a little bit more hands-on time with them in the meeting room but other than that my job hasn't changed.
Q: How are the quarterbacks progressing - Skyler (Howard), William (Crest) - how have they looked?
DH: Both of them good. Skyler is operating extremely well. He's had a lot more reps. When we pulled his redshirt last year he started getting a bunch more reps but you can tell William has also taken some reps. He was the backup there early for a few games during the year but both of those guys are much farther ahead than the two young pups but those young guys are attentive; they're both smart. Both David (Sills) and Chris (Chugunov) are smart kids and they're picking things up. No matter who I'm talking to they're listening so I'm excited about those guys and it's going to be fun to watch those guys progress. For the time being we're going to have to dump all of the reps into Skyler and William - that's who you will see get the reps today.
Q: You said practice six. Do you know anything more about this team now than you did just a few weeks ago?
DH: Not really. I like where we're at. I like this team. I've said this numerous times but we've got a lot of veteran guys that have played a lot of football. You'll see our defense out there flying around. Our defense looks good and they should. It's the second year in the same system for a guy like (Jared) Barber and (Nick) Kwiatkoski when they first got here they were learning this system so it makes sense to them, they know what they're doing. All of those guys have got a bunch of experience and they look real good so. Offensively it's the same thing. We've got a bunch of guys that have been taught the same stuff here for the last several years. It's a veteran group; it's one we've been looking forward to for quite some time.
Q: How is Barber looking getting back out there?
DH: Great. This is the best I've seen him. He's in shape. He's motivated. He knows the defense as well as any of our defensive coaches do just because he's been here so long. We call him Coach Barber for a reason. He spent the whole year in rehab coaching basically. He brings another veteran leader to the defense and you can't have enough of those guys.
Q: Have you seen the changes and the progression along the defensive line that you've wanted with the new coaches?
DH: I have. Bruce (Tall) has done a great job. Damon (Cogdell) is still learning and continues to kind of figure out his way but - just an unbelievable motivator is what I see out of him, but Bruce you can see from a technique point of view it looks different. Christian Brown looks good. Noble (Nwachukwu) looks better. Those guys have got some ability and they've played a lot of football. From a technique point of view it looks like it's night and day.
Q: What have you seen from the outside receiver battle?
DH: It's nothing yet. We've got five of them repping. They're just really, really, really inexperienced and really green - a lot of young guys. Shelton (Gibson) is made a couple of plays downfield; (Devonte) Mathis has probably been our most steady guy but by no means are we ready to make any decisions on those guys whatsoever. Plus, we've got three new guys coming in. All three of them are going to be on the outside. We'll line up with eight guys at the start of camp and we'll probably have our most serious battles and serious talks during camp.
Q: (Adam) Pankey moving inside looking like still the right thing to do?
DH: Yeah, he's looked great there. He's more comfortable there. He's adjusting really well. The tackle spot, Yodny Cajuste out there today but it's far from over.
Q: Nick O'Toole had struggled directionally toward the end of the season. Has he kind of picked that back up?
DH: He knows he didn't have his best year. Coming off of an all-Big 12 performance anything short of that is going to be disappointing to you and I was hard on him at times just because I know what he's capable of. He's capable of being an All-American punter. And he knows that and so he's very motivated at this point.
Q: What have you seen out of the running backs, and particularly what you've got coming back and also a guy like (Donte) Thomas-Williams who is really making his case this spring?
DH: Jacky Marcellus to running back and he's showing some promise. He's a tough kid that will stick his nose up in there. And then (Elijah) Wellman is getting a bunch of carries and he always falls forward, which is important for a running back.
Q: You mentioned Smallwood there, versatility - you mentioned with Sims all of the things you were able to do with him. How much does that open things up for you when you've got a guy that can kind of do it all?
DH: The more the better. The more of those guys that we can play at running back that block, that can move to a variety of positions and can catch that makes it hard defensively to keep track of guys. They are going to have to find four or five different spots that he can line up at, which is going to make it hard to defend him.
Q: What have you seen from (new assistant coach) Mark Scott since he's gotten out there full-time in that job?
DH: It's been good. I don't see much of him because he's on the defensive side but he's doing a lot of the special teams and he's Gibbie's (defensive coordinator Tony Gibson) go to guy in the box. He can coach all of the positions on defense and is going to continue to become the guy that does a lot special teams wise to take some of that off of his plate.
Q: Have you found any punt returners?
DH: We will be working four of them. We call them the small squad. We've got Vernon (Davis Jr.); we've got Jacky (Marcellus); we've got Lamar Parker and we've got Squirt (Jordan Thompson). We've got four of the smallest human beings that play college football will be back there. It makes me look like a giant, but those four we will continue to work them.
Q: Any other position changes? You mentioned Jacky. Anybody else moving around?
DH: No, not really. Not that I'm aware of. We're constantly try different things but it's pretty much settled in.