-It's the summer so most of the focus is on getting stronger and faster but I asked about some of the issues you guys have been asking about and here's the latest.
-Defensive coordinator Tony Gibson told me that they haven’t changed their stance on junior safety Kyzir White and he is definitely going to be in the mix and have every opportunity to win the job at SPUR. White is a smart kid and has picked things up fast, even though the SPUR spot is the most difficult on the team to master.
-Gibson said that Iowa graduate transfer Maurice Fleming is very focused and they’ve had success with the graduate transfers in the past. He thinks he will be right in the mix this fall for a role with the cornerback group. Meanwhile the two junior college kids in Mike Daniels and Elijah Battle have come along so far but they haven’t been used to this type of workload. They are sore, tired and beat up because they aren’t used to it but by the time August rolls around both should be fine.
-Gibson said that Antonio Crawford or any of the newcomers could potentially serve as the nickel cornerback this fall but he is still working through all of that. He said the plan is to play a lot of different players in the secondary especially at cornerback.
-All three of the new freshmen linebackers in Brendan Ferns, Zach Sandwisch and Adam Hensley are going to have a chance to play this fall. All three are pretty much of the same mold in that they are smart and work very hard to improve. All of them have impressed in the weight room and while they won’t be starters, all of them are going to be in the mix.
-Defensive line remains a concern behind the three starters and Jon Lewis has been moved back to play at that spot. Gibson told me that redshirt freshman Adam Shuler has come a long ways and looks good but they have to find the next nose guard. Right now it’s a competition between redshirt freshman Alec Shriner, redshirt sophomore Jaleel Fields and some others.
-Gibson has been impressed with the size of the new players but until they get the pads on and the everyday grind it’s tough to tell what they will get out of each of them.
-True freshman defensive lineman Reese Donahue continues to impress and got a full series of work during the spring and remains on track to see the field this fall and avoid a redshirt. He’s basically like a sophomore right now and understands what it takes to work.
-When it comes to the defense as a whole so much of the success this year will be determined by what takes place in the backend if they are able hold up in man because Gibson likes to be aggressive and put his players on an island. He’ll know a lot more in the fall but there’s a lot of work left.
-The biggest adjustment for newcomers is overall the speed of the game. It takes time to build them up and he said it will be tough for any freshmen to come in and start but he is expecting them to come in and provide depth for the unit this fall.
-Defensive line coach Bruce Tall told me that true freshman Chase Behrndt is getting some work on the defensive line at nose guard just to explore what he can do there. He’s obviously a good offensive lineman but they are giving him some work there to see if he can contribute.
-Tall said that his second team unit is still a work in progress and it’s hard right now because they can’t do very many actual football drills. He saw a lot of little things where his group improved after studying the film so hard. He did tell me that he expects some of the younger players to step up and play. They are going to play a minimum of six defensive linemen this fall.
-Tall believes his two freshmen in Donahue and Jeffery Pooler are right on track but it’s just a matter of working in the weight room to get stronger.
-Asked about redshirt senior defensive end Larry Jefferson and that is still a situation that is up in the air.
-Running backs coach JaJuan Seider said the time is now for redshirt senior running back Rushel Shell. It’s up to him to grab the bull by the horns because three years in a row there has been a guy that has been labeled the starter and been beaten out. Shell has been on both ends of that beating out Dreamius Smith in 2015 before losing that role to Wendell Smallwood last season. There is no favoritism but it’s about playing the guy that will do the little things and gives them the best chance to win. Shell had a good spring and is in great shape right now and Seider said he will play this season between 218-225-pounds which is where he wants him to.
-Seider told me that he made a cut up of every run that Shell had from last season so he can go through every play and see what he did right and what he did wrong. And he wants a report on it. He does it to force him to see what he did right and what he did wrong and how he can improve on that. It teaches players a lot about themselves and see what defenses are doing to him.
-Seider said that the fact he has given players opportunities to play early if they’ve earned it has built a lot of trust across the running back room. He hasn’t made any decisions or even thought about redshirts until he gets closer to the fall. Over the last couple years they’ve been using two-backs so it’s going to be predicated on how the offense adjusts and how those players perform if he makes any decisions.
-He echoed his thoughts from the spring with what freshman Kennedy McKoy was able to do he is not going to redshirt and right now would be the second running back on the field for the Mountaineers. IF they go two backs, he is going to be the other one on the field.
-Seider said that junior Justin Crawford has leadership qualities that you want to see on your team. He’s still learning everything here but he works hard and that is rubbing off on the other players. He isn’t worried about where he stands right now on the field but he just wants to get to August he wants to show what he can do on the field and prove he belongs. He already has familiarity with the offense because they did a lot of the same things at his junior college. It will also help to be able to see himself on film and learn from his mistakes.
-Freshman Martell Pettaway just got here this week but he is already going to the front of the line and trying to compete. He is fitting right in and Seider said he hasn’t seen a lot but he runs well.
-Overall Seider believes that this group could potentially be as good as it’s ever been. That’s not the type of things he throws out easily but this is a group that can do a lot of different things and has a lot of talent. The wildcards are Crawford and Pettaway but with the size all of them have and the speed they have it could be special. Overall this is as fast as it’s been in a long time.
-Seider said that sophomore wide receiver Jovon Durante is up to around 180-pounds after weighing only 150-pound after the spring so he has bought into what Mike Joseph wants him to do in the weight room. Seider said that Durante was a freshman last season and sometimes that is too much to handle for some kids due to all the adjustments but he has reminded him almost daily that he recruited him and told him that he had a chance to start his first year, but now that’s on him to take advantage of it. Durante has next level talent but it’s about putting it together on the field and after missing the spring the onus will be on him to step up to the challenge.
-Spoke with senior quarterback Skyler Howard and he told me that freshman wide receiver Steven Smothers and the one word he said was “natural.” He said that he is still learning the routes but if they tell him what to do he’ll execute it and then make the catch and doing his thing.”
-Redshirt junior Shelton Gibson said that the nickname for Smothers is little Shelton because he takes things so seriously on the field and is always working.
-Behind senior Daikiel Shorts its fellow redshirt senior Devonte Mathis working at inside wide receiver.
-Asked Howard about how sophomore Jovon Durante has come back after missing the entirety of spring and he told me that he is moving well and blowing by people. It’s still a work in progress but it’s all about getting on the same page for this season.
-Howard expects that the offense will be much more efficient this season and able to put up points on a consistent basis something that was an issue last season.
-Howard said that he has not had a chance to reach out to sophomore David Sills who is following the same path as him going to a junior college in order to pursue his dream of playing quarterback. He plans to reach out to him sometime soon to talk. Howard did say that Sills had been working out almost exclusively with the quarterbacks before he left the team.
-Offensive line coach Ron Crook said that his offensive line is coming together and is heading in a great direction. Redshirt sophomore Yodny Cajuste has gotten stronger and has gained a lot more confidence in his abilities on the field and that’s allowing him to trust the guys beside him.
-Asked Crook about the newcomers in Josh Sills, Chase Behrndt and Jacob Buccigrossi and he told me that each of them are big, strong and versatile options. Each of them can move from guard to center or guard to tackle and gives him more opportunities moving forward.
-As of today the backup center behind Tyler Orlosky is redshirt senior Tony Matteo with redshirt freshman Jah’Shaun Seider also in the mix there.
-Offensive coordinator Joe Wickline said the tackles have been improving a lot with technique and footwork. They are still looking for the third tackle.
-Redshirt junior wide receiver Shelton Gibson said that his connection with Skyler Howard is even better than it was last season but it’s improved across the board. After the bowl game, the group took a lot of confidence away from that performance and is using that as a spring board this summer.
-Junior wide receiver Ka’Raun White told me that he is in much better condition than he was last year and understands what he needs to do. White said him and Howard have been doing a lot of extra work to prepare such as route running, steps and him getting the ball where he wants to get it. They’ve been working on sticking their routes to create separation, pumping their arms and making plays on the ball.
-Defensive coordinator Tony Gibson told me that they haven’t changed their stance on junior safety Kyzir White and he is definitely going to be in the mix and have every opportunity to win the job at SPUR. White is a smart kid and has picked things up fast, even though the SPUR spot is the most difficult on the team to master.
-Gibson said that Iowa graduate transfer Maurice Fleming is very focused and they’ve had success with the graduate transfers in the past. He thinks he will be right in the mix this fall for a role with the cornerback group. Meanwhile the two junior college kids in Mike Daniels and Elijah Battle have come along so far but they haven’t been used to this type of workload. They are sore, tired and beat up because they aren’t used to it but by the time August rolls around both should be fine.
-Gibson said that Antonio Crawford or any of the newcomers could potentially serve as the nickel cornerback this fall but he is still working through all of that. He said the plan is to play a lot of different players in the secondary especially at cornerback.
-All three of the new freshmen linebackers in Brendan Ferns, Zach Sandwisch and Adam Hensley are going to have a chance to play this fall. All three are pretty much of the same mold in that they are smart and work very hard to improve. All of them have impressed in the weight room and while they won’t be starters, all of them are going to be in the mix.
-Defensive line remains a concern behind the three starters and Jon Lewis has been moved back to play at that spot. Gibson told me that redshirt freshman Adam Shuler has come a long ways and looks good but they have to find the next nose guard. Right now it’s a competition between redshirt freshman Alec Shriner, redshirt sophomore Jaleel Fields and some others.
-Gibson has been impressed with the size of the new players but until they get the pads on and the everyday grind it’s tough to tell what they will get out of each of them.
-True freshman defensive lineman Reese Donahue continues to impress and got a full series of work during the spring and remains on track to see the field this fall and avoid a redshirt. He’s basically like a sophomore right now and understands what it takes to work.
-When it comes to the defense as a whole so much of the success this year will be determined by what takes place in the backend if they are able hold up in man because Gibson likes to be aggressive and put his players on an island. He’ll know a lot more in the fall but there’s a lot of work left.
-The biggest adjustment for newcomers is overall the speed of the game. It takes time to build them up and he said it will be tough for any freshmen to come in and start but he is expecting them to come in and provide depth for the unit this fall.
-Defensive line coach Bruce Tall told me that true freshman Chase Behrndt is getting some work on the defensive line at nose guard just to explore what he can do there. He’s obviously a good offensive lineman but they are giving him some work there to see if he can contribute.
-Tall said that his second team unit is still a work in progress and it’s hard right now because they can’t do very many actual football drills. He saw a lot of little things where his group improved after studying the film so hard. He did tell me that he expects some of the younger players to step up and play. They are going to play a minimum of six defensive linemen this fall.
-Tall believes his two freshmen in Donahue and Jeffery Pooler are right on track but it’s just a matter of working in the weight room to get stronger.
-Asked about redshirt senior defensive end Larry Jefferson and that is still a situation that is up in the air.
-Running backs coach JaJuan Seider said the time is now for redshirt senior running back Rushel Shell. It’s up to him to grab the bull by the horns because three years in a row there has been a guy that has been labeled the starter and been beaten out. Shell has been on both ends of that beating out Dreamius Smith in 2015 before losing that role to Wendell Smallwood last season. There is no favoritism but it’s about playing the guy that will do the little things and gives them the best chance to win. Shell had a good spring and is in great shape right now and Seider said he will play this season between 218-225-pounds which is where he wants him to.
-Seider told me that he made a cut up of every run that Shell had from last season so he can go through every play and see what he did right and what he did wrong. And he wants a report on it. He does it to force him to see what he did right and what he did wrong and how he can improve on that. It teaches players a lot about themselves and see what defenses are doing to him.
-Seider said that the fact he has given players opportunities to play early if they’ve earned it has built a lot of trust across the running back room. He hasn’t made any decisions or even thought about redshirts until he gets closer to the fall. Over the last couple years they’ve been using two-backs so it’s going to be predicated on how the offense adjusts and how those players perform if he makes any decisions.
-He echoed his thoughts from the spring with what freshman Kennedy McKoy was able to do he is not going to redshirt and right now would be the second running back on the field for the Mountaineers. IF they go two backs, he is going to be the other one on the field.
-Seider said that junior Justin Crawford has leadership qualities that you want to see on your team. He’s still learning everything here but he works hard and that is rubbing off on the other players. He isn’t worried about where he stands right now on the field but he just wants to get to August he wants to show what he can do on the field and prove he belongs. He already has familiarity with the offense because they did a lot of the same things at his junior college. It will also help to be able to see himself on film and learn from his mistakes.
-Freshman Martell Pettaway just got here this week but he is already going to the front of the line and trying to compete. He is fitting right in and Seider said he hasn’t seen a lot but he runs well.
-Overall Seider believes that this group could potentially be as good as it’s ever been. That’s not the type of things he throws out easily but this is a group that can do a lot of different things and has a lot of talent. The wildcards are Crawford and Pettaway but with the size all of them have and the speed they have it could be special. Overall this is as fast as it’s been in a long time.
-Seider said that sophomore wide receiver Jovon Durante is up to around 180-pounds after weighing only 150-pound after the spring so he has bought into what Mike Joseph wants him to do in the weight room. Seider said that Durante was a freshman last season and sometimes that is too much to handle for some kids due to all the adjustments but he has reminded him almost daily that he recruited him and told him that he had a chance to start his first year, but now that’s on him to take advantage of it. Durante has next level talent but it’s about putting it together on the field and after missing the spring the onus will be on him to step up to the challenge.
-Spoke with senior quarterback Skyler Howard and he told me that freshman wide receiver Steven Smothers and the one word he said was “natural.” He said that he is still learning the routes but if they tell him what to do he’ll execute it and then make the catch and doing his thing.”
-Redshirt junior Shelton Gibson said that the nickname for Smothers is little Shelton because he takes things so seriously on the field and is always working.
-Behind senior Daikiel Shorts its fellow redshirt senior Devonte Mathis working at inside wide receiver.
-Asked Howard about how sophomore Jovon Durante has come back after missing the entirety of spring and he told me that he is moving well and blowing by people. It’s still a work in progress but it’s all about getting on the same page for this season.
-Howard expects that the offense will be much more efficient this season and able to put up points on a consistent basis something that was an issue last season.
-Howard said that he has not had a chance to reach out to sophomore David Sills who is following the same path as him going to a junior college in order to pursue his dream of playing quarterback. He plans to reach out to him sometime soon to talk. Howard did say that Sills had been working out almost exclusively with the quarterbacks before he left the team.
-Offensive line coach Ron Crook said that his offensive line is coming together and is heading in a great direction. Redshirt sophomore Yodny Cajuste has gotten stronger and has gained a lot more confidence in his abilities on the field and that’s allowing him to trust the guys beside him.
-Asked Crook about the newcomers in Josh Sills, Chase Behrndt and Jacob Buccigrossi and he told me that each of them are big, strong and versatile options. Each of them can move from guard to center or guard to tackle and gives him more opportunities moving forward.
-As of today the backup center behind Tyler Orlosky is redshirt senior Tony Matteo with redshirt freshman Jah’Shaun Seider also in the mix there.
-Offensive coordinator Joe Wickline said the tackles have been improving a lot with technique and footwork. They are still looking for the third tackle.
-Redshirt junior wide receiver Shelton Gibson said that his connection with Skyler Howard is even better than it was last season but it’s improved across the board. After the bowl game, the group took a lot of confidence away from that performance and is using that as a spring board this summer.
-Junior wide receiver Ka’Raun White told me that he is in much better condition than he was last year and understands what he needs to do. White said him and Howard have been doing a lot of extra work to prepare such as route running, steps and him getting the ball where he wants to get it. They’ve been working on sticking their routes to create separation, pumping their arms and making plays on the ball.
