West Virginia University
Coach Dana Holgorsen Media Conference
August 3, 2015
Practice Update 1
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (August 3, 2015) - Coach Dana Holgorsen addresses the media prior to practice No. 1 on Monday, Aug. 1, in the team weight room.
On if there are any changes in fall camp this year
No, but there is always small ones. Nothing out of the ordinary. I have been happy with the way camp has been the last few years, and we have so many old guys. We have a bunch of three, four and five year guys, so they have a pretty good idea of what is expected of them in camp. As long as the effort is good and we maintain the health, then we will be good. It is different this year because we only have 13 practices before school starts. I had games before school starts, so 13 practices during camp, and then when school starts it will be reduced down to 20 hours a week. We will probably keep them up here and work them a little bit harder based on the fact that there are only 13 days of camp. I don’t know if that is good or bad. I went back and forth on it, but I think we will end up being fresher for that first game if we don’t kill each other in the meantime. Going at each other for five weeks is an awful long time. I think we will be fresher, but do we get enough work in or not, I don’t know.
On if all the signees are on campus yet
No. Jacquez Adams is a non-qualifier. He is going to prep school. Hopefully, we get him mid-semester. He is close enough to where he doesn’t have to go to junior college. He is the only one that has been ruled out. (Freshman wide receiver) Jovon Durante and (junior cornerback) Rasul Douglas have not been cleared yet. We anticipate they will be able to play very soon. (Freshman cornerback) Tyrek (Cole) is here, but Jovon and Rasul are working some things out.
On how different these guys look heading into camp
I think our bodies look pretty good. (Director of strength and conditioning) Mike (Joseph) is one of the best in the business. He is doing a fabulous job for us. Our guys feel good, and they are healthy. There is nobody on the injury report. There are 103 guys here, and everyone is cleared and ready to go. We are in as good as shape and as deep and experienced as we have been in five years. The only other roster situation is that (redshirt senior offensive lineman) Russell Haughton-James is no longer with us. He has been dismissed, and we wish him the best of luck.
On the benefits of the offense going against its own defense every day
Well we want them to get better. By no means can they write books about defense at this point. We gave up way too many yards and way too many points. We had very few turnovers. There were plenty of games that if we played better defensively then we would’ve won. With that said, we have a lot of experience coming back. Those guys are confident. Those guys look good, feel good and are in their second year of the system with all the coaches coming back. I think we are going to get to the point where we can say that. I don’t think we can say that at this point. I think we have a chance to get to the point where we can say that. Yes, it will help the offense. There is no question.
On how redshirt freshman William Crest Jr.’s practice time is broken up during camp
The only thing that is scripted is quarterback reps. He will get 50 percent of the second team quarterback reps. When he is not in there taking those quarterback reps, I can throw him in there at any point. He will rep with the one’s at running back and receiver. He will rep with the two’s at running back and receiver when he is not taking the quarterback reps. Nothing is scripted. I want to throw him in there and see how he will handle it.
On ruling redshirt freshman William Crest Jr. out on punt returning
No, you will see him out there in five minutes. You guys can go ahead and write this is because this is the topic that you guys like to write about. We caught punts for 25 minutes during practice, and we are going to catch them for another 10 minutes here in about five minutes. After we do the turnover circuit. The defense is working on the turnover circuit right now. We need to protect the ball, and the offense is working on protecting the ball right now. We will do that for about six minutes, and then we will go to fielding punts for another ten minutes. We will also work on Nick punting the ball to where he needs to punt the ball. That will fix all our problems, and we should win a national championship based on fixing those things.
On senior safety Karl Joseph
You can’t replace the experience that he has. I think he has somewhere in the neighborhood from 3,300 snaps under his belt right now, and he will be leaving here with around 4,500 snaps. That’s probably hardly ever been done in college football. You can’t replace that. He’s going to help a lot of the young safeties. Joseph and (senior safety) KJ (Dillon) are both going to help those young guys along.
On the wide receivers success over the years
Probably a little bit of everything. You can’t teach some of the guys to run real fast, to be real big, or be real strong. There’s surely a developmental aspect of it that exists by the way we practice. There’s a lot of balls in the air, and there are a lot of guys catching. There are a lot of guys running routes. These guys are exhausted by the end of the day. I think we know what we’re doing when it comes to teaching techniques. There’s a confidence level that needs to exist between me, the receivers and the quarterback, and that I have an open line of communication to trust them in what they say and how we can get them the ball.
On condensing quarterback reps
When guys emerge. I have to get three ready. I’m not going to rep four today. I’m going to rep three. Tomorrow, I’ll rep a different one or a different two. They have to emerge and separate themselves at some point and make decisions.
On the challenges of the wide receiver positions
Has it been a challenge in the past? We have eight bodies out there. I’m looking forward to getting out there and coaching them. Some of those guys look as good right now as I’ve coached. That’s the least of my worries. Let’s catch punts and quit turning the ball over. Hopefully, we can get some turnovers.
On position changes
(Redshirt freshman offensive line) Dontae Angus is going to try offensive line. He is 6 foot 6 and 320 pounds. He’s big, but he’s not ready to play by any means. Maybe two years from now he will be what we want him to be because of what he looks like. Other than that, that’s it. (Defensive lineman Eric) Kinsey is running around here somewhere. He is on the physical, unable to perform list. I am just going to leave it at that. (Xavier) Pegues is out there somewhere.
Coach Dana Holgorsen Media Conference
August 3, 2015
Practice Update 1
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (August 3, 2015) - Coach Dana Holgorsen addresses the media prior to practice No. 1 on Monday, Aug. 1, in the team weight room.
On if there are any changes in fall camp this year
No, but there is always small ones. Nothing out of the ordinary. I have been happy with the way camp has been the last few years, and we have so many old guys. We have a bunch of three, four and five year guys, so they have a pretty good idea of what is expected of them in camp. As long as the effort is good and we maintain the health, then we will be good. It is different this year because we only have 13 practices before school starts. I had games before school starts, so 13 practices during camp, and then when school starts it will be reduced down to 20 hours a week. We will probably keep them up here and work them a little bit harder based on the fact that there are only 13 days of camp. I don’t know if that is good or bad. I went back and forth on it, but I think we will end up being fresher for that first game if we don’t kill each other in the meantime. Going at each other for five weeks is an awful long time. I think we will be fresher, but do we get enough work in or not, I don’t know.
On if all the signees are on campus yet
No. Jacquez Adams is a non-qualifier. He is going to prep school. Hopefully, we get him mid-semester. He is close enough to where he doesn’t have to go to junior college. He is the only one that has been ruled out. (Freshman wide receiver) Jovon Durante and (junior cornerback) Rasul Douglas have not been cleared yet. We anticipate they will be able to play very soon. (Freshman cornerback) Tyrek (Cole) is here, but Jovon and Rasul are working some things out.
On how different these guys look heading into camp
I think our bodies look pretty good. (Director of strength and conditioning) Mike (Joseph) is one of the best in the business. He is doing a fabulous job for us. Our guys feel good, and they are healthy. There is nobody on the injury report. There are 103 guys here, and everyone is cleared and ready to go. We are in as good as shape and as deep and experienced as we have been in five years. The only other roster situation is that (redshirt senior offensive lineman) Russell Haughton-James is no longer with us. He has been dismissed, and we wish him the best of luck.
On the benefits of the offense going against its own defense every day
Well we want them to get better. By no means can they write books about defense at this point. We gave up way too many yards and way too many points. We had very few turnovers. There were plenty of games that if we played better defensively then we would’ve won. With that said, we have a lot of experience coming back. Those guys are confident. Those guys look good, feel good and are in their second year of the system with all the coaches coming back. I think we are going to get to the point where we can say that. I don’t think we can say that at this point. I think we have a chance to get to the point where we can say that. Yes, it will help the offense. There is no question.
On how redshirt freshman William Crest Jr.’s practice time is broken up during camp
The only thing that is scripted is quarterback reps. He will get 50 percent of the second team quarterback reps. When he is not in there taking those quarterback reps, I can throw him in there at any point. He will rep with the one’s at running back and receiver. He will rep with the two’s at running back and receiver when he is not taking the quarterback reps. Nothing is scripted. I want to throw him in there and see how he will handle it.
On ruling redshirt freshman William Crest Jr. out on punt returning
No, you will see him out there in five minutes. You guys can go ahead and write this is because this is the topic that you guys like to write about. We caught punts for 25 minutes during practice, and we are going to catch them for another 10 minutes here in about five minutes. After we do the turnover circuit. The defense is working on the turnover circuit right now. We need to protect the ball, and the offense is working on protecting the ball right now. We will do that for about six minutes, and then we will go to fielding punts for another ten minutes. We will also work on Nick punting the ball to where he needs to punt the ball. That will fix all our problems, and we should win a national championship based on fixing those things.
On senior safety Karl Joseph
You can’t replace the experience that he has. I think he has somewhere in the neighborhood from 3,300 snaps under his belt right now, and he will be leaving here with around 4,500 snaps. That’s probably hardly ever been done in college football. You can’t replace that. He’s going to help a lot of the young safeties. Joseph and (senior safety) KJ (Dillon) are both going to help those young guys along.
On the wide receivers success over the years
Probably a little bit of everything. You can’t teach some of the guys to run real fast, to be real big, or be real strong. There’s surely a developmental aspect of it that exists by the way we practice. There’s a lot of balls in the air, and there are a lot of guys catching. There are a lot of guys running routes. These guys are exhausted by the end of the day. I think we know what we’re doing when it comes to teaching techniques. There’s a confidence level that needs to exist between me, the receivers and the quarterback, and that I have an open line of communication to trust them in what they say and how we can get them the ball.
On condensing quarterback reps
When guys emerge. I have to get three ready. I’m not going to rep four today. I’m going to rep three. Tomorrow, I’ll rep a different one or a different two. They have to emerge and separate themselves at some point and make decisions.
On the challenges of the wide receiver positions
Has it been a challenge in the past? We have eight bodies out there. I’m looking forward to getting out there and coaching them. Some of those guys look as good right now as I’ve coached. That’s the least of my worries. Let’s catch punts and quit turning the ball over. Hopefully, we can get some turnovers.
On position changes
(Redshirt freshman offensive line) Dontae Angus is going to try offensive line. He is 6 foot 6 and 320 pounds. He’s big, but he’s not ready to play by any means. Maybe two years from now he will be what we want him to be because of what he looks like. Other than that, that’s it. (Defensive lineman Eric) Kinsey is running around here somewhere. He is on the physical, unable to perform list. I am just going to leave it at that. (Xavier) Pegues is out there somewhere.
