--West Virginia head coach Neal Brown said it's a fun time of the year. They've had a strong winter and their strength and conditioning has been good. The infrastructure of the program is in a really good spot and they focused on overall athleticism. They've come a long way with nutrition. The guys are leaner and they look better. You'll notice some improvements when you see them. From the winter standpoint, they've been able to work some fundamentals and some situations. The staff and players are energized at the start of spring. They want to establish an identity and have gone back to the basics. First they want to be disciplined. They want to get alignments and assignments and be better conditioned. Second is strain just playing with effort. Third is physicality from a blocking and tackling perspective and the fourth is just being smart. They have competition for spots and they have to evaluate personnel. The guys that are in the program right now have 15 practices and everybody that joins the program after will have the first 14 in fall to show what they can do.
--On offense, energized by the staff changes. It's about establishing some depth on the offensive line and moving some guys around for position moves. Zach Frazier will be limited this spring and kept out of 11-on-11 work. At receiver it's about who is going to be the guy. Devin Carter has done that at another school but Brown expects there to be some real growth. Graeson Malasevich will be limited. Davis Mallinger has been moved to wide receiver to add his speed there. He is out this spring, but will do some drills on the side but he missed the last four or five games. Running back it's about developing that room further and CJ Donaldson will practice but be limited. At tight end, excited to see Kole Taylor.
--On defense it's about getting back to basics. They have simplified from a schematic standpoint. On defensive line, they have some newcomers and guys that have to increase their role. They're going to really push them to establish the line of scrimmage. Jalen Thornton will be limited and Zeiqui Lawton will be out for the spring and Asani Redwood will be out for spring ball. At linebacker Lee Kpogba is ready to take the next step. Some of those other younger guys at linebacker this spring will be big for them to develop. Outside linebacker Jared Bartlett has had a great winter and James Heard is as good of a pass rusher as they've brought into the program. Brown expects the secondary to be much improved.
--Special teams wise they will work more fundamentals and they'll have a field goal and kickoff competition for those jobs.
--This is their first opportunity to get it fixed. They aren't trying to hide from last year not being good enough. It starts with efficiency on first down, third down and red zone efficiency. Then it's about explosives. And the third is eliminate errors such as procedure penalties and alignment issues on defense.
--Taurus Simmons is back at defensive end. Redwood will be able to speak to him later on but the rest will be back in May.
--Brown doesn't plan on making a decision on the quarterback competition until fall camp. They will split the reps with Garrett Greene and Nicco Marchiol into the fall. If it's really clear they will make a choice but he doesn't foresee that occurring.
--West Virginia didn't get the results they wanted and they just didn't play well enough last year. When things don't go the way you want them to go you reset. And as an identity standpoint they have to find what they do well.
--Offensively, West Virginia will be different. From an offensive perspective you have to use the pieces you have. Brown said they have one of the highest returning rates on the offensive line and some young guys will be a factor there and at running back they have really good depth. He would be foolish to go into that but there will be changes.
--They are studying offenses with personnel that have had success. They have mobile quarterbacks for the first time and from a scheme standpoint the point is to get repetitions in your base schemes. In scrimmage or live situations they have to get an idea of the quarterbacks, receivers and pass catching tight ends they can count on.
--In the off-season it's about making sure the wide receivers are confident.
--Brown said they will play more 11-on-11, he doesn't know if that means tackling to the ground but after the first six days they will do a lot of 11-on-11 planned.
--It's too early to tell the identity of this football team right now. What they have to do is they have to continue to run the ball and improve what they've done. They have to focus on stopping the run.
--Bryce Ford-Wheaton and Dante Stills did a good job at the combine and in interviews.
--There are natural guys that are positioned to move up into a leadership role on defense such as Sean Martin. His production should match his talent. At the second level Lee Kpogba has gotten a lot better and knows the areas he needed to attack this off-season. In the secondary Aubrey Burks. He played at an elite level at times and is now confident.
--Brandon Yates will get some reps at center and guard. They have to find the best five, Doug Nester will get tackle reps. Ja'Quay Hubbard will get guard and tackle reps. Move around the rest of the experienced guys to try to find the best five up front.
--You can erase mistakes with speed and physicality. Montre Miller can really run at corner. Jacolby Spells will be very improved and Andrew Wilson-Lamp will be too considering he didn't play any defensive back until he got here.
--From a skill standpoint they are similar and from an offensive standpoint they can practice the same style of offense which will be helpful.
--Defensive line, a secondary piece and offensively let it see when it comes to transfers. Wide receiver would be the first thing and but will be able to evaluate in the spring and have a clear path.
--As for recruiting areas, Blaine Stewart will have a good chunk of West Virginia, some Western Pennsylvania and he goes into Washington, D.C. and Bilal Marshall will be in Virginia Beach and and South Florida.
--Running backs have to be able to show they can block for each other in two-back sets and they have to show some versatility to be able to move around and catch the ball. It's a little bit different and the thought process as well as how you practice changes. They don't have a large number of wide receivers but the old school approach of having 10-12 scholarship wide receivers on your roster isn't the best way to do it now. You can't keep the guys happy and they become sour and create a bad deal in the locker room.
--West Virginia recruited a returner in JaShaun Poke and they will have to work on fundamentals. Sometimes you have to just take it on the 25-yard line and fair catch it.
--On offense, energized by the staff changes. It's about establishing some depth on the offensive line and moving some guys around for position moves. Zach Frazier will be limited this spring and kept out of 11-on-11 work. At receiver it's about who is going to be the guy. Devin Carter has done that at another school but Brown expects there to be some real growth. Graeson Malasevich will be limited. Davis Mallinger has been moved to wide receiver to add his speed there. He is out this spring, but will do some drills on the side but he missed the last four or five games. Running back it's about developing that room further and CJ Donaldson will practice but be limited. At tight end, excited to see Kole Taylor.
--On defense it's about getting back to basics. They have simplified from a schematic standpoint. On defensive line, they have some newcomers and guys that have to increase their role. They're going to really push them to establish the line of scrimmage. Jalen Thornton will be limited and Zeiqui Lawton will be out for the spring and Asani Redwood will be out for spring ball. At linebacker Lee Kpogba is ready to take the next step. Some of those other younger guys at linebacker this spring will be big for them to develop. Outside linebacker Jared Bartlett has had a great winter and James Heard is as good of a pass rusher as they've brought into the program. Brown expects the secondary to be much improved.
--Special teams wise they will work more fundamentals and they'll have a field goal and kickoff competition for those jobs.
--This is their first opportunity to get it fixed. They aren't trying to hide from last year not being good enough. It starts with efficiency on first down, third down and red zone efficiency. Then it's about explosives. And the third is eliminate errors such as procedure penalties and alignment issues on defense.
--Taurus Simmons is back at defensive end. Redwood will be able to speak to him later on but the rest will be back in May.
--Brown doesn't plan on making a decision on the quarterback competition until fall camp. They will split the reps with Garrett Greene and Nicco Marchiol into the fall. If it's really clear they will make a choice but he doesn't foresee that occurring.
--West Virginia didn't get the results they wanted and they just didn't play well enough last year. When things don't go the way you want them to go you reset. And as an identity standpoint they have to find what they do well.
--Offensively, West Virginia will be different. From an offensive perspective you have to use the pieces you have. Brown said they have one of the highest returning rates on the offensive line and some young guys will be a factor there and at running back they have really good depth. He would be foolish to go into that but there will be changes.
--They are studying offenses with personnel that have had success. They have mobile quarterbacks for the first time and from a scheme standpoint the point is to get repetitions in your base schemes. In scrimmage or live situations they have to get an idea of the quarterbacks, receivers and pass catching tight ends they can count on.
--In the off-season it's about making sure the wide receivers are confident.
--Brown said they will play more 11-on-11, he doesn't know if that means tackling to the ground but after the first six days they will do a lot of 11-on-11 planned.
--It's too early to tell the identity of this football team right now. What they have to do is they have to continue to run the ball and improve what they've done. They have to focus on stopping the run.
--Bryce Ford-Wheaton and Dante Stills did a good job at the combine and in interviews.
--There are natural guys that are positioned to move up into a leadership role on defense such as Sean Martin. His production should match his talent. At the second level Lee Kpogba has gotten a lot better and knows the areas he needed to attack this off-season. In the secondary Aubrey Burks. He played at an elite level at times and is now confident.
--Brandon Yates will get some reps at center and guard. They have to find the best five, Doug Nester will get tackle reps. Ja'Quay Hubbard will get guard and tackle reps. Move around the rest of the experienced guys to try to find the best five up front.
--You can erase mistakes with speed and physicality. Montre Miller can really run at corner. Jacolby Spells will be very improved and Andrew Wilson-Lamp will be too considering he didn't play any defensive back until he got here.
--From a skill standpoint they are similar and from an offensive standpoint they can practice the same style of offense which will be helpful.
--Defensive line, a secondary piece and offensively let it see when it comes to transfers. Wide receiver would be the first thing and but will be able to evaluate in the spring and have a clear path.
--As for recruiting areas, Blaine Stewart will have a good chunk of West Virginia, some Western Pennsylvania and he goes into Washington, D.C. and Bilal Marshall will be in Virginia Beach and and South Florida.
--Running backs have to be able to show they can block for each other in two-back sets and they have to show some versatility to be able to move around and catch the ball. It's a little bit different and the thought process as well as how you practice changes. They don't have a large number of wide receivers but the old school approach of having 10-12 scholarship wide receivers on your roster isn't the best way to do it now. You can't keep the guys happy and they become sour and create a bad deal in the locker room.
--West Virginia recruited a returner in JaShaun Poke and they will have to work on fundamentals. Sometimes you have to just take it on the 25-yard line and fair catch it.
