MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (Feb. 28, 2018) - Select members of the West Virginia University football coaching staff met with the media on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2018, at the Milan Puskar Center.
Associate Head Coach (Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers) Tony Gibson
On the goals for the spring
Technique is big right now. Overall, for the defense what we need to do is tackle better. We’re not going to do as much as we have done in the past as far as tackling, but we can still work techniques and different things, footwork and just learning how to tackle with no pads on. That’s been a really big emphasis for us in the offseason. Studying film and watching what our biggest problem was and it all comes down to that. A lot of guys on the ground too much, not wrapping up. Just different things that we studied. We need to get that fixed immediately.
On moving redshirt sophomore Dylan Tonkery to the Mike linebacker position
He’s a smart, tough kid. Understands the scheme. This kid has the potential to start at all three linebacker spots within 12 months. I like where he is at, I just think that is going to be his natural position and let him go get the football. With him and (redshirt junior linebacker) David (Long Jr.) I feel really good about those two. We need to find one more guy at Sam and then we need to start building our depth.
On how redshirt sophomore linebacker Brenden Ferns is looking coming off of his surgery
Really good, we are in shorts and a t-shirt right now so until we get that physical banging and see how he holds up. Just talking to him, he feels really good right now. Hopefully, we can keep him healthy because he can be a big part of our defense.
On where he sees redshirt sophomore linebacker Brenden Ferns playing
He can play anywhere, he can play Mike, he can play Sam, if he can beat somebody out then good for him. He will have every opportunity to do that.
On if he likes having 13 practices to work on everything that he needs too
Yeah, I do. A lot of times we get caught up in the going live and that’s creating more bad habits. Number one, guys aren’t ready to go live for 13 practices. In the fall, really if you look at it after fall camp is over with you go live 12 times during the year. If you try to get 12 practices in and bang them every other day, you just create bad habits. There is only so many hits in them. We have learned that as a staff and we are doing different things right now. We don’t even have helmets on right now for the first few days. I kind of like our schedule, I like where we are at; I like six before break, six after break and then we get a little Easter break and come back and get three more. That will give our kids time to heal up and spread it out.
Assistant Coach (Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks) Jake Spavital
On the two new quarterbacks this spring
Yeah, (redshirt sophomore quarterback) Jack (Allison) and (freshman quarterback) Trey (Lowe III) it’s going to be good to have a healthy competition with the twos. With Trey coming in here, which he should still be in high school, but he has a lot of maturity for a kid. With Jack being here for a year and understanding his role and his familiarity of the offense already, it’s been good to see those two just get out there for a day and run around a little bit.
On how much of the offense he tries to put in during the spring
A lot is with the depth chart, but this is the time of the year where you can scale things back and just start working with the basics of things. I’m not trying to beat the defense every single play and scheme them up. I want to see these kids be more efficient with their play. The main conversation that we have been having with our offense is we want to see all 11 on the same page. With our installs, we get the very base stuff. We just want to see technique, we want to see assignments, alignments, just execution of what we are trying to accomplish. It is our time to as coaches, we have sat down for the past two months and have been tweaking things of what we want to change for the spring and we are getting a lot of good tape out there. As you saw yesterday in some of the pictures we didn’t even have football helmets on, so it’s more teaching and a lot of individual work and trying to work the little things to get these kids on the same page.
On the running back position
The running back group is looking good. Again, we have a lot of kids who have played or who have been here at least across the board, but in the running back group you have (junior running back) Kennedy (McKoy) and (junior running back) Martell (Pettaway) that have had some really good touches across the board for the past couple of years. Adding (redshirt freshman running back) (Alec) Sinkfield into the mix, which I am very fired up for that kid, you are going to see a great competition out of those guys as well. Sinkfield had an opportunity last year that I thought he could play for us, but we were so loaded with running backs that it was in his best interest to redshirt and now you are going to see him compete and try to get on the field. With that group of running backs, I am very pleased with them.
On how the wide receivers are looking
Receivers, again we have a veteran group with (senior wide receiver) Sills (V) and (junior wide receiver) Marcus (Simms) and (senior wide receiver) Gary (Jennings Jr.), you have some guys with some good touches, good yards, a lot of valuable playing experience. The thing that we are really concerned about, or what the emphasis is who is going to be that backup. I want to see guys step up. I thought our problem last year is we didn’t have solid backups and our receivers played way too many plays. That is one of the reasons why our receiver’s stats were high, is because they didn’t ever come off the field. As you track it as the season went on, they wore down. We want to be able to rely on some other people to step in there and make some plays for us so we are not constantly running these kids into the ground so we can give them a breather at times. With (senior wide receiver) Dom (Dominique) Maiden and the strides he is making so far, I am pleased with him. I need to see some consistency and see how long that last.
Associate Head Coach (Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers) Tony Gibson
On the goals for the spring
Technique is big right now. Overall, for the defense what we need to do is tackle better. We’re not going to do as much as we have done in the past as far as tackling, but we can still work techniques and different things, footwork and just learning how to tackle with no pads on. That’s been a really big emphasis for us in the offseason. Studying film and watching what our biggest problem was and it all comes down to that. A lot of guys on the ground too much, not wrapping up. Just different things that we studied. We need to get that fixed immediately.
On moving redshirt sophomore Dylan Tonkery to the Mike linebacker position
He’s a smart, tough kid. Understands the scheme. This kid has the potential to start at all three linebacker spots within 12 months. I like where he is at, I just think that is going to be his natural position and let him go get the football. With him and (redshirt junior linebacker) David (Long Jr.) I feel really good about those two. We need to find one more guy at Sam and then we need to start building our depth.
On how redshirt sophomore linebacker Brenden Ferns is looking coming off of his surgery
Really good, we are in shorts and a t-shirt right now so until we get that physical banging and see how he holds up. Just talking to him, he feels really good right now. Hopefully, we can keep him healthy because he can be a big part of our defense.
On where he sees redshirt sophomore linebacker Brenden Ferns playing
He can play anywhere, he can play Mike, he can play Sam, if he can beat somebody out then good for him. He will have every opportunity to do that.
On if he likes having 13 practices to work on everything that he needs too
Yeah, I do. A lot of times we get caught up in the going live and that’s creating more bad habits. Number one, guys aren’t ready to go live for 13 practices. In the fall, really if you look at it after fall camp is over with you go live 12 times during the year. If you try to get 12 practices in and bang them every other day, you just create bad habits. There is only so many hits in them. We have learned that as a staff and we are doing different things right now. We don’t even have helmets on right now for the first few days. I kind of like our schedule, I like where we are at; I like six before break, six after break and then we get a little Easter break and come back and get three more. That will give our kids time to heal up and spread it out.
Assistant Coach (Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks) Jake Spavital
On the two new quarterbacks this spring
Yeah, (redshirt sophomore quarterback) Jack (Allison) and (freshman quarterback) Trey (Lowe III) it’s going to be good to have a healthy competition with the twos. With Trey coming in here, which he should still be in high school, but he has a lot of maturity for a kid. With Jack being here for a year and understanding his role and his familiarity of the offense already, it’s been good to see those two just get out there for a day and run around a little bit.
On how much of the offense he tries to put in during the spring
A lot is with the depth chart, but this is the time of the year where you can scale things back and just start working with the basics of things. I’m not trying to beat the defense every single play and scheme them up. I want to see these kids be more efficient with their play. The main conversation that we have been having with our offense is we want to see all 11 on the same page. With our installs, we get the very base stuff. We just want to see technique, we want to see assignments, alignments, just execution of what we are trying to accomplish. It is our time to as coaches, we have sat down for the past two months and have been tweaking things of what we want to change for the spring and we are getting a lot of good tape out there. As you saw yesterday in some of the pictures we didn’t even have football helmets on, so it’s more teaching and a lot of individual work and trying to work the little things to get these kids on the same page.
On the running back position
The running back group is looking good. Again, we have a lot of kids who have played or who have been here at least across the board, but in the running back group you have (junior running back) Kennedy (McKoy) and (junior running back) Martell (Pettaway) that have had some really good touches across the board for the past couple of years. Adding (redshirt freshman running back) (Alec) Sinkfield into the mix, which I am very fired up for that kid, you are going to see a great competition out of those guys as well. Sinkfield had an opportunity last year that I thought he could play for us, but we were so loaded with running backs that it was in his best interest to redshirt and now you are going to see him compete and try to get on the field. With that group of running backs, I am very pleased with them.
On how the wide receivers are looking
Receivers, again we have a veteran group with (senior wide receiver) Sills (V) and (junior wide receiver) Marcus (Simms) and (senior wide receiver) Gary (Jennings Jr.), you have some guys with some good touches, good yards, a lot of valuable playing experience. The thing that we are really concerned about, or what the emphasis is who is going to be that backup. I want to see guys step up. I thought our problem last year is we didn’t have solid backups and our receivers played way too many plays. That is one of the reasons why our receiver’s stats were high, is because they didn’t ever come off the field. As you track it as the season went on, they wore down. We want to be able to rely on some other people to step in there and make some plays for us so we are not constantly running these kids into the ground so we can give them a breather at times. With (senior wide receiver) Dom (Dominique) Maiden and the strides he is making so far, I am pleased with him. I need to see some consistency and see how long that last.
