--Offensive coordinator Gerad Parker has dived into the run game and the RPO side. They know they have to improve together to get to get things turned around. They have a way to go and need to make improvements.
--Sam Brown is as exciting as a freshman that Parker has had a chance to coach. He’s got a lot of promise, but he’s still maturing and learning to do things on and off the field. He really meets the standards of what West Virginia wide receiver play has been, he has a lot of promise and a bright future.
--Parker believes that West Virginia expects to go out and play at a high level on offense with a high effort and improvement in the run game. They think they’ll be in a good place. What they’ve done in the backend, they’ve wired them up really well in the back end as long as they stay healthy. Also, how they create pressure and move their front will create challenges as well.
--The operation will be similar to how they did it last year on the offensive side.
--Parker said the biggest growth for him was when he was elected to be interim at Purdue. He said that if he had any say so there, he wanted to run the football consistently and no matter what you have to find ways as a play caller to get the ball handed off to gain yards. It can look a lot of different ways, but you have to put the ball on the perimeter and find ways to make it easier on the quarterback. Also, his time at Penn State helped to develop him and allowed him to grow.
--Bryce Wheaton has done what a starter should do. He’s been highly productive, explosive play wise he has allowed them to push the ball vertically down the field. He has developed real confidence. He has to put in a certain level of work and that will lead to results later, which he has realized.
--Parker believes you need to have a mentality to run the ball into the end zone without being stubborn. In the end everybody wants to scream touchdown. Parker said he has fallen into some really good players at the slot position, which that’s a good spot to win with the matchups.
--Defensive line coach Jordan Lesley thinks that with having three new coaches, he has been able to go back to the ground level to get players back to speed. It’s helped him to try to fit some of the personnel he’s had which is really good. He is excited about the defense and see how they fare.
--The mechanics of the defense is going to be worked out throughout the week with the packages and the coverages they will need to be in on a certain series or play between Lesley and Jahmile Addae. That’s been good and the two have worked together really well.
--Akheem Mesidor stands out for his age but has a ton to learn. He has an extremely bright future and he doesn’t mind working. He is a lot of fun to coach and he is going to be exciting to watch over the next few years as he continues to improve.
--Darius Stills has been really humble but continues to ask questions in meetings and practices, while studying his craft a lot better than he did last year. How he approaches him is what he fundamentally needs to improve on no different than he did last year.
--Vandarius Cowan has worked extremely hard coming off his injury and has improved a lot. He has done a good job at this point.
--Lesley wants to recruit guys that can-do multiple things. They want their defensive linemen to move around and it will depend on week-to-week. Darius and Dante Stills are two that can move all around with their athleticism.
--Lesley feels that with athleticism and speed you have power. He wants that in recruiting more than anything. You don’t have to be fast to be powerful.
--Lesley thinks that they’ve got to be able to get both parts of the coverage in the right position. That’s all part of figuring it out as you go.
--West Virginia believes that Vandarius Cowan will allow them to give some even fronts and some of the other players can bounce out and play five-technique. They can do a little bit of that if need be.
--Jahmile Addae believes that it’s a fair mixture of young and old guys in the secondary of the defense. He feels good about things going into game one, at least from the promise angle. He hopes that it’s going to continue to grow throughout the season and become a successful one.
--Dreshun Miller has been the most consistent player throughout fall camp. He has done a good job of sitting back and watching last year while he was injured and helped him advance and mature himself mentally. Now that shows on the field, and he is primed to have a good season. He is tall and long which is an asset at the position, especially with his overall athleticism.
--Addae believes that working with Lesley has been awesome because they have been doing it since last year. They are coming up with the best solutions for the defense. They’re using all the coaches in order to come up with plans and are hoping to continue to grow as a group.
--Nicktroy Fortune missed time due to an obviously unfortunate situation but they wanted him to be in a good headspace. They wanted to rehab him on the mental piece and support him through it all. He did a good job of keeping football as part of his regiment through difficult circumstances and he was in zoom meetings to be able to stay up to speed. He’s sharp and punctual and he was able to handle it all in a positive sense considering the circumstances.
--Tae Mayo and Jairo Faverus both can play corner but showed the ability to move around. With the growth at corner, they felt they were better situated at other spots. They’re still learning but they are hoping that both of them find a home where they are at.
--Addae said that they won’t have game-day conversations on what will need to be called because they’ll do it before hand looking at all scenarios. They will express what they like and come together by the time on game day in order to have them in the right position.
--Daryl Porter has been able to get his hands-on interceptions, but the most impressive thing is his ability to respond. Anytime he’s given one up he has shown back up on the next play which is what you want to see out of the group as a whole.
--Addae said that it’s been neat to turn around and see coach Casteel in the room with him. He owes him a lot for his first job to his first start and he likes having him there. The football coach has done some really brilliant things and anytime you can bring that knowledge in the room it’s been really helpful.
--Alonzo Addae spent the last year on the scout team and that was really good teaching. He showed that he belonged going down there. He did what he was asked and has an appreciation for where he’s at now. He has done a good job learning what has been asked of him and honing in on what he does well.
--Addae recruited both of the Arizona transfers. They have turned into more elite players than he probably would have thought. They both had productive careers in Arizona and the prior relationship was there. Scottie Young is a really aggressive safety that loves to hit. Tony Fields is a guy that has made a bunch of tackles and is extremely athletic. They are excited to have them. Addae said they like playing behind those linebackers that can run because it makes it easier.
--Sam Brown is as exciting as a freshman that Parker has had a chance to coach. He’s got a lot of promise, but he’s still maturing and learning to do things on and off the field. He really meets the standards of what West Virginia wide receiver play has been, he has a lot of promise and a bright future.
--Parker believes that West Virginia expects to go out and play at a high level on offense with a high effort and improvement in the run game. They think they’ll be in a good place. What they’ve done in the backend, they’ve wired them up really well in the back end as long as they stay healthy. Also, how they create pressure and move their front will create challenges as well.
--The operation will be similar to how they did it last year on the offensive side.
--Parker said the biggest growth for him was when he was elected to be interim at Purdue. He said that if he had any say so there, he wanted to run the football consistently and no matter what you have to find ways as a play caller to get the ball handed off to gain yards. It can look a lot of different ways, but you have to put the ball on the perimeter and find ways to make it easier on the quarterback. Also, his time at Penn State helped to develop him and allowed him to grow.
--Bryce Wheaton has done what a starter should do. He’s been highly productive, explosive play wise he has allowed them to push the ball vertically down the field. He has developed real confidence. He has to put in a certain level of work and that will lead to results later, which he has realized.
--Parker believes you need to have a mentality to run the ball into the end zone without being stubborn. In the end everybody wants to scream touchdown. Parker said he has fallen into some really good players at the slot position, which that’s a good spot to win with the matchups.
--Defensive line coach Jordan Lesley thinks that with having three new coaches, he has been able to go back to the ground level to get players back to speed. It’s helped him to try to fit some of the personnel he’s had which is really good. He is excited about the defense and see how they fare.
--The mechanics of the defense is going to be worked out throughout the week with the packages and the coverages they will need to be in on a certain series or play between Lesley and Jahmile Addae. That’s been good and the two have worked together really well.
--Akheem Mesidor stands out for his age but has a ton to learn. He has an extremely bright future and he doesn’t mind working. He is a lot of fun to coach and he is going to be exciting to watch over the next few years as he continues to improve.
--Darius Stills has been really humble but continues to ask questions in meetings and practices, while studying his craft a lot better than he did last year. How he approaches him is what he fundamentally needs to improve on no different than he did last year.
--Vandarius Cowan has worked extremely hard coming off his injury and has improved a lot. He has done a good job at this point.
--Lesley wants to recruit guys that can-do multiple things. They want their defensive linemen to move around and it will depend on week-to-week. Darius and Dante Stills are two that can move all around with their athleticism.
--Lesley feels that with athleticism and speed you have power. He wants that in recruiting more than anything. You don’t have to be fast to be powerful.
--Lesley thinks that they’ve got to be able to get both parts of the coverage in the right position. That’s all part of figuring it out as you go.
--West Virginia believes that Vandarius Cowan will allow them to give some even fronts and some of the other players can bounce out and play five-technique. They can do a little bit of that if need be.
--Jahmile Addae believes that it’s a fair mixture of young and old guys in the secondary of the defense. He feels good about things going into game one, at least from the promise angle. He hopes that it’s going to continue to grow throughout the season and become a successful one.
--Dreshun Miller has been the most consistent player throughout fall camp. He has done a good job of sitting back and watching last year while he was injured and helped him advance and mature himself mentally. Now that shows on the field, and he is primed to have a good season. He is tall and long which is an asset at the position, especially with his overall athleticism.
--Addae believes that working with Lesley has been awesome because they have been doing it since last year. They are coming up with the best solutions for the defense. They’re using all the coaches in order to come up with plans and are hoping to continue to grow as a group.
--Nicktroy Fortune missed time due to an obviously unfortunate situation but they wanted him to be in a good headspace. They wanted to rehab him on the mental piece and support him through it all. He did a good job of keeping football as part of his regiment through difficult circumstances and he was in zoom meetings to be able to stay up to speed. He’s sharp and punctual and he was able to handle it all in a positive sense considering the circumstances.
--Tae Mayo and Jairo Faverus both can play corner but showed the ability to move around. With the growth at corner, they felt they were better situated at other spots. They’re still learning but they are hoping that both of them find a home where they are at.
--Addae said that they won’t have game-day conversations on what will need to be called because they’ll do it before hand looking at all scenarios. They will express what they like and come together by the time on game day in order to have them in the right position.
--Daryl Porter has been able to get his hands-on interceptions, but the most impressive thing is his ability to respond. Anytime he’s given one up he has shown back up on the next play which is what you want to see out of the group as a whole.
--Addae said that it’s been neat to turn around and see coach Casteel in the room with him. He owes him a lot for his first job to his first start and he likes having him there. The football coach has done some really brilliant things and anytime you can bring that knowledge in the room it’s been really helpful.
--Alonzo Addae spent the last year on the scout team and that was really good teaching. He showed that he belonged going down there. He did what he was asked and has an appreciation for where he’s at now. He has done a good job learning what has been asked of him and honing in on what he does well.
--Addae recruited both of the Arizona transfers. They have turned into more elite players than he probably would have thought. They both had productive careers in Arizona and the prior relationship was there. Scottie Young is a really aggressive safety that loves to hit. Tony Fields is a guy that has made a bunch of tackles and is extremely athletic. They are excited to have them. Addae said they like playing behind those linebackers that can run because it makes it easier.
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