Rich Rodriguez: West Virginia gets better on day three
West Virginia donned shells for the first time in fall camp Friday and overall, Rich Rodriguez believes his team did a better job in the intensity department than the day before.
“I thought we got better today. Again, I’ve got to watch the film but pretty spirited, pretty good. Obviously so much more work you can get done in shoulder pads than you can in shorts or without the pads on,” he said.
It opens the door for more physicality naturally but the message from Rodriguez to his players Friday was simply not only bringing that element but doing it intelligently as well. That means learning how to thud in practice because the majority of the practices in August will consist of that.
On the offensive side of the ball, West Virginia placed an emphasis on perimeter blocking which is an aspect that Rodriguez and his coaching staff will demand a lot out of across the board at the skill positions.
The veteran head coach was pleased with the effort in that department but felt that the technique needs work, which is something that will be critical moving forward for the Mountaineers on that side of the ball.
Rodriguez was able to keep a brisk pace with his practice and while the target is around an hour and 45 minutes, that can be shorter or longer depending on how efficiently the work on the field is being operated. And with the size of his coaching staff, Rodriguez believes that shouldn’t be an issue.
“Today was ok but I still think each day we’ll get a little more efficient with our process,” he said.
At this stage of fall camp, Rodriguez doesn’t believe that any one group has stood out above all else. But in reality, Rodriguez typically looks at things from a totality perspective and understands all of the interlocking pieces that must work together for things to go the way he wants.
The competition level has also been strong among the various positions on the roster.
“Three practices in I was hoping we’d get a better idea where the depth chart is shaping up but maybe it’s a good thing that I haven’t because there’s not a lot of guys separating themselves good or bad at certain positions yet and maybe that’s a good thing. My goal is to play the most people. Whatever the record is for playing number of players I want to break that record. But they’ve got to be good enough to win with for us to play them so there’s some really good healthy competition,” Rodriguez said.
Ball security and forcing turnovers are two things that West Virginia has placed a priority on each practice, but especially once full pads come on and the head coach made his stance on the issue quite clear.
“I’ve always said this. That thing they’re carrying is not the football, it’s the program. They’re carrying the program so would you leave the program in somebody else’s hands or laying around,” he said.
Offer Alert
Fall camp is here and there’s no better time to sign up with us to get all your WVU intel! Sign up today – $1 for the first week, plus a complimentary year of access to The Athletic included. Join – http://gowvu.us/Join
__________________________________________
• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot
• SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting
• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel
• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan, @wesleyshoe
•Like us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok
