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Dana Holgorsen: Spring Football Update
April 11, 2015 02:15 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen addressed members of the media earlier today prior to the ninth practice of spring camp held at Milan Puskar Stadium.
On spring practice
Everything is good. It is a good weekend. We’ve got about 250 coaches here for our coaches clinic. All the West Virginia guys last night – offense, defense and special teams – I spoke with those guys last night for about five hours. We have some good comradery. And this morning, we had about five or six high school guys talk. It’s been a good weekend. We’re heading into practice nine right now. We’re relatively healthy and getting a lot of work done. We’re just over halfway. Today should be a good day, and it will be just like it was last Saturday. This is more of a practice. There are a lot of drills. We’ll finish up with another red zone period. We’ll see if we can put the ball through the uprights or get in the end zone, which we obviously did a poor job of that last Saturday.
On if coach Hologrsen is happy with where the team is right now
Yeah. Offensively, I know we have a lot of work to do. I get that. I’ve been a part of a lot of spring practices where offenses have had their way, and that never turns out well in the fall. Our defense should be ahead right now. For one, they’ve got 15 or 16 guys who have played a lot of football. They have a lot of returning starters, a lot of experience and a lot of veterans and upperclassmen. Then just the nature of spring practice – defense is usually always ahead of the offense, and it should be that way. I’m satisfied with that. With that said, I spend the majority of my time, as you all know, trying to get the offense clicking, trying to get guys in position to be able to make plays. We’re continuing to evaluate. It’s going to be a long process. You won’t see a finished product today. You won’t see one by the spring game. You’ll see one sometime hopefully before the first game.
On position changes
The only one is, I told you about Yodny (Cajuste) last week. He’s doing solid at left tackle. I’ve moved Daikiel Shorts out to wideout. We need to find a wideout. He’s going through some growing pains with that right now, but he’s an experienced receiver who’s got good size and good speed. He’s right now our top guy at the outside. He moved outside, but other than that, that’s it.
On who fills that inside spot
Jordan Thompson is our number one inside receiver. We play with usually just one inside receiver anyway. You’ll see Cody Clay at tight end and inside receiver. You’ll see Wendell Smallwood at running back and inside receiver. KJ Myers is a guy who can take reps there as well.
On why the change was made with Daikiel Shorts
We need outside receivers. Again, Wendell could be our top inside receiver. He’s going to do a lot of good things for us. We have enough bodies at inside to be able to afford to move him outside. I told you all this last week, too. This is going to be awhile before we have established guys on the outside. We’re just adding him to the equation to see if that’s an answer. I think it will be.
On Shelton Gibson
He’s outside. He’s the other starter right now. If I was to name two, he would be the other starter right now. I anticipate that to change.
On punt returners
That’s such a touchy subject. I just wish you all would let it die. If you all would let it die, it will probably take care of itself. I anticipate making those guys punt a lot. It’s a work in progress. I know what happened last week. That was a learning experience for not only the punt returners, but for our punter who shanked about 12 in a row right there. Nick (O’ Toole) has got to work through the mental aspect of wind. And our punt returners have to work through the mental aspect of wind, because we’re obviously going to deal with that. But I keep working with those guys. You’ll see the same thing today. Hopefully it looks better.
On the Kyle Rose situation
He has been suspended all week. He’s cleaned this entire weight room, and you will see him running stairs. We will handle it internally, and that type of behavior is not going to be tolerated under any circumstances. With that said, Kyle has been a four-year guy that has done the right thing on and off the field for four years. He has taken care of business academically and has played a lot of football. We’ll handle it internally, and he understands what is expected of him as a senior leader.
On the defensive Line
Darrien Howard is starting to come into his own a little bit. Kyle (Rose) has played so well in the spring, and he needs to practice in order to continue to get better. Darrien Howard and Jaleel Fields has taken the second team reps. He is another guy that needs to continue to practice. We are developing depth there as we speak.
On the offensive line
Continuity. The O-line is different than any other position. They have to develop continuity and trust each other. The more they play next to each other, the better off they’re going to be. Developing continuity with those five guys and developing depth. Stone Underwood is playing good. Russell Haughton-James is playing good. He is very versatile. Grant Lingafelter is coming along, so we need to develop some depth, but more important with the starters, we need to develop some continuity with these guys. I anticipate those guys getting better every day.
On the quarterbacks knowledge in the classroom
Yeah, smart kids really. Skyler (Howard) is football smart. William (Crest, Jr.) is football smart. David (Sills) and Chuggs (Chris Chugunov) are guys I am stilling getting to know a little bit, because they have only been on campus here for about eight practices. Those guys are smart kinds, and they are absorbing things. I watched David’s film on Thursday, and he did some good things with the run game. He is still continuing to get better in the pass game. He still has to work on that. You’ll see Chuggs rep some third team reps today, so they sat and they learned. They have absorbed things. They’re still a ways from where they need to be, but I’m going to start repping them for the rest of the spring.
On quarterback David Stills motion
I have to work on that. I have seen enough of him. The thing that impressed me so much the other day is what he did with his legs. He’s a real athletic kid, and he is real smart. He has to get the ball out a little bit quicker.
On the baseball stadium
I talked to Randy (Mazey) this morning. It was a big win for him last night. When we get some free time, I haven’t looked at the schedule yet, but I would like to get over there when we are not practicing. It’s great. It looks good, and Randy has done a great job. It has been a long time coming. I talked to him this morning, and I was going to try and get up there this afternoon.
On quarterback Skyler Howard in the backfield
We talked about this a little bit, but we try to recruit more athletic guys. I’m not going to sacrifice the passing ability, but I will sacrifice probably some height and the arm strength for the athleticism. That’s what we started recruiting.
On the security blanket with the secondary returning
The depth is the biggest issue with the secondary right now. Our starters look good. We know what we got with Daryl Worley. We know what we got with Terrell Chestnut. Jaylon Myers is not out there today. He has been hampered by some illness. (Malik) Greaves has been hurt. We know (Jarrod) Harper is out. Dayron Wilson is out. He has a neck issue. We have to develop depth, and it is probably going to come from some of the new guys coming in. The good news is that the starters look really good. Dravon (Henry) looks just like Karl (Joseph). Karl has had his best spring. KJ (Dillon) has had his best spring. It’s frustrating for me, but it’s fun to watch them.
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