MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Coach Dana Holgorsen addresses the media prior to practice No. 4 on Thursday, Aug. 6, at the Milan Puskar Center Team Room.

 

Let’s get started here. Let’s take some questions. I don’t have a whole lot to report. We are three days into it, and I have visited with you all a lot here in the last couple of weeks as far as the team and all that goes. There is not going to be a ton of updates, but with that said, I’ll open it up to some questions.

 

It is very similar to what my two previous quarterback coaches’ responsibilities were. He is a bright young guy, and he’ll be leading the quarterback drills. He does a great job with that. It is the same thing that Shannon (Dawson) and Jake (Spavital) both did. He will be in charge of organizing the scripts as far as what I want to accomplish throughout the day. I sit in with the offensive staff, and we talk and talk and talk. His job is to sit down next to me and write stuff down and develop scripts that he can pass out to people. That’s kind of an offensive coordinator’s duty. I say it, and he types it and organizes it. He is incredibly smart, and incredibly organized when it comes to that. On game day, he will be upstairs reiterating what he sees, which is the same thing I did for Mike Leach and Hal Mumme for a long time when I was young. He has a lot going on, and it takes a lot off of me when it comes to offensive coordinator and quarterback responsibilities. His role is the same role as what Shannon (Dawson) and Jake (Spavital) used to do. He is filing it wonderfully. He is doing a great job. I couldn’t do it without him. There is no way I could wear all three hats without him.

 

It’s funny, I was asked that about my buddy Lincoln (Riley) at Oklahoma. It’s the same situation: sh---- quarterback turned coach. Can I say that? He can say he is 23, but he is going into his fifth year of coaching. He is a smart guy. He came to West Virginia wanting to be an engineer. He came out and started playing quarterback. He figured out quickly that he needed to be a coach. Then he went to Kentucky as an 18-year old kid and started coaching. It’s not like this kid just graduated college and is a first year coach. Mike (Michael Burchett) has known he wanted to do this for four or five years. He is obviously ahead of the curve. Lincoln did the same thing and was a coordinator by the time he was 27 or 28 years old. It’s happening more and more in college football.

 

That’s a simple question. I figured that would’ve been the first one. We are planning on these guys coming in and saving the day. Is it that important? (Freshman wide receiver) Jovon (Durante) will be here today. I haven’t heard about (junior cornerback) Rasul (Douglas). See you guys don’t even have much going on. Probably the next time I get with you all in three to four days there will be lots of information. We are healthy. There have been some good and bad things on all three sides of the ball. We are playing a lot of snaps. We are playing upwards of about four teams on defense and three to four teams on offense. We are out there playing a lot of ball and evaluating a lot. There’s been some good things, and there’s been some bad things.

 

Yes, especially defensively. The o-line and d-line is where you get caught up with that. We can go about two and half deep with o-line that know what they’re doing. We still put some guys out there like the third team o-line and the third and fourth team d-line that looks really bad, but they’re learning. It’s the only way they can learn.

 

I haven’t played very many of them. I only had one true freshman that played for me in the 17 years that I’ve coached. (Redshirt junior offensive lineman) Tyler Orlosky was a redshirt freshman. If you remember with Tyler, he started a couple of games when we were down, and we couldn’t start him anymore. Yes, it’s a concern which is why we are doing different things to be able to take some of that load off of him. We are not going to play him on a field goal. I don’t know if we will ever score, but if we score, that’s a rep that we will take off of him. (Redshirt junior offensive lineman Adam) Pankey played as a redshirt freshman, but he didn’t play very much. (Redshirt freshman offensive lineman) Yodny is way more advanced. Yesterday was the first day in pads, and he got exposed a little bit, which is common. We can bump (redshirt junior offensive lineman Adam) Pankey out, and we have the same starter we had last year. That’s going to be a viable option that will happen. How much it will happen, I don’t know. We have guys that haven’t develop yet that need to develop. (Redshirt freshman offensive lineman) Marcell Lazard and (redshirt junior offensive lineman) Sylvester Townes haven’t developed yet. They need to develop. We have a whole month for that to happen. Which guys take that next step, I don’t know. Right now, (redshirt freshman offensive lineman) Yodny (Cajuste) is the starter at left tackle, but yes, we are making plans to create depth and be able to alieve him of some of his duties.  

 

They are averaging about 35 catches a day. There’s five of them right now that I am focusing on. (Redshirt junior wide receiver) Vernon Davis Jr, (redshirt freshman wide receiver) Lamar Parker, (senior safety) KJ Dillon, (redshirt freshman quarterback) William Crest Jr. and (freshman wide receiver) Gary Jennings are the five that I am focusing on. All five of those guys will catch about 35 punts a day. We are going to chart it and coach it. We are going to make it more challenging for them and make the best decision that we possibly can. The thing that you guys don’t see is how much we are working with the front line guys too. If you have front line guys that don’t do their job and pressure the punter or hold people up then it doesn’t matter who you have back there. We are working those guys hard too. That’s where having great depth on defense and multiple receivers that can do different things makes their jobs a lot easier.

 

You get room and board, tuition, fees and books with a college scholarship. If you start getting particular as far as a dollar amount, then it is a fluid situation that is going to continue to change. What our guys get now may be a little bit more than what they got last year. It will probably be different next year. There is a lot that goes into it, and I don’t understand it. Not one college coach understands it, so if you start talking about it in recruiting then you are kind of saying stuff that you don’t have much knowledge of. That is all done through the financial aid department. The recruits and our players think that we have control over it, but we don’t. The financial aid sets it, and we abide by it. It is completely one hundred percent out of our hands. It’s different at different universities. I read the same stuff that you guys read. I guarantee that you can not believe what you’re reading. It’s different from school to school, and it’s different from kid to kid within that school. The way that (Big 12) Commissioner (Bob) Bowlsby told us to approach it, which I have, is that it is going to be different from school to school. The stadium is different from school to school. The location between yourself and the airport is different from school to school. The size of the campus is different from school to school, so the cost of attendance is going to be too. That’s the best way I can put it.

 

There is some day-to-day living expenses from whatever the kid chooses to do with his time and money. If you go out to eat at McDonald’s, it’s going to be cheaper than if you go to a steakhouse. There’s choices that you make that impact what the cost is. If a guy wants to come to school, then they are going to have a place to live for free, whether it is on campus or if it’s off campus. They are going to get books. They are going to get their tuition and fees paid for. What’s coming out of their pocket? It’s what they do with their extra time.

 

(Redshirt freshman wide receiver Lamar) Parker is not ready. (Redshirt freshman wide receiver Ricky) Rogers is not ready. (Redshirt sophomore wide receiver) Jacky (Marcellus) is doing some good things at running back and is getting a little better in the slot. Its day three, so where they are at now as opposed to the end of camp, I don’t know.

 

Coach Barber? He knows what he’s doing. He’s an old man. He was sore half way through practice yesterday, and he took the rest of the day off. With those old guys, you have to give them some time to recuperate. I’ve said this a ton, you can’t win a championship without a bunch of guys that have been here for four or five years. They understand how things work and what they have to do to be successful over the long haul. Everybody can get up for game one or a specific game throughout the year, but to have the same guys that understand the importance of doing the same things every week, game one through game 13, than you’re not going to win a championship. Having a guy like him gives you a chance, obviously not only him, but there’s a handful of them that have been here and done that.

 

He’s one of our best leaders that we have. He’s maybe the best coach on the field for (redshirt sophomore wide receiver) Shelton Gibson. He goes against him every day, and he tells him what he did right and tells him what he did wrong. That’s just experience that you can’t replace. He’s a good guy, and he’s a great teammate and he tries to do the right thing all the time, whether it’s on the field or off the field. You can go one way or another with injuries. I’ve seen a lot of guys retire, and I’ve seen guys like (redshirt senior linebacker) Shaq Petteway, who sat there and moped around for a whole year, because he wanted to play so bad. He got himself back, and he’s out there knocking the heck out of people right now. I’ve seen it be positive for guys like (redshirt senior cornerback) Terrell (Chestnut), (redshirt senior linebacker) Shaq (Petteway), and I’ve seen it go negative for guys that just can’t handle it.

 

I wouldn’t take him off the field. He looks pretty good. Its day three, and he’s got to maintain it. He’s got some pop that I haven’t seen in a while.

 

He loves peanut butter. I cannot tell you how much he loves peanut butter. He puts it on his waffle. He puts it on his dinner rolls. It’s the dangest thing I’ve ever seen. The guys get a kick out of it. What do you want to know?

 

He interacts with other people. O-line guys are funny. They’re usually big like (assistant coach) Ron (Crook), but they are usually in their own little world. All they want to do is be with their guys. They don’t want to do other things. (Assistant coach) Ron (Crook) is the type of guy that I’ve noticed when we go to stretch, he walks all the way down to the defensive side and high fives every one of them. He’s that kind of guy. He’s a personable guy, and he is very likeable. He fits in with the staff well. He’s a better golfer than you would think. You would think that the belly would get in the way. He bought some new clubs in the offseason and was whacking that thing around in our little Ryder Cup that we did down at Glades Springs. We had two teams of eight. He was picked 15 out of 16, which is way too low. I think he’s a top-8 pick now. He is a West Virginia guy. He loves it here. He’s excited about being here. He’s a Parkersburg native. What else do you want to know?

 

It’s none of your business. It wasn’t me. It was probably (assistant head coach (receivers)) Lonnie (Galloway). He would probably be number one. (Director of player personnel Ryan) Dorchester and (associate AD for football operations) Alex (Hammond) were captains. I was on (director of player personnel Ryan) Dorchester’s team. I was probably picked between three and five, somewhere around there. We blistered (associate AD for football operations) Alex’s team. (Assistant coach (defensive coordinator/linebackers) Tony Gibson) Gibby was his first pick. (Assistant coach (cornerbacks) Brian Mitchell) B-Mitch is pretty good. Brian Mitchell’s a world class athlete. Did you know that?

 

He’s like 10.2 hundred guy. Out of Waco, Texas, he was a state champ, almost Olympic material. He’s a pretty good golfer too, but he doesn’t have the stamina. He’s a sprinter, so he’s good for like eight holes and then he kind of pulls away. He’s probably No. 4 though, but he’s not in the top-three. (Director of player personnel Ryan) Dorchester just blistered (associate AD for football operations) Alex (Hammond). Alex (Hammond) is still in a bad place. If you see Alex (Hammond) walking around you should ask him how he did in golf. I was paired up with him for four days in a row, and it wasn’t even close. That was my victory for the summer. Anything else?