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Kyeremeh Now Elder Statesman in WVU Secondary
June 08, 2016 12:37 PM | Football
The numbers are now there, and the time is nearing for West Virginia University’s cornerbacks to step into the fire and face some of the best passing attacks in the college football this fall.
This past spring, veteran defensive coordinator Tony Gibson had only five scholarship players at his disposal, one of those being Miami transfer Antonio Crawford, who sat out last year but displayed his playmaking skills by turning a Skyler Howard pass in the flat into a pick-six during the spring game played at the Greenbrier.
Junior college transfer Rasul Douglas, who appeared in 11 games for the Mountaineers in 2015, had his moments at the boundary corner during the spring - some good, and some not so good. The Adams twins, Jacquez and Jordan, also had their moments this spring, again, some good and some not so good.
Among the newcomers, Gibson has five corners coming aboard and all of them are now in school, including recent addition Maurice Fleming, a fifth-year player from Iowa. Two of the newcomers, Mike Daniels and Elijah Battle, are JC players who are older guys with more experience, while the other two are Ohio high school products in Jake Long and Sean Mahone.
And then there is redshirt senior Nana Kyeremeh, who seemingly has been around here as long as the mountains surrounding Morgantown.
A bar graph of Kyeremeh’s career at WVU would closely resemble the stock market: up, down, and then up again. He played in all 12 games at boundary corner during his freshman season for the since-departed Daron Roberts.
Then he spent the next two years basically watching from the sidelines for his next coach Brian Mitchell, missing the entire 2013 season with a shoulder injury that required surgery, and a 2014 campaign that saw him appear in only four games.
Last year, the Worthington, Ohio, resident was back out on the field for all 13 games, adding depth at corner where he made 20 total tackles, 15 unassisted, and had his first career pick at Kansas.
Having 30 career games under his belt will certainly help Kyeremeh this fall when the Mountaineers have a full roster of players to begin preparing for the season opener against Missouri on September 3.
“I think the biggest thing with experience is you’re relaxed,” Kyeremeh, pronounced KY-rum, said recently. “You’re not as sped-up when it comes to getting the calls and you know what to expect so you’re not going to be rushing. Follow your progressions, read the receivers and the quarterback and just play instead of being out there running around.”
How much Kyeremeh is out there running around this fall is yet to be determined. Fleming, who played in 33 career games with the Hawkeyes, including all 14 during last year’s run to the Rose Bowl, was not brought in here to sit and watch.
Daniels was a second-team JUCO All-American at Globe Tech (New York) Community College and he was not brought in here to sit and watch.
And Battle, from Dodge City (Kansas) Community College, was not brought in here to sit and watch so there are three older guys who give the Mountaineers more options than they had last spring when it was basically just Douglas, Kyeremeh and Crawford out there covering West Virginia’s fleet and talented set of receivers.
Kyeremeh knows that he is going to have to work very hard this summer and perform well in the fall to stay in the mix.
“I’m excited,” he said. “This is my last go-round and I’ve got to make it count because this is my last year.”
There is no question going up against guys like Shelton Gibson, Ka’Raun White, Daikiel Shorts Jr., Devonte Mathis, Gary Jennings, David Sills V and promising true freshman Marcus Simms have given West Virginia’s corners a big taste of what they are going to see from Big 12-caliber wide receivers this fall.
Nana Kyeremeh awaiting a kickoff during last year's game at Baylor (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo)
They say a high tide raises all boats so it will be interesting to see if that’s the case with West Virginia’s corners, who will be under the gun from the moment they step out onto the field to play in Gibson’s aggressive, attacking Mountaineer defense.
“We’ve just got to stay in our own little black box, like our coach says,” Kyeremeh explained. “We’re going to be working every day so we can’t let our highs get too high or our lows get too low. If we just stay in that box and keep working hard we’ll be okay.”
There were times in the spring when the corners were beaten badly for touchdowns. Naturally, some of that was on West Virginia’s receivers by simply making big plays, and, of course, some of that was on the corners for failing to make a play or by not using proper footwork and technique.
Kyeremeh is old enough and experienced enough to know that all of the little things that lead up to big plays matter.
He explains.
“Some of those (big plays) we caused ourselves by dropping picks the play before, so if we make plays like that we’re off the field and those plays don’t happen,” he said. “Sometimes it’s the little things that led up to the big play - that, and just watching film, continuing to emphasize our footwork and improving our technique.”
Kyeremeh has had three different cornerback coaches during his Mountaineer career, beginning with Roberts before transitioning to Mitchell three years ago.
Now, he’s getting used to another position coach in former Miami Dolphins aide Blue Adams.
“It’s been different but it’s a good experience because you have a clean slate with a new coach because he doesn’t know who you are or how you play so you’ve just got to make that good first impression and keep working and growing on him,” he noted.
Considering the way West Virginia plays defense, and the competition the Mountaineers are facing on a weekly basis in the wide-open Big 12, there will be plenty of opportunities to make an impression, that’s for sure.
“That’s why (good corners) come to West Virginia to play against the best competition every year and you go up against the best receivers one-on-one. If you can play in the Big 12, you can play anywhere,” Kyeremeh concluded.
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