MORGANTOWN, W.Va.- West Virginia University football coach Dana Holgorsen addressed members of the media on Friday, August 5, 2016, at the Milan Puskar Center Team Room.

 

Big crowd today. It was brought to my attention, I know we talked about (redshirt sophomore defensive lineman) Jaleel Fields with his season ending knee (surgery). It was brought to my attention that you all asked about (redshirt junior defensive lineman) Xavier Pegues as well. He had shoulder surgery, I don’t know, two months ago maybe. It slipped my mind, I apologize for not making you all aware of that. He is expected back somewhere around late October, early November so whether he makes it or not I don’t know at this point and time. Those are the two guys that are out, other than that one day in pads. The energy was good, it was sloppy at times, it was physical at times, and it was soft at times. I was happy with the overall aspect of the practice. This afternoon will be the same type of practice, you guys will see the first 30 minutes with some stretch and some special teams, which I believe you all saw that last time as well. We will do PAT, field goal, and you will be able to see some punt and some stuff like that as well. Happy with the progress with the specialists. I think (redshirt junior kicker) Mike Molina is doing a nice job for us. (Redshirt sophomore punter) Billy Kinney is doing a nice job. (Freshman kicker/punter) Jonn Young, the new guy has got a fantastic leg, now what happens when live bullets start coming at them, we have to figure that out but just watching the ball come off of his foot in punt, it looks really good. Happy with the punt returners, just the bodies that we have back there. The guys can catch the punt, again that changes when the bullets are flying at them but we have guys that are naturally gifted at catching punts. You will see that and then we will get into a tempo period which you all will see for about 10 minutes, which is just basically teaching our guys how to go as fast as they can, which means that it will look fairly sloppy. No down and distance at all but just teaching the guys how to play fast. I think we do a decent job on both sides of the ball being able to play fast and defensively handle tempo as well. That’s what you will see and for the rest of the day it will be very controlled, no live situations at all, we aren’t ready for that yet. We are still installing and still trying to get a grasp on what guys can do and what some of their names are and that sort of thing. Still very early in camp but I like the attitude; I like the mentality at what our guys are doing. I think they are in fantastic shape, just overall. (director of strength and conditioning) Mike Joseph did, again, as good of a job as there is in college football, getting our guys ready to go. I think the guys are doing great recruiting wise. I couldn’t be happier with the 31 new bodies that we have, these guys’ bodies look good. I think our talent is getting better, and the attitude with which we approached the offseason really shows. The overall health and athleticism of the guys that are out there are as good as it’s been since I have been here, so that’s where we are at. I will take some specific questions if you all have any.

 

Yeah, it is concerning. We moved (redshirt junior tight end/fullback) Jon Lewis over, we moved (freshman defensive lineman) Chase Behrndt over, and we signed (sophomore defensive lineman) Brandon Lawless so we did that for a reason. With doing that we are three deep. We have nine bodies, they have to stay healthy. Nose (guard) is a question mark, having a couple of young guys. (Senior defensive lineman) Darrien Howard is a really good player, we can move (redshirt senior defensive lineman) Christian (Brown) down in there if we have too, we can move Jonny (Jon) Lewis down in there if we have to. We have nine bodies, we have (freshman) (Jeremy) Pooler which gives us 10. We are going to have to stay healthy.

 

It doesn’t look like it to me. I worry about my side at this point when it comes to that. They’re lined up, they’re athletic. We as coaches are going to be critical there is no question, early. I’m not worried about him getting guys to understand what to do. Three practices into it, we have 26 more, that is the least of my concerns right now.

 

I didn’t call a drop-back pass for nine weeks in a row. We were running the ball a good bit. The passes that we threw, if you remember, were a lot of play action, downfield stuff or screens. We were a very, very, very below average drop-back passing team last year. I’ve made it known to you all, our staff, with hires, with how we practice, with the techniques that we are coaching to the type of plays that we are repping to the getting through to our entire offenses’ minds that in order for us to take the next step offensively we have to be able to do that better. I want to be able to throw the ball better and we are working on it. That is a combination of the tackles getting better, the technique improving, (senior quarterback) Skyler (Howard) and other quarterbacks being comfortable in the pocket. I can’t emphasize it enough. Play one against Oklahoma we run a drop-back pass and a free defensive end comes in and hits him in the temple as hard as he can, if you don’t think that effects the way a quarterback plays you are out of your mind. We are going to get that fixed and it looks a lot better. Then the timing aspect with the quarterbacks and where the receivers are that is getting better. There is a lot that goes into it.

 

I think (redshirt junior offensive lineman) Marcell (Lazard) had his best practice that he has had since he has been here yesterday. I’m happy with his effort and his determination. He’s going into his junior year. He probably got thrusted into the lineup a year earlier than I wanted him to. A guy like him that was a developmental guy, that had to work on his body and get in shape and learn and be comfortable and confident and all that usually takes until about his junior year to figure it out. He kind of got thrusted into it a little bit too quick when (redshirt sophomore defensive lineman) Yodny (Cajuste) went down last year. (Redshirt freshman offensive lineman) Colton (McKivitz) is the type of guy that is like (redshirt sophomore defensive lineman) Yodny (Cajuste), high school basketball, long, underweight, athletic, that grows into a tackle spot quicker than anticipated. We are really happy with him, he is smart, and he is able to flip back and forth. We don’t want to mess with (redshirt sophomore defensive lineman) Yodny (Cajuste) on the left side, he is really good. We don’t want to mess with (redshirt junior offensive lineman) Marcell (Lazard) because he is really comfortable on the right side so (Redshirt freshman offensive lineman) Colton (McKivitz) is going to be able to play either tackle position and give us depth that we haven’t had in a while. But, if (redshirt freshman offensive lineman) Colton (McKivitz) is better than (redshirt junior offensive lineman) Marcell (Lazard) we are going to start him at right tackle.

 

You know my stance on kickers. I don’t talk to them very much. I don’t know what his mentality was prior to the other day. He looks good. I’m picking of course. He looks good. He’s looks comfortable. (redshirt senior kicker) Josh (Lambert) is working himself back into shape. If (redshirt junior kicker) Mike (Molina) goes out and he’s knocking that thing through the upright a bunch in the first three games, than it would be silly to uproot that. We’ve never seen Mike (Molina) in live situations. Josh (Lambert) has a history of being able to knock through big kicks as the clock is winding down. It will be fun to watch it. We’ll chart it. We’ll evaluate it. We’ll see where they are all camp. It’s Mike’s (Molina) job for three games and then we’ll evaluate it after that.

 

He was pretty steady last year. That first year he was hit and miss. There were some things that were concerning that first year. The fact that he was out there on the field as a freshman was impressive. Last year, he was much steadier. This year he’s much more confident, and he’s taken over the leadership role that Karl (Joseph) and KJ (Dillon) had. That was a concern going into the year. You lose some guys that are NFL players, but we replaced them with guys that I think are equally as talented that just don’t have the overall experience with the exception of (junior safety) Dravon (Askew-Henry). He looks great. He’s talking. He’s leading those guys. (senior safety) Jeremy Tyler is another guy that I’ve seen be vocal. He’s leading. He’s going to be a senior. He shouldn’t have played his first year. He wasn’t quite as ready as Dravon (Askew-Henry) was, but he’s improved over the last couple of years. The leadership that we lost with KJ (Dillon) and Karl (Joseph), I’ve been happy with where Dravon (Askew-Henry) and (Jeremy Tyler) JT are at this point in time. The key is going to be when it gets real hard. When it got really hard you knew that Karl (Joseph) was going to say and what KJ (Dillon) was going to do. That’s what we have to make sure those guys understand, which they’re on track to do.

 

It’s really not uncommon in college football. It’s not ideal. You want continuity. There isn’t a coach in the country that says I don’t want continuity. You want continuity. The good news is the continuity that we have on offense and defense from a scheme is good. We have a lot of guys that have been in this program that we’re going to be counting on to play for us on both offense and defense that have been hearing the same thing, terminology wise, schematically for offense for five years and for defense going on the third year. That’s probably more important than not having continuity when it comes to coordinators. I like how those guys are interacting. If you look at it, obviously (assistant coach offensive coordination/fullbacks-tight ends) (Joe) Wickline and I have a history and we know what each other wants. (Assistant coach receivers) Coach (Tyron) Carrier and I have a history and we know what each other wants. Defensively, (assistant coach safeties) coach (Matt) Caponi and (associate head coach defensive coordinator/linebackers) (Tony Gibson) Gibby have a history and they know what each other wants. So that eases the gap a little bit. (Assistant coach cornerbacks) Blue (Adams) is kind of the new guy who comes in that has to learn what we want, but his expertise is the technique aspect of it. He’s as good as I’ve seen at it. He gets out there. Both him and (assistant coach receivers) (Tyron) Carrier, it’s kind of fun to watch, they come to practice in cleats. I don’t know if I’ve seen that from a coach. They both come to practice with cleats, and they’re showing the guys what to do and they’re doing the drills with them. I know that rubs off on the players with a technique aspect. We could be in a much worse situation when it comes to continuity.

 

Yeah we used Cody Clay a lot based on him being a fifth year senior. He played a lot of snaps. If you look at guys who have played snaps you have (redshirt junior tight end/full back) (Elijah) Eli (Wellman). A lot of times that we would probably go 11 personnel, it’s still really is 11 personnel, it just that guy may not be attached. (Elijah) Eli (Wellman) is not a guy that can be attached. Cody (Clay) go so damn big that he was a guy that we really didn’t want in the back field very much, so we play to your strength a little bit with that. We may be little bit more of a 20 personnel team instead of 11, but schematically it’s all the same stuff. It’s too early to tell with these guys. (Redshirt sophomore tight end) (Trevon) Wesco, first play of the inside drill yesterday, twisted his knee and is out for a while, so I don’t know. (Redshirt freshman tight end/full back) Stone (Wolfley) went in yesterday and had his best day of practice. Stone (Wolfley) I treat something similar to young offensive lineman where you say go graze in the cafeteria, go spend a lot of time in the weight room, get real big, and then we will start repping you when you’re ready. Liked what he did yesterday. We’ll figure out who our best players are, and if that changes what the personnel breakdown is than who cares. It’s relatively the same plays based on different personnel.

 

I don’t know. He’s in a brace. You won’t see him today. I know it’s non-surgical I just don’t know what the time frame was.

 

He hasn’t practice in two days, so I haven’t see a whole lot. He tore, I don’t know who threw it because none of our guys threw it real hard but he caught it and it tore that little web right there, so he didn’t practice yesterday. He’s not reliable to me. (redshirt senior wide receiver) (Devonte) Mathis is reliable. He’s a fifth year guy that plays inside, plays outside and knows what to do. (senior wide receiver) Daikiel (Shorts Jr.) is reliable. He practices through a lot of stuff. He might have a hamstring but he goes out there and he continues to practice. He plays inside, two positions. He’ll go outside and play. Those guys are reliable. (sophomore wide receiver) Gary (Jennings) fits that mold. He played outside last year. He played inside during the spring. He went inside all during the summer. He’s back outside. I agree, he’s reliable, he’s big, he can make plays, he has great hand eye coordination and he’s incredibly dependable when it comes to catching punts. I just want to see him practice.

 

Don’t know. He didn’t block very well yesterday. (redshirt junior tight end/full back) (Elijah) Eli (Wellman) went down too. He’s got an ankle. He’ll be fine. This is part of camp. You’re going to see guys on the side lines. If they’re out-out, I’ll let you know. (Elijah) Eli (Wellman) went down yesterday too, so (redshirt sophomore tight end/full back) (Michael) Ferns went in and got a lot of reps, and he need to block better. Once these guys show us what they can do and the level that they can do it at, is when I start making decisions on what our personnel groupings are going to be come game planning for Missouri here in a couple of weeks.

 

It is rewarding, refreshing. I have been saying for a long time, I just want to be able to do my job. I’m not talking about recruiting or any of that. Just from a day to day operational standpoint. Obviously this is very functional, we still have to get the meeting rooms functional because we still have to break up into positional groups. It’s not fun to have to talk over (assistant coach (offensive line) coach (Ron) Crook, trust me. The practice field is just great, I mean you see our kids, we will be in the indoor about 5:25 and you will see them take the field and there is genuine excitement and energy about getting there. We have space and we are able to do everything that we want. We are able to practice the way we want to and that’s all I have ever asked. Now, when they did they announce the bond for the stadium, what was that two years ago? Three years ago. I walked it for the first time yesterday. That’s for the fans that is great. I walked it, I went down here and I went up where the Orange Bowl banner is and I walked up and I walked through it and I go, ‘wow, this is pretty clean’ it’s got space and I know there is a whole bunch of restrooms and concessions and all that, which makes the fans’ experience better. There are TV’s everywhere, I saw those outdoor suites, it’s great. They actually poured concrete and it was level. The outside fence was cool, coming into the stadium I think it’s going to give our fans the same sense that it gives our players when they hit that practice field. It’s going to be exciting. Then I made the mistake of walking around the stadium and coming through the back side. You forget how sh***y it is. It’s unbelievable. Then I walked back this way to come back in and it’s like wow this is nice now. The fans are going to be excited, it’s going to be good. It is how it should be and we are getting better and better. That’s a good way to end it isn’t it.