MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Just days after West Virginia's disappointing performance against Utah in the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl, defensive coordinator Tony Gibson saw Dylan Tonkery walking into the Milan Puskar Center and called him into his office.
 
"Tonk," Gibson said, "we're moving you to Mike (linebacker)."
 
He didn't ask for Tonkery's input, and he didn't give his reasons for doing it other than the obvious - senior Al-Rasheed Benton, who led the team in tackles and probably played more snaps than anyone else on the defense, was graduating.
 
Not only did Benton make plays, but he also covered David Long Jr.'s backside whenever Long wanted to do a little freelancing.
 
It was obvious, too, whenever Benton was out of the game because that's usually when opponents ripped off big runs against the defense when the guy in the game for Benton blew a gasket and left his gap uncovered.
 
The defense Gibson runs at West Virginia is not incredibly complicated, but it does require some experience at the three linebacker spots and spur safety because of its unique run fits.
 
That's why it's rare to see somebody come right in and play one of the three linebacker spots or spur, and that's why you will probably never see a graduate transfer brought in for one of those defensive positions.
 
"Hell, we've got guys that have been here three years and still don't know all of the fits," Gibson said.
 
Therefore, the guys Gibby has right now at linebacker are very likely the ones he's going to have to go with this fall.
 
Long Jr. has been held out this spring to make sure his surgically-repaired shoulder is healthy, but he returns for his junior season at Will linebacker as one of the Big 12's top defensive playmakers. Whenever Long is on the football field, West Virginia's defense just looks and plays much differently.
 
The Sam linebacker position has been hit with a rash of key injuries - first it was promising freshman Exree Loe before spring work even began, and then last week emerging senior Quondarius Qualls went down with a knee injury that is going to keep him out for an extended period of time.
 
The leaves junior college transfer Charlie Benton and sophomore Luke Williams as the only two guys there right now.

Tonkery can also move back to Sam if needed, but Gibson wants to avoid that if at all possible because he's got to have somebody he can trust in the middle of his defense.
 
And Tonkery, just a sophomore, has already proven his trustworthiness.
 
The Bridgeport High product started last year's opener against Virginia Tech in place of Long at Will linebacker and finished the season as the team's No. 1 Sam, tripling his value to Gibson's linebacker room right now.
 
Tonkery finished seventh on the team in tackles with 43 to go with 6 ½ tackles for losses and three sacks. The experience he got playing the Will and Sam has really helped his transition to the middle, even though the techniques he uses there are completely different.
 
"When I first got here, I felt like everything was going 100 miles per hour and you think you have to sprint everywhere just to get to your gaps and it's really not like that," Tonkery explained. "If you just use your eyes and play how you're supposed to play, everything slows down.
 
"But it's just football," he added. "Go out there and play. I didn't know how much I'd play. I didn't know if he was going to move me back to Sam and once David came back I figured I'd be working in with him or just playing special teams, and I ended up playing Sam."
 
Now at the Mike, he's playing a position where the guys he's going up against are a whole lot bigger than the guys he was facing on the outside.
 
Sometimes, he wasn't even getting blocked at all.
 
"I'm getting blocked a lot more," Tonkery admitted. "I don't have a lot of responsibility as far as pass coverage. People don't get into the middle of the field as much as they do the other outside positions.
 
"You just have to run through your gap. Coach Gibby preaches it every day and that's pretty much all you have to do, really," he said.
 
Gibson said his linebackers have had their good days and bad days this spring, sometimes being in the right spots and other times not - Tonkery included.
 
But he knows Tonkery is always going to give maximum effort and put in the necessary work to get better. He is also anxious to see what Long and Tonkery can do on the field together because they both play so instinctively and aggressively.
 
Gibson said he is confident Tonkery can handle the inside linebacker position at his size, even though Tonkery admits he would like to add a few more pounds before training camp arrives.
 
He said he came to West Virginia as a safety weighing 190 pounds and has since bulked up to 225.
 
Think back to a few years ago when safety-turned linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski bulked up to play the middle during his junior season when Jared Barber was injured, and is now a 243-pound inside linebacker with the Chicago Bears.
 
"I'm going to try and gain at least five or 10 pounds before the start of the season," Tonkery said. "Five pounds can make a lot of difference. It doesn't seem like a lot, but it is. It gives you more weight when you come down hill."
 
Getting Tonkery a little bit bigger and ready to go in the middle will enable Gibson to devote more time to other areas of his defense.
 
In the back of his mind, however, Gibson knows what he's looking at this spring is not what his defense is ultimately going to look like when the Mountaineers take the field in Charlotte on September 1 to face Tennessee.
 
There are still more pieces that can be added to the puzzle, including a couple of graduate transfers at defensive line and corner.
 
"We're probably five to six starters down with the first group from where we thought we'd be a month ago," Gibson noted.
 
Even when all of the necessary parts are in place, Tonkery admits he's still not totally sure what the defense is going to be capable of doing.
 
"We're going to have to wait until the season starts," he opined. "After Tennessee and after a few games we'll know how our season is going to go."
 
The Mountaineers have two move closed spring workouts scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday before playing their annual Gold-Blue Spring Game on Saturday, April 7 at 1 p.m. inside Milan Puskar Stadium.
 
Admission is $10 with game proceeds once again benefitting WVU Medicine Children's.