Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Holgorsen Feels Good About WVU Defense
May 01, 2018 04:59 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Last week on the Big 12 coaches' teleconference, West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen noted the big boost his defense received at the beginning of the semester when a number of midterm players enrolled in school in January and were available to participate in spring football drills.
Three of them - 6-foot-1, 215-pound outside linebacker Charlie Benton from Butler Community College, 5-foot-10, 180-pound safety Josh Norwood from Northwest Mississippi Community College and 6-foot-2, 187-pound cornerback Keith Washington from Copiah-Lincoln Community College - could see their names on the depth chart when the season begins in Charlotte, North Carolina, against Tennessee on Saturday, Sept. 1.
Benton saw his reps at Sam linebacker increase after senior Quondarius Qualls went down with a knee injury about midway through spring drills.
"The one who has probably made the most noise is Charlie Benton," Holgorsen said. "I like where he's at."
Benton, originally from Opelika, Alabama, played in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game in 2015 before attending Butler Community College. There he finished third on the team in tackles last year to earn second team all-conference honors.
Benton gives the linebacker corps another athlete, joining playmakers Dylan Tonkery in the middle and David Long Jr. on the outside. These three may not be the biggest group of linebackers around, but they could be one of the more athletic trios the Mountaineers have had at this position in a while.
Norwood, a former Ohio State Buckeye, demonstrated a willingness to run into anything and anybody during the spring. Because of that, the defensive coaches will seek ways to get him on the field despite the Mountaineers boasting plenty of experience at the three safety positions.
Norwood's path to WVU began in Valdosta, Georgia, where he earned first team all-state honors in 2014 before signing with Ohio State. Two seasons in Columbus preceded a year at Northwest Mississippi where he raised his profile enough again to earn an offer from West Virginia.
And Washington, once a Michigan Wolverine, showed outstanding ability and athleticism covering West Virginia's outside receivers and is the Mountaineers' tallest corner. Washington broke his finger and missed the final week of practice, but the coaching staff saw enough of him to include him in their plans for this fall.
Also hailing from Alabama, Washington was one of that state's top quarterback prospects before signing with Michigan where he was switched to cornerback. A change of scenery at Copiah-Lincoln eventually got him back to the Power 5 level.
Holgorsen said all three have really helped the team from a depth perspective.
"You recruit those guys for a reason," Holgorsen said. "We've had a lot of success with them and were able to show guys like them that have taken their path to Power 5 football to be able to come in and transition into the Big 12 and then go to the NFL after that. We've been able to show those guys they are capable of doing that, too."
Overall, Holgorsen said he was pleased with what the defense was able to accomplish this spring under fifth-year defensive coordinator Tony Gibson.
The defensive line will be much bigger than it was a year ago, and the linebackers are probably a step faster than last year's group. The Mountaineers also have lots of experience returning at the three safety positions in seniors Dravon Askew-Henry and Toyous Avery as well as promising sophomore free safety Kenny Robinson, who demonstrated an uncanny knack for making big plays as a true freshman.
The corner position is probably still a little thin for the Big 12, but the coaching staff felt positive steps were taken by junior Hakeem Bailey and sophomore Derrek Pitts Jr. during the spring to help get things where they need to be come September.
"People questioning our defense is nothing new," Holgorsen pointed out. "Tony Gibson is going into his fifth year here and has done a great job - I think arguably one of the best defensive coaching jobs in college football over the last half decade. We've been through this before where they don't think we are capable of doing specific things and then we use that as motivation to be able to do well."
Another motivating factor for the returners is the number of quality players the coaching staff recruited this year, some who have yet to arrive on campus.
Four-star defensive end Dante Stills, one of the most heavily recruited in-state defensive players in years, will support a defensive line position that saw his older brother, Darius, really emerge in the spring at nose.
It's not a stretch of the imagination to envision seeing both Stills brothers out there chasing quarterbacks as early as this fall.
Massive Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, nose tackle James Gmiter also joins the team this summer and will immediately become one of the team's biggest defenders. Kentucky's Tyrese Allen is another prep defensive line prospect the defensive coaches were happy to get.
Kenny Bigelow Jr., once a five-star prospect from Eastern Christian Academy in Elkton, Maryland, graduated from USC and will spend his final season at WVU in 2018.
He will give the Mountaineers another 300-plus-pounder up front.
Holdovers Ezekiel Rose and Reese Donahue are also bigger than they were last year.
"I feel better about our defensive line currently than I did at any point last year," Holgorsen said. "And we're going to add to that and get better."
Another summer newcomer, Aliquippa safety Kwantel Raines, was considered one of the top prospects in Pennsylvania and turned down more than 30 offers to sign with West Virginia. Raines continues the trend of the Mountaineers nabbing some of Aliquippa's top defensive players going all the way back to Charles Fisher in the mid-1990s.
If Raines is capable of getting into the mix this fall at one of the most experienced positions on West Virginia's defense, then that really bodes well for the Mountaineers.
Either way, Holgorsen indicated he feels much better about his defense now than he did before the start of spring practice.
"We've got returning players at linebacker and the secondary not only has seniors, but very experienced guys in addition to the guys that I've already mentioned, so I feel really good about where we're at," he concluded.
Three of them - 6-foot-1, 215-pound outside linebacker Charlie Benton from Butler Community College, 5-foot-10, 180-pound safety Josh Norwood from Northwest Mississippi Community College and 6-foot-2, 187-pound cornerback Keith Washington from Copiah-Lincoln Community College - could see their names on the depth chart when the season begins in Charlotte, North Carolina, against Tennessee on Saturday, Sept. 1.
Benton saw his reps at Sam linebacker increase after senior Quondarius Qualls went down with a knee injury about midway through spring drills.
"The one who has probably made the most noise is Charlie Benton," Holgorsen said. "I like where he's at."
Benton, originally from Opelika, Alabama, played in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game in 2015 before attending Butler Community College. There he finished third on the team in tackles last year to earn second team all-conference honors.
Benton gives the linebacker corps another athlete, joining playmakers Dylan Tonkery in the middle and David Long Jr. on the outside. These three may not be the biggest group of linebackers around, but they could be one of the more athletic trios the Mountaineers have had at this position in a while.
Norwood, a former Ohio State Buckeye, demonstrated a willingness to run into anything and anybody during the spring. Because of that, the defensive coaches will seek ways to get him on the field despite the Mountaineers boasting plenty of experience at the three safety positions.
Norwood's path to WVU began in Valdosta, Georgia, where he earned first team all-state honors in 2014 before signing with Ohio State. Two seasons in Columbus preceded a year at Northwest Mississippi where he raised his profile enough again to earn an offer from West Virginia.
And Washington, once a Michigan Wolverine, showed outstanding ability and athleticism covering West Virginia's outside receivers and is the Mountaineers' tallest corner. Washington broke his finger and missed the final week of practice, but the coaching staff saw enough of him to include him in their plans for this fall.
Also hailing from Alabama, Washington was one of that state's top quarterback prospects before signing with Michigan where he was switched to cornerback. A change of scenery at Copiah-Lincoln eventually got him back to the Power 5 level.
Holgorsen said all three have really helped the team from a depth perspective.
"You recruit those guys for a reason," Holgorsen said. "We've had a lot of success with them and were able to show guys like them that have taken their path to Power 5 football to be able to come in and transition into the Big 12 and then go to the NFL after that. We've been able to show those guys they are capable of doing that, too."
Overall, Holgorsen said he was pleased with what the defense was able to accomplish this spring under fifth-year defensive coordinator Tony Gibson.The defensive line will be much bigger than it was a year ago, and the linebackers are probably a step faster than last year's group. The Mountaineers also have lots of experience returning at the three safety positions in seniors Dravon Askew-Henry and Toyous Avery as well as promising sophomore free safety Kenny Robinson, who demonstrated an uncanny knack for making big plays as a true freshman.
The corner position is probably still a little thin for the Big 12, but the coaching staff felt positive steps were taken by junior Hakeem Bailey and sophomore Derrek Pitts Jr. during the spring to help get things where they need to be come September.
"People questioning our defense is nothing new," Holgorsen pointed out. "Tony Gibson is going into his fifth year here and has done a great job - I think arguably one of the best defensive coaching jobs in college football over the last half decade. We've been through this before where they don't think we are capable of doing specific things and then we use that as motivation to be able to do well."
Another motivating factor for the returners is the number of quality players the coaching staff recruited this year, some who have yet to arrive on campus.
Four-star defensive end Dante Stills, one of the most heavily recruited in-state defensive players in years, will support a defensive line position that saw his older brother, Darius, really emerge in the spring at nose.
It's not a stretch of the imagination to envision seeing both Stills brothers out there chasing quarterbacks as early as this fall.
Massive Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, nose tackle James Gmiter also joins the team this summer and will immediately become one of the team's biggest defenders. Kentucky's Tyrese Allen is another prep defensive line prospect the defensive coaches were happy to get.
Kenny Bigelow Jr., once a five-star prospect from Eastern Christian Academy in Elkton, Maryland, graduated from USC and will spend his final season at WVU in 2018.
He will give the Mountaineers another 300-plus-pounder up front.
Holdovers Ezekiel Rose and Reese Donahue are also bigger than they were last year.
"I feel better about our defensive line currently than I did at any point last year," Holgorsen said. "And we're going to add to that and get better."
Another summer newcomer, Aliquippa safety Kwantel Raines, was considered one of the top prospects in Pennsylvania and turned down more than 30 offers to sign with West Virginia. Raines continues the trend of the Mountaineers nabbing some of Aliquippa's top defensive players going all the way back to Charles Fisher in the mid-1990s.
If Raines is capable of getting into the mix this fall at one of the most experienced positions on West Virginia's defense, then that really bodes well for the Mountaineers.
Either way, Holgorsen indicated he feels much better about his defense now than he did before the start of spring practice.
"We've got returning players at linebacker and the secondary not only has seniors, but very experienced guys in addition to the guys that I've already mentioned, so I feel really good about where we're at," he concluded.
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