Photo by: Pete Emerson
Askew-Henry: New Position, Same Goal
July 30, 2018 01:47 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The day before spring ball began, Dravon Askew-Henry was summoned into Tony Gibson's office.
There was nothing wrong. The senior safety wasn't in trouble or anything, but the news West Virginia's fifth-year defensive coordinator and safeties coach Matt Caponi was about to deliver sent a jolt of electricity through his body anyway.
"We're switching your position," Gibson began.
Another switch, Askew-Henry thought to himself?
One of Pennsylvania's top defensive prospects in 2013 came to West Virginia as a corner and became an ESPN.com freshman All-American in 2014 as a free safety.
Then last year necessity forced Gibson to move Askew-Henry closer to the line of scrimmage at bandit safety to compensate for injuries and also to get promising freshman Kenny Robinson on the field.
Now, with spur safety Kyzir White off to the NFL, Gibson had an even bigger void to fill this spring. Who is going to play spur, the position in West Virginia's defense that requires a unique blend of athleticism, toughness and size?
This guy has to be big enough and tough enough to hold his ground against tackles, guards and fullbacks at the line of scrimmage on first and second down and also be nimble and athletic enough on third down to cover slot receivers.
They don't make these guys every day like they do lost golf balls, which is why the last three (Kyzir White, KJ Dillon and Terence Garvin) have gone on to the NFL.
Nevertheless, Askew-Henry was their obvious choice.
"I've always been cool with them, no matter where I played," Askew-Henry said recently out in Frisco, Texas, for Big 12 Media Days. "I'll play anywhere. Wherever they need me at the best …"
Spur safety is clearly where Askew-Henry is needed this year. He said playing spur sort of reminds him of his high school days back in Aliquippa where he was asked to line up just about anywhere on the field and be an athlete and a playmaker.
That is what Kyzir White did last year for the Mountaineers.
"I love playing spur because you get to move around," he explained. "You get to blitz, play man and you aren't standing still the whole game."
Askew-Henry admits there were times last year when West Virginia's defense was caught standing still. The Mountaineers gave up 31.5 points and 445.5 yards per game, including a disturbing 204.2 yards per game on the ground.
Two hundred yards per game on the ground is just not going to cut it this year if West Virginia wants to fulfill its yearly preseason goal of becoming Big 12 champions.
Askew-Henry admits last year's defensive struggles were a combination of things.
"I feel like last year we just didn't have enough leadership and enough fight in us," he explained. "We didn't have anybody stepping up when it was time to step up. There were a lot of selfish players last year, including myself, just selfish tendencies like, 'I've got to worry about this play. I've got to worry about what I've got to do.'
"This year it's a lot different," he continued. "We're making sure everybody is bought in from the ones, the twos and the threes. We're making sure everyone is on board this year."
There are some new guys along for the ride.
Some player swapping has left West Virginia with much more size up front, a 300-plus-pounder at nose in USC transfer Kenny Bigelow Jr. and athletic 271-pound outside pass rusher Jabril Robinson from Clemson.
Askew-Henry sees both of those guys helping the defense this fall.
"We're big up front, got some depth there now and I'm loving it," Askew-Henry said. "This is the biggest line I've seen since my freshman year."
It's no accident Askew-Henry mentioned his freshman year, 2014, which also happens to be the best defense veteran coach Dana Holgorsen has fielded at West Virginia and probably the best since the 2007 unit helped the Mountaineers to a Tostitos Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma, which is also the last time West Virginia has defeated the Sooners.
Bigelow Jr. was a former five-star performer from nearby Wilmington, Delaware, who went out to Hollywood seeking his star only to return back East looking to revive his once promising career.
Robinson chose to take a clearer path to the NFL by coming to WVU instead of backing up the best defensive line in the country at Clemson. If not for those three guys in front of him, Christian Wilkins, Clelin Ferrell and Austin Bryant, Robinson would still be hunting quarterbacks in the ACC.
Now he's going to do a little hunting this fall in West Virginia, which is always a great place to do some hunting.
"They work," Askew-Henry said of those two. "Kenny comes in and he puts a little extra time in, just like Jabril. Nobody is going to come in and do a Mike Joseph workout and think it's easy. It was tough for them the first couple of weeks, but they've gotten used to it."
Something Askew-Henry hasn't gotten used to is all of the shade being thrown on West Virginia's defense this summer.
Every "yeah, but" regarding this year's West Virginia football team begins with the defense. Yahoo Sports' Pete Thamel in his recent full-body take down of Big 12 football focused a couple of his barbs on West Virginia's defense, which he wrote could be the Achilles heel for Will Grier's Heisman candidacy.
"Who is the league's biggest star? It's probably West Virginia's Will Grier, the league's only frontline returning quarterback and best NFL prospect," Thamel opined.
Then Thamel took a shot at the legs.
"But optimism should slow down because its defense can't slow anyone, as the Mountaineers gave up 31.5 points and 445 yards per game," he wrote.
There are those numbers again for Askew-Henry and the rest of the guys on West Virginia's defense to read over and over before they take to the practice field later this week for the beginning of fall training camp.
"Everybody knows about the offense," Askew-Henry noted. "Everybody talks about the offense and the defense we're just getting sick of everybody not giving us as much credit. Going into this season, I'm a senior, I've got other leaders with me like (outside linebacker) David Long, and we've got a chip on our shoulders. We're trying to do it big this year."
Ah, the old chip-on-the-shoulder theme for self-motivation.
Fear and anger are two of the biggest motivating factors in athletics, a former player and coach once told me. Fear of losing your starting position or having your role reduced and anger for being disrespected.
Both can be equally lethal.
In the years when West Virginia has been really successful, the anger for being disrespected has usually been the team's No. 1 motivating factor. And this group of defensive players clearly feels disrespected.
"We've got that chip on our shoulder and I still feel like we've got that chip on our shoulder, especially on the defensive side coming off of last year," Askew-Henry explained. "I feel like if the defense does well this year we're going to have a real successful team."
A lot of this is sitting on the shoulders of West Virginia's new spur safety, Dravon Askew-Henry, one of the oldest and most experienced players in the Big 12.
If he performs well, and West Virginia's defense performs well, then the combination of an effective defense and a high-powered offense could see West Virginia playing in Arlington, Texas, in early December.
At least that's the team's goal, as it is every year.
Briefly:
* Some Dana Holgorsen Big 12 media days leftovers. Holgorsen was asked about Oklahoma's recent dominance in the Big 12 and what other teams in the league have to do to catch them.
"They've got the best players; they're very well coached; they have a historic program," Holgorsen said. "They have a lot of trophies they look at so they expect to win. The talent gap is there. I think everybody needs to grow and improve.
"They're the favorite. They're the ones that have been winning it," he added. "Coach (Bob) Stoops had done a hell of a job there for 18 years, whatever it was, and Lincoln (Riley) took that whole program and kept it going. They didn't have any turnover and they should keep it going."
If you are a West Virginia football fan you are inclined to wonder of Oklahoma is the new Penn State. The Nittany Lions' dominance over the Mountaineers lasted nearly three full decades before West Virginia finally ended Penn State's long winning streak in 1984.
The Nittany Lions always dominated regional recruiting just as Oklahoma is dominating recruiting in the Big 12 right now.
"They are recruiting at a high level right now," Holgorsen admitted. "According to the media experts they've got the best players and they recruit the best players, so it's a combination of a lot of things. Create tradition and build the best facilities in the conference.
"They've got a nice place in the best location. There is nothing we can do about that. We've got to keep building and try and catch up," Holgorsen added. "From a recruiting standpoint we've got to build better stuff. And we are. We're adding things every year."
Exactly what West Virginia is planning in the near future will be unveiled by WVU Director of Athletics Shane Lyons on Thursday morning as part of his comprehensive facilities master plan unveiling.
* Holgorsen also was asked about the NFL's move to full-time referees, robbing the conference of former coordinator of officials Walt Anderson.
The WVU coach said he's in favor of employing full-time football referees on the NCAA level.
"We took a step in the right direction as a conference by hiring a full-time guy," he said. "Greg (Burks) coming in as a full-time guy is a step in the right direction from (the coaches') standpoint. It probably needs to be an NCAA directive. These guys need to make more money, but who is going to pay them?"
Holgorsen was also asked if he believes officials need to be held more accountable for their actions and decisions during games.
"I think they should talk to the media," he replied. "I don't know if all of them should but the lead guy should. I can't talk about it because I get fined. Well, let them talk about it if they screw something up. We're held accountable for what we do. Why wouldn't they be held accountable for what they do?
* Finally, Holgorsen offered his opinion on the Will Grier for Heisman campaign WVU's Athletic Communications Office began earlier this month.
"I just approved it," he said. "I didn't embrace it, but I think he can handle it. I've seen him for two years now and I know what he's about. I know his mental makeup, his maturity level and if anybody can handle it he can handle it. If he couldn't, I wouldn't have approved it."
* The fall training camp schedule was sent out to members of the media last Friday afternoon. Holgorsen is scheduled to meet with media members on the practice field early Sunday evening before the team begins practicing.
The coach also will be available for a media briefing on Thursday at lunchtime and then again on Sunday evening. Assistant coaches and players will be made available throughout next week.
The first day of classes for the fall semester at WVU is Wednesday, Aug. 15, and this year's WVU Fan Day will take place on Sunday, Aug. 19, inside the Caperton Indoor Practice Facility.
West Virginia opens its season on Saturday, Sept. 1, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, against Tennessee. It will be the first-ever meeting between these two historic grid programs.
CBS will televise the game nationally at 3:30 p.m.
There was nothing wrong. The senior safety wasn't in trouble or anything, but the news West Virginia's fifth-year defensive coordinator and safeties coach Matt Caponi was about to deliver sent a jolt of electricity through his body anyway.
"We're switching your position," Gibson began.
Another switch, Askew-Henry thought to himself?
One of Pennsylvania's top defensive prospects in 2013 came to West Virginia as a corner and became an ESPN.com freshman All-American in 2014 as a free safety.
Then last year necessity forced Gibson to move Askew-Henry closer to the line of scrimmage at bandit safety to compensate for injuries and also to get promising freshman Kenny Robinson on the field.
Now, with spur safety Kyzir White off to the NFL, Gibson had an even bigger void to fill this spring. Who is going to play spur, the position in West Virginia's defense that requires a unique blend of athleticism, toughness and size?
This guy has to be big enough and tough enough to hold his ground against tackles, guards and fullbacks at the line of scrimmage on first and second down and also be nimble and athletic enough on third down to cover slot receivers.
They don't make these guys every day like they do lost golf balls, which is why the last three (Kyzir White, KJ Dillon and Terence Garvin) have gone on to the NFL.
Nevertheless, Askew-Henry was their obvious choice.
"I've always been cool with them, no matter where I played," Askew-Henry said recently out in Frisco, Texas, for Big 12 Media Days. "I'll play anywhere. Wherever they need me at the best …"
Spur safety is clearly where Askew-Henry is needed this year. He said playing spur sort of reminds him of his high school days back in Aliquippa where he was asked to line up just about anywhere on the field and be an athlete and a playmaker.
That is what Kyzir White did last year for the Mountaineers.
"I love playing spur because you get to move around," he explained. "You get to blitz, play man and you aren't standing still the whole game."
Askew-Henry admits there were times last year when West Virginia's defense was caught standing still. The Mountaineers gave up 31.5 points and 445.5 yards per game, including a disturbing 204.2 yards per game on the ground.
Two hundred yards per game on the ground is just not going to cut it this year if West Virginia wants to fulfill its yearly preseason goal of becoming Big 12 champions.
Askew-Henry admits last year's defensive struggles were a combination of things.
"I feel like last year we just didn't have enough leadership and enough fight in us," he explained. "We didn't have anybody stepping up when it was time to step up. There were a lot of selfish players last year, including myself, just selfish tendencies like, 'I've got to worry about this play. I've got to worry about what I've got to do.'
"This year it's a lot different," he continued. "We're making sure everybody is bought in from the ones, the twos and the threes. We're making sure everyone is on board this year."
There are some new guys along for the ride.
Some player swapping has left West Virginia with much more size up front, a 300-plus-pounder at nose in USC transfer Kenny Bigelow Jr. and athletic 271-pound outside pass rusher Jabril Robinson from Clemson.
Askew-Henry sees both of those guys helping the defense this fall.
"We're big up front, got some depth there now and I'm loving it," Askew-Henry said. "This is the biggest line I've seen since my freshman year."
It's no accident Askew-Henry mentioned his freshman year, 2014, which also happens to be the best defense veteran coach Dana Holgorsen has fielded at West Virginia and probably the best since the 2007 unit helped the Mountaineers to a Tostitos Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma, which is also the last time West Virginia has defeated the Sooners.
Bigelow Jr. was a former five-star performer from nearby Wilmington, Delaware, who went out to Hollywood seeking his star only to return back East looking to revive his once promising career.
Robinson chose to take a clearer path to the NFL by coming to WVU instead of backing up the best defensive line in the country at Clemson. If not for those three guys in front of him, Christian Wilkins, Clelin Ferrell and Austin Bryant, Robinson would still be hunting quarterbacks in the ACC.
Now he's going to do a little hunting this fall in West Virginia, which is always a great place to do some hunting."They work," Askew-Henry said of those two. "Kenny comes in and he puts a little extra time in, just like Jabril. Nobody is going to come in and do a Mike Joseph workout and think it's easy. It was tough for them the first couple of weeks, but they've gotten used to it."
Something Askew-Henry hasn't gotten used to is all of the shade being thrown on West Virginia's defense this summer.
Every "yeah, but" regarding this year's West Virginia football team begins with the defense. Yahoo Sports' Pete Thamel in his recent full-body take down of Big 12 football focused a couple of his barbs on West Virginia's defense, which he wrote could be the Achilles heel for Will Grier's Heisman candidacy.
"Who is the league's biggest star? It's probably West Virginia's Will Grier, the league's only frontline returning quarterback and best NFL prospect," Thamel opined.
Then Thamel took a shot at the legs.
"But optimism should slow down because its defense can't slow anyone, as the Mountaineers gave up 31.5 points and 445 yards per game," he wrote.
There are those numbers again for Askew-Henry and the rest of the guys on West Virginia's defense to read over and over before they take to the practice field later this week for the beginning of fall training camp.
"Everybody knows about the offense," Askew-Henry noted. "Everybody talks about the offense and the defense we're just getting sick of everybody not giving us as much credit. Going into this season, I'm a senior, I've got other leaders with me like (outside linebacker) David Long, and we've got a chip on our shoulders. We're trying to do it big this year."
Ah, the old chip-on-the-shoulder theme for self-motivation.
Fear and anger are two of the biggest motivating factors in athletics, a former player and coach once told me. Fear of losing your starting position or having your role reduced and anger for being disrespected.
Both can be equally lethal.
In the years when West Virginia has been really successful, the anger for being disrespected has usually been the team's No. 1 motivating factor. And this group of defensive players clearly feels disrespected.
"We've got that chip on our shoulder and I still feel like we've got that chip on our shoulder, especially on the defensive side coming off of last year," Askew-Henry explained. "I feel like if the defense does well this year we're going to have a real successful team."
A lot of this is sitting on the shoulders of West Virginia's new spur safety, Dravon Askew-Henry, one of the oldest and most experienced players in the Big 12.
If he performs well, and West Virginia's defense performs well, then the combination of an effective defense and a high-powered offense could see West Virginia playing in Arlington, Texas, in early December.
At least that's the team's goal, as it is every year.
Briefly:
* Some Dana Holgorsen Big 12 media days leftovers. Holgorsen was asked about Oklahoma's recent dominance in the Big 12 and what other teams in the league have to do to catch them.
"They've got the best players; they're very well coached; they have a historic program," Holgorsen said. "They have a lot of trophies they look at so they expect to win. The talent gap is there. I think everybody needs to grow and improve.
"They're the favorite. They're the ones that have been winning it," he added. "Coach (Bob) Stoops had done a hell of a job there for 18 years, whatever it was, and Lincoln (Riley) took that whole program and kept it going. They didn't have any turnover and they should keep it going."
If you are a West Virginia football fan you are inclined to wonder of Oklahoma is the new Penn State. The Nittany Lions' dominance over the Mountaineers lasted nearly three full decades before West Virginia finally ended Penn State's long winning streak in 1984.
The Nittany Lions always dominated regional recruiting just as Oklahoma is dominating recruiting in the Big 12 right now.
"They are recruiting at a high level right now," Holgorsen admitted. "According to the media experts they've got the best players and they recruit the best players, so it's a combination of a lot of things. Create tradition and build the best facilities in the conference.
"They've got a nice place in the best location. There is nothing we can do about that. We've got to keep building and try and catch up," Holgorsen added. "From a recruiting standpoint we've got to build better stuff. And we are. We're adding things every year."
Exactly what West Virginia is planning in the near future will be unveiled by WVU Director of Athletics Shane Lyons on Thursday morning as part of his comprehensive facilities master plan unveiling.
* Holgorsen also was asked about the NFL's move to full-time referees, robbing the conference of former coordinator of officials Walt Anderson.
The WVU coach said he's in favor of employing full-time football referees on the NCAA level.
"We took a step in the right direction as a conference by hiring a full-time guy," he said. "Greg (Burks) coming in as a full-time guy is a step in the right direction from (the coaches') standpoint. It probably needs to be an NCAA directive. These guys need to make more money, but who is going to pay them?"
Holgorsen was also asked if he believes officials need to be held more accountable for their actions and decisions during games.
"I think they should talk to the media," he replied. "I don't know if all of them should but the lead guy should. I can't talk about it because I get fined. Well, let them talk about it if they screw something up. We're held accountable for what we do. Why wouldn't they be held accountable for what they do?
* Finally, Holgorsen offered his opinion on the Will Grier for Heisman campaign WVU's Athletic Communications Office began earlier this month.
"I just approved it," he said. "I didn't embrace it, but I think he can handle it. I've seen him for two years now and I know what he's about. I know his mental makeup, his maturity level and if anybody can handle it he can handle it. If he couldn't, I wouldn't have approved it."
* The fall training camp schedule was sent out to members of the media last Friday afternoon. Holgorsen is scheduled to meet with media members on the practice field early Sunday evening before the team begins practicing.
The coach also will be available for a media briefing on Thursday at lunchtime and then again on Sunday evening. Assistant coaches and players will be made available throughout next week.
The first day of classes for the fall semester at WVU is Wednesday, Aug. 15, and this year's WVU Fan Day will take place on Sunday, Aug. 19, inside the Caperton Indoor Practice Facility.
West Virginia opens its season on Saturday, Sept. 1, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, against Tennessee. It will be the first-ever meeting between these two historic grid programs.
CBS will televise the game nationally at 3:30 p.m.
Players Mentioned
S
/ Football
DL
/ Football
QB
/ Football
DL
/ Football
S
/ Football
S
/ FootballUnited Bank Playbook: Colorado Preview
Wednesday, November 05
Houston Game Cinematic Recap
Tuesday, November 04
Jacob Barrick | Nov. 4
Tuesday, November 04
Landen Livingston | Nov. 4
Tuesday, November 04
