MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University assistant coaches met with the media on Saturday, Aug. 11, 2018, at the Milan Puskar Center Team Room.
 


Associate Head Coach (Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers) Tony Gibson
 
On sophomore safety Kenny Robinson
We knew when we recruited him, whether it be at wideout or linebacker or corner or safety, we knew he'd be able to do something. We had him in camp, and he was probably the best athlete we had in the whole camp.
 
On newcomers dealing with the fatigue of camp
This right now – compared to what it was 10 years ago – they had their air mattresses, and they'd be on the couches in the players' lounge, and they couldn't move. Right now, the thing I like about these kids – what changed the whole game were the summers. When we're allowed to hold them accountable in the summertime, we're allowed to work with them a little bit in the summertime, so you don't need all the banging in August. And then, obviously, there's the safety reasons as well.
 
On dealing with mental fatigue
That's what is harder with the young guys and new guys. When they make that jump from a junior college or from a high school, it's getting them over that four-month mental and physical aspect of the game. When you're playing fast-paced, and when you're in our league where it's 90 snaps a week, it wears on you.
 
On learning about the defense on full-contact days
This will be the second one we've had now in nine days. You can throw a lot of live situations at them. And the key for us – we like it as coaches because of the teaching aspect. When you're banging kids every single day, they get caught up in that part of it. They're taking a physical beating, and you can't teach and keep installing, installing, installing. You're constantly fixing things. Until you're able to slow it down and walk them through it and do it without pads and making sure they're in the right spot, because anybody in shorts can say, 'I could've had that', well, we can see what you're seeing on the film. The key to that is that we have to do a great job as coaches. We get a lot more walk-through time; we get a lot more meeting time, so, we like that, and we'll give that up for the physical time.
 
Assistant Coach (Cornerbacks) Doug Belk
 
On who has stuck out at cornerback during fall camp
It's hard to say. All the guys have done well, developed well over the summer and have gotten better. Every day, there's always somebody different or something different that we're working on. Some guys have better days than others. We're just trying to get them to put together consistent days. Overall, Hakeem is the veteran guy of the group. He's not only going to be a junior this year, he's going to be the only guy who's played significant reps. So, he's the guy that everybody else is following right now. The young guys – (sophomore) Derrek (Pitts Jr.), (redshirt sophomore) Jake (Long), (redshirt junior) Keith (Washington) and (redshirt junior) Josh Norwood – are doing a good job, too.
 
On if having an inexperienced group is problematic
I don't think so. We all work hard, we all put the work in. If guys want to play, then they compete hard. Whoever does the best, then that's who we're going to go to. We're going to try and put our best 11 guys on the field, and I'm excited about the group we have. I think we'll do well.
 
On the competition at cornerback
The more guys, the better. The more guys that are capable of playing on Saturdays for us is better, because we have heightened competition. Everyone wants to play. So, overall, that's just a good thing for our room.
 
Assistant Coach (Defensive Line) Bruce Tall
 
On the progress the defensive line has made during camp
I think we have a pretty good group; they're working together, they're trying to help each other, trying to mesh together. It's good connection right now.
 
On how the defensive line has stacked up against the offensive line
Our (offensive) line is really good and really talented. They'll make us a better (defensive) line, because they are very talented.
 
On both sides of the ball making each other better
It's very competitive, there's no question. It's a good battle, that's probably the best way to put it. It's a good battle.
 
On how the defensive line can complement the secondary
We have to. That's one of the things that we talked about. We talked about being really solid and stopping the run; that'll be our first deal. But we want to be active in the backfield, we want to be more disruptive. I don't know if you can get caught up in the numericals, where you have to have a certain amount of sacks, but we want to affect the quarterback as much as we possibly can.  
 


Assistant Coach (Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks) Jake Spavital
 
On if he's more in-sync with redshirt senior quarterback Will Grier this year
He's doing great. Year two is so much easier for me, in terms of installation. For instance, today, we just got out of a walkthrough, and when you're hitting these back-to-back practices, you don't have much time to install. You're trying to get corrections done from yesterday and move on to a walkthrough, where I didn't get to about five concepts. Now, I can just tell him to go out there, and they go out and execute it. It's just a lot of film study, a lot of continuity with just he and I. I like where he's at. He challenges, at least, a receiver each day. He knows he's good with throwing with Gary and David. He has a great relationship with those guys. Now, he's seeing what (redshirt sophomore wide receiver) T.J. Simmons is about, what (senior wide receiver Dominique) Dom (Maiden) is about and what these young receivers are about. We'll see where he goes from there. It's been great. I've also been challenging him in terms of game management, situational football and proper run-checks. We make it hard on him. We script up each play thoroughly. We try to make it to where it's as game-like as possible, and I think he's handling it great. When you have an experienced quarterback like that, you have to find ways to challenge him. I think we've been doing a good job so far.
 
On how challenging redshirt senior quarterback Will Grier helps the offense
It just helps us to put our offense in the best position that we can. I've said it a ton of times that you can't call perfect plays. You're going to call plays in perfect spots, but it's up to you to train that quarterback to know that this is where we need to go with the ball or the run game or to just get those guys in the best position to have a chance to succeed. I think that we've been doing a lot of that stuff with Will to just challenger him to make those plays. There's been a lot of great dialogue in the meeting rooms, and I encourage that. I think that open dialogue is helping out these younger quarterbacks to play.
 
On giving multiple play options for redshirt senior quarterback Will Grier to call for different game situations
He's going to have all those options. What we've been doing now is that we have not just put the ball down and played. We've been doing nothing but situations of games. We've been doing third downs, and where we're at when we in a certain field position. Do we get it into field goal range? Do we go for the first down? It's all about being efficient and taking points and what's going to be the higher percentage play. With Will last year, you'd want him to get to the check-down, but if you had a third-and-10 call, then he's going to try and get something for 10 yards. Let's see how the defense is playing you, and what's the efficiency of him being accurate and getting upfield? Those are the things that we have to be teaching him. They're responding well to it right now.
 
Assistant Coach (Receivers) Tyron Carrier
 
On where the receiver group is at
The veteran guys are hitting on all cylinders right now. I'm having a tough job of keeping them challenged, so to speak. We're at the point now where they know what the other guy is doing and how he's supposed to do it, which is a big milestone to where we were last year. Young guys, they're doing a better job because the older guys are showing them the way, and I love that the older guys are helping them out so much.
 
On how important it is to get newcomers acclimated to the offense
They're getting better every day. The thing is, we have a couple more practices, and I'm giving them different challenges every day, certain things they need to work on. I spend a lot of time in the meeting room, and those young guys are probably nowhere near used to spending that much time with the film on. But they've bought into it. I step out of the meeting room, and they're in there with the older guys asking questions, learning different types of little tricks to use on the field. They're doing a good job right now; the biggest thing is just getting those guys ready slowly and not trying put too much on them at one time.
 
On how difficult it can be to limit reps for veterans
That's the thing, I have those guys to the point where they don't want to put anything bad on film. So, they know that's their resume, and they're doing everything they have to do and can do to get those younger guys ready so they can step in and be able to do it.
 
Assistant Coach (Tight Ends/Fullbacks) Dan Gerberry
 
On how a tight end is defined in the era of the air raid offense
For us to call what we do or who we are as a unit a tight end, I don't believe that's fair. You can go to a lot of schools in the country, put your hand in the ground and be that attached tight end. You can do that here as well, but you can specialize it in certain places. You can go to certain places and be a fullback, and that's all you do. You can go to certain places and be a wide receiver, and that's who you are. But here, you have to have a unique ability that you can block, run and catch. You have to have the attributes of an offensive lineman, while containing the finesse of a receiver. It's really a unique position that calling it a tight end just isn't fair.
 
On what he refers to his group as
I refer to it, simply, as an h-back. I know that a lot of schools have a different name for it, but we have not labeled it anything. If that times comes, Coach (Dana) Holgorsen will let me know. At this time, I refer to it as an h-back, but whatever it is – tight ends, fullbacks, whatever – I refer to it as an h-back.
 
On if his position group is one of the most versatile positions in football
I don't think there's any doubt, because you have to be long, you have to be heavy but you have to be able to run. You have to have unique traits to play it.