MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University football coach Dana Holgorsen addressed members of the media on Sunday, Aug. 5, 2018, at the Steve Antoline Family Football Practice Field.
 
Opening Statement
Well, summer's over. I just finished my last round of golf. The good news is our summer workouts are over. Basically, the first two practices that we've had are just an extension of our summer workouts. So, I don't really need any questions about how the team looks or anything like that, we're going to find that out here in a few minutes. It's day three, and we've got pads on. We're excited to see what these guys do here today.
 
On preliminary testing of the players during the first two practices
(Assistant Athletic Director for Strength and Conditioning) Mike (Joseph) has his own testing situation that he does, which I really don't look at very much, to be honest with you. We work exclusively with them from a football standpoint for the whole month of June. I made coaches get out of here in July; they don't need to be sick of us. We're never going to get sick of them, but they don't need to be sick of us when this starts. The first two days we had were basically the same thing we did in June. They seem to be in good shape. It was a three-hour practice as opposed to a 30-minute practice, which is all we can have in June. They had a lot of retention. From a testing point of view, coaches like that there's a lot of retention – even the young kids, new guys that we're trying to evaluate and all that. Shoot, those guys know where they're going, and that's going to make it easier to find out if they're going to help us and play right away or not. In the old days, you taught these guys what to do right now. Now, we're not really teaching them a whole lot of what to do. It's more about their technique and seeing if they can handle the competition.
 
On what makes this season different than previous seasons
Maturity, more than anything. I'm much more comfortable with what I'm doing. I go back to last year, being in a little different role last year, this conversation could last a long time as far as we weren't exactly where we wanted to be last year at this point in time. I didn't know how game day was going to go. For me, it was just because it was a different role and all that. We've got a lot of continuity with the coaching staff. We've got a lot of older, mature players. Just from an overall maturity point of view, I think this team is light years ahead of many of the teams I've had since I've been here.
 
On what needs to be accomplished during fall camp
That's a tricky question. There's all kinds of things that we want to do. It doesn't matter what side of the ball that we're focused on or talking about. The biggest thing is health and continuity. The NCAA has scaled back on what we can do, how we practice, what kind of practices we can have and how long we have. I'm glad we have a mature team based on not having as many practices available to us. That should maintain health as well. The biggest thing is that we've got to get lucky. The ball has to bounce our way. I want that to happen in camp.
 
On if having less practices limits what can be accomplished
They took away some of the total practices that we have, but they gave us some morning walk-throughs, and they gave us summer as well. A lot of the stuff that we were teaching came in working with over the summer and some of the morning walk-throughs and stuff like that. One of the compromises was the amount of time that you had getting ready for your first game is going to get reduced, the amount of practice days you're going to have gets reduced, but you get a whole lot of other stuff that we didn't used to have. I'm excited to see the physicality and the technique with pads and stuff like that. We haven't been able to see that since spring. From where we're at mentally, I feel pretty good about that.
 
On if the new redshirt rule helps in the evaluation of newcomers
Absolutely. We may get through three or four weeks of practice and get into that first day and say that we still don't know if he can play. There's a big difference between practicing out here and when the lights come on out there. Sometimes you can figure it out, sometimes you guess wrong and sometimes it takes guys two months or so to mature and be able to help us. I think that redshirt rule is one, awesome for the kids, but it helps us as coaches to the point where it's not just a do-or-die situation where we either make a decision now or later. There's a bunch of different scenarios that are going to play into it. One of the biggest things that I like as a head coach is to keep the attention of the scout teams. I can say, 'Look, you're on the scout team right now, but we are constantly evaluating you.' If kids do what (senior wide receiver) David Sills (V) did, which is go to scout team and play really well, then we're going to pull you up to the 'varsity team'. I probably would've done that to (redshirt junior linebacker) David Long (Jr.) after we couldn't block him for about eight weeks when he was getting redshirted. We all know the (junior running back Martell) Pettaway story as well – somebody gets hurt, and we need a body. Now, there isn't a two-hour conversation with a kid and his parents about, 'Hey look, we're going to burn your redshirt, but we really, really, really need you.' It's just good all the way around for players and coaches.
 
On redshirt junior linebacker David Long Jr. and others returning from injuries
He looks the same. I don't even know who else was hurt. (Senior linebacker Quondarius) Qualls and (redshirt sophomore linebacker Brendan) Ferns are out, but there's another deal. Those guys are going to come back with about four weeks left to play, and guess what – we're going to go ahead and play them. Ferns is not even going to need a redshirt. He's going to have about 18 doctorate degrees before he leaves here, but a guy like Qualls, who's a fourth-year senior, he can come back and play in the last game, and we'll still be able to use him next year. So, it's a great deal for him. Those two guys are out. Other than that, everybody is healthy and ready to go.
 
On the importance of the first depth chart of the season
I don't even know if I have a depth chart. Did we put one out? I think we do that because we have to. How many times have I said, 'I love putting out depth charts'? I just told the guys in there, we have a group one punt team, a group two punt team and a group three punt team. So, I won't use depth charts. With all of these young kids and new kids, they have to understand that they may have people in front of them, but work hard and try to beat them out. I don't look at depth charts until a week before a game. I don't talk about redshirting – it'll be different now – but I don't talk about redshirting until a week before the first game.
 
On the team's tough final stretch of the season
I don't know our schedule; I think we play Kansas State in our first Big 12 game, I think. I know the first three nonconference games, especially one against Tennessee in Charlotte. That's all I've looked at at this point. It does us no good to look at that. It does us no good to think about the Big 12; you're playing everybody every year. When you play them, it doesn't matter. You have to play them all, so it doesn't matter to us. Our analysts get a week ahead, but coaches and players do not get a week ahead. We'll start talking about Tennessee probably two weeks before the first game, and then we'll start talking about Youngstown after that.
 
On any additions or subtractions to the roster
I don't know, nothing that comes to mind.
 
On if some players tend to shine during the first few padded practices
Yeah. I don't know who they are, we'll figure it out. They are going to be charging through here in about six minutes, and I'm anxious to watch. The older guys, we know where they're at. But the newer guys, you can run around in shorts and may look good, but you put a helmet on and you may look bad.
 
On any changes in working with assistant coach (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks) Jake Spavital compared to last season
Not really. There's a lot of similarities and a few differences with what I did and how he did it. We're merging the two, and there are some things that we looked at and understand we have to get better at. Between me, him, the other coaches, and probably (redshirt senior quarterback) Will (Grier) more than anything, we've made some changes and some adjustments that I think are going to be beneficial. It's year two with Will, it's year two with Jake, it's year two of them being together, it's year two of me in my role, it's year two with (assistant coach (offensive line) Joe) Wick (Wickline). Year two is always better, and this will be better than what we saw last year.
 
On if redshirt senior quarterback Will Grier's hand is fully healed
Yeah. He was fine in January.
 
On how he and assistant coach (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks) Jake Spavital split time with redshirt senior quarterback Will Grier
He coaches him; I just sit there and try to help. If they want to bounce ideas off me, then they can bounce ideas off me. I coach Will from behind, I don't want to say something that contradicts what (Spavital) says. I hear everything, I'm not going to question anything. It's Jake's job to coach Will, and he's doing a great job with that. Those two have an unbelievable relationship. Their working relationship is really, really good, their off-the-field relationship is really good. It's just ironic that they're both married, they both have young children. They get along well.
 
On the coaching staff's general theme for fall camp
We understand continuity, and we appreciate continuity. It's becoming a rare thing in college football, whether it's an entire new coaching staff or, we've had to deal with replacing a whole side, or six position coaches or whatever it is. We understand, we know and we appreciate continuity, and we understand that we have a very mature group. There's a lot of excitement within us. There's been times where I didn't really want vacation to end; we were all excited when vacation ended. We were all ready to get to work.
 
On how to keep the team humble
You better be old. If you have immature people, then that's almost impossible. We all understand expectations. For me, there are expectations every year, I've been around long enough to understand that. For young coaches and a whole team, you better have some strong leaders that understand how to handle that, and we do. We have a dozen or so old guys that I feel really good about, and they'll have a very strong presence, and they are going to make sure this team does what they need to do.
 
On veteran players understanding the big picture
I've had a lot of talks with them and all that; all we're focused on is game one. With that said, we understand it's a long, long, long season, so get ready to do things the right way for a long time because four months goes quick, but there's a lot that happens in four months.
 
On redshirt sophomore kicker Evan Staley
Well, he's athletic, and he has a really good mindset. The talent level is there; he has really developed himself into a really good kicker. He's our guy, and from a maturity standpoint and athletic standpoint, he's where you want him to be.