WVU’s Brown Excited For Spring Football Practice To Begin
March 08, 2019 11:29 AM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – When it comes to his team's personnel, West Virginia University football coach Neal Brown admitted Thursday morning that anything he says about his players right now should have an asterisk placed beside it.
That's not because he's being deceptive or misleading but rather because he simply doesn't know.
And he won't know until he sees them on the field practicing and performing.
"No depth chart right now, which I know is going to be disappointing to some of you guys, but there is really nothing to base it off of," Brown said. "When I came here, I told our guys everybody has a clean slate so I have watched very little video.
"I don't think it's fair to the guys on the team that have been working for me to release a depth chart on something that I don't have one practice of evaluation," he added.
Brown told the players that each of them will have 15 practices to put themselves in a position to play in the fall. Then, when fall camp arrives, the signees and any other roster additions will be given the same window to prove if they are capable of playing in the season opener against James Madison on Aug. 31.
Brown listed five things he deems important for his players to understand when spring practice begins on Tuesday, March 19.
One is to establish how they are going to practice. Second is for the coaching staff to properly identify personnel and make sure the right guys are in the right positions.
Third is for the coaching staff to teach the players the fundamentals they need to be successful college players.
"I think spring practice is one of my favorite times as a coach because you don't have a game you are preparing for," Brown mentioned. "It's really about the basics of football."
The fourth item on Brown's list of importance is to teach the players the basic schemes they will be using in all three phases of play. "We're not going to get too extreme as far as what we're going to install," he said.
Finally, Brown wants his players to embrace competition. "Competition in several different ways," he mentioned. "Offense, defense and competition within those rooms."
He did touch on some areas of his team based on initial observations from winter workouts and the limited amount of tape he's watched.
Offensively, Brown believes the strongest position group is running back where established players Kennedy McKoy, Martell Pettaway, Leddie Brown and Alec Sinkfield are returning. Joining that group in the fall is outstanding freshman Tony Mathis from Cedartown, Georgia.
"The competition that we have in that room, quite frankly, needs to come across the board," Brown said. "I think we have four really high-quality guys in that room that are going to compete at a high level all spring. They've had really productive offseasons and really, we'll need to utilize more than one."
The area of biggest concern offensively is center where last year's starter, Matt Jones, has departed and his backup, Jacob Buccigrossi, is out for the spring after undergoing surgery last Friday.
"The center position is something that is really important, and we have to establish a two-deep there," Brown said. "We have some young guys that it's time. They really need to make some moves, guys like Briason Mays, who has had a great winter. Some of those guys have to really come on."
Defensively, Brown noted the scheme change will put an added emphasis on the coaches teaching and the players understanding the concepts of Vic Koenning's defense.
"It's going to be a little bit of a learning curve for some of our defensive guys," Brown said.
They will be utilizing a four-man defensive line, coached by Jordan Lesley, that includes the Bandit position (defensive end) with three linebackers behind them they call the Mike (Middle) Will (Weakside) and Spear (Hybrid).
Assistant coach Blake Seiler will be responsible for the Mikes and Bandits while assistant Al Pogue will handle the Wills and Spears, which Brown says is essentially the team's nickel linebacker.
"When you hear us talking about outside linebackers, that's who we're talking about," Brown said.
Koenning will oversee the safeties while Jahmile Addae will handle the cornerbacks.
Special teams-wise, Brown said the biggest question mark is at punter where Billy Kinney has graduated.
"Who's going to handle the punting duties? We have some people that we feel more than capable, and I look forward to watching them go about competing as we get into that as well," he said.
Of course, the position with the most interest is quarterback, where Oklahoma transfer Austin Kendall was brought in to compete with Camping World Bowl starter Jack Allison and redshirt freshman Trey Lowe III, who is also a member of the WVU baseball team this spring.
Those are the three guys in the program right now competing for the starting job. Brown said there are certain things he's looking for in his quarterback, beginning with his non-negotiables.
"The non-negotiables are character and leadership, so take those out," he explained. "I think the next thing you talk about is accuracy. You have to be accurate. Then you have to be able to keep plays alive."
Brown likened quarterback to the modern point guard today in college basketball who has become more than just a distributor to other players. Today's point guard is creating shots for his teammates and also creating shots for himself.
That's how he has come to view the quarterback position.
"A quarterback being a distributor all the time, that still applies, but he has to create his own because, sometimes, we're not going to block them all. He has to be able to create opportunities for himself," Brown explained.
Does that mean West Virginia is shifting back to the days of the dual-threat quarterback such as Rasheed Marshall, Pat White, Jarrett Brown and Geno Smith?
Not necessarily, Brown says.
"It's like Will (Grier). What did Will jump (at last week's NFL Combine), 34 inches?" he said. "That's pretty athletic. I think if you watched him last year, and this was me just watching as a fan, he did a really good job keeping plays alive. Would he be labeled a dual-threat? I don't know.
"Would you call running plays for them or can they keep plays alive? So I don't think it's necessary for you to actually be a running quarterback and call plays for them, but they have to have pocket awareness, and they have to be athletic enough to move around," he added.
He said his policy on naming a starting quarterback is simple – when it's clear, it's clear.
"I think all three of those guys have really worked hard this winter, and I think they've worked hard to learn schematically what we're trying to do, and they've established themselves as leaders. I'm excited to see how they are going to go out and compete once the balls come out," Brown said.
He detailed a few position changes ahead of spring practice based off of their initial observations during winter conditioning workouts.
Among the most notable: corner Jake Long is moving to safety, redshirt freshman James Gmiter is moving from defensive line to offensive line, outside linebacker JoVanni Stewart is going to the Spear position, outside linebacker Quondarius Qualls is moving from outside linebacker to defensive end and freshman Kerry Martin Jr. is going to begin his Mountaineer career at safety.
"I think that's everybody as far as any kind of position movement," Brown said. "The receiver spots are all going to be in limbo as far as who's playing what position until we get in and watch them."
Brown said several injured guys out last season should be cleared in some manner or form such as outside linebacker Charlie Benton, freshman tight end Mike O'Laughlin and possibly Qualls on a limited basis.
He noted Buccigrossi and senior linebacker Adam Hensley are definitely out.
"Those are all I have off the top of my head," Brown said.
Overall, Brown said the last eight weeks of winter conditioning under veteran strength and conditioning coach Mike Joseph have been very productive.
"For the kids, it's probably been a long eight weeks but for the staff, it's been relatively short just because there are so many things going on," he said. "Really, in the winter we focused on developing competitive character, mental toughness, discipline and team chemistry. Those have been our focus, and I think our guys have made huge strides on that.
"The buy-in has been really high, and that's a credit to the leadership on our football team so far. They've really done what we've asked them to do, and I think everyone, coaches and players, is ready for spring ball," he said.
Spring football practice will conclude with the Gold-Blue Spring Game on Saturday, April 13 at 1 p.m. at Milan Puskar Stadium.
That's not because he's being deceptive or misleading but rather because he simply doesn't know.
And he won't know until he sees them on the field practicing and performing.
"No depth chart right now, which I know is going to be disappointing to some of you guys, but there is really nothing to base it off of," Brown said. "When I came here, I told our guys everybody has a clean slate so I have watched very little video.
"I don't think it's fair to the guys on the team that have been working for me to release a depth chart on something that I don't have one practice of evaluation," he added.
Brown told the players that each of them will have 15 practices to put themselves in a position to play in the fall. Then, when fall camp arrives, the signees and any other roster additions will be given the same window to prove if they are capable of playing in the season opener against James Madison on Aug. 31.
Brown listed five things he deems important for his players to understand when spring practice begins on Tuesday, March 19.
One is to establish how they are going to practice. Second is for the coaching staff to properly identify personnel and make sure the right guys are in the right positions.
Third is for the coaching staff to teach the players the fundamentals they need to be successful college players.
"I think spring practice is one of my favorite times as a coach because you don't have a game you are preparing for," Brown mentioned. "It's really about the basics of football."
The fourth item on Brown's list of importance is to teach the players the basic schemes they will be using in all three phases of play. "We're not going to get too extreme as far as what we're going to install," he said.
Finally, Brown wants his players to embrace competition. "Competition in several different ways," he mentioned. "Offense, defense and competition within those rooms."
He did touch on some areas of his team based on initial observations from winter workouts and the limited amount of tape he's watched.
Offensively, Brown believes the strongest position group is running back where established players Kennedy McKoy, Martell Pettaway, Leddie Brown and Alec Sinkfield are returning. Joining that group in the fall is outstanding freshman Tony Mathis from Cedartown, Georgia.
"The competition that we have in that room, quite frankly, needs to come across the board," Brown said. "I think we have four really high-quality guys in that room that are going to compete at a high level all spring. They've had really productive offseasons and really, we'll need to utilize more than one."
The area of biggest concern offensively is center where last year's starter, Matt Jones, has departed and his backup, Jacob Buccigrossi, is out for the spring after undergoing surgery last Friday.
"The center position is something that is really important, and we have to establish a two-deep there," Brown said. "We have some young guys that it's time. They really need to make some moves, guys like Briason Mays, who has had a great winter. Some of those guys have to really come on."
Defensively, Brown noted the scheme change will put an added emphasis on the coaches teaching and the players understanding the concepts of Vic Koenning's defense.
"It's going to be a little bit of a learning curve for some of our defensive guys," Brown said.
They will be utilizing a four-man defensive line, coached by Jordan Lesley, that includes the Bandit position (defensive end) with three linebackers behind them they call the Mike (Middle) Will (Weakside) and Spear (Hybrid).
Assistant coach Blake Seiler will be responsible for the Mikes and Bandits while assistant Al Pogue will handle the Wills and Spears, which Brown says is essentially the team's nickel linebacker.
"When you hear us talking about outside linebackers, that's who we're talking about," Brown said.
Koenning will oversee the safeties while Jahmile Addae will handle the cornerbacks.
Special teams-wise, Brown said the biggest question mark is at punter where Billy Kinney has graduated.
"Who's going to handle the punting duties? We have some people that we feel more than capable, and I look forward to watching them go about competing as we get into that as well," he said.
Of course, the position with the most interest is quarterback, where Oklahoma transfer Austin Kendall was brought in to compete with Camping World Bowl starter Jack Allison and redshirt freshman Trey Lowe III, who is also a member of the WVU baseball team this spring.
Those are the three guys in the program right now competing for the starting job. Brown said there are certain things he's looking for in his quarterback, beginning with his non-negotiables.
"The non-negotiables are character and leadership, so take those out," he explained. "I think the next thing you talk about is accuracy. You have to be accurate. Then you have to be able to keep plays alive."
Brown likened quarterback to the modern point guard today in college basketball who has become more than just a distributor to other players. Today's point guard is creating shots for his teammates and also creating shots for himself.
That's how he has come to view the quarterback position.
"A quarterback being a distributor all the time, that still applies, but he has to create his own because, sometimes, we're not going to block them all. He has to be able to create opportunities for himself," Brown explained.
Does that mean West Virginia is shifting back to the days of the dual-threat quarterback such as Rasheed Marshall, Pat White, Jarrett Brown and Geno Smith?
Not necessarily, Brown says.
"It's like Will (Grier). What did Will jump (at last week's NFL Combine), 34 inches?" he said. "That's pretty athletic. I think if you watched him last year, and this was me just watching as a fan, he did a really good job keeping plays alive. Would he be labeled a dual-threat? I don't know.
"Would you call running plays for them or can they keep plays alive? So I don't think it's necessary for you to actually be a running quarterback and call plays for them, but they have to have pocket awareness, and they have to be athletic enough to move around," he added.
He said his policy on naming a starting quarterback is simple – when it's clear, it's clear.
"I think all three of those guys have really worked hard this winter, and I think they've worked hard to learn schematically what we're trying to do, and they've established themselves as leaders. I'm excited to see how they are going to go out and compete once the balls come out," Brown said.
He detailed a few position changes ahead of spring practice based off of their initial observations during winter conditioning workouts.
Among the most notable: corner Jake Long is moving to safety, redshirt freshman James Gmiter is moving from defensive line to offensive line, outside linebacker JoVanni Stewart is going to the Spear position, outside linebacker Quondarius Qualls is moving from outside linebacker to defensive end and freshman Kerry Martin Jr. is going to begin his Mountaineer career at safety.
"I think that's everybody as far as any kind of position movement," Brown said. "The receiver spots are all going to be in limbo as far as who's playing what position until we get in and watch them."
Brown said several injured guys out last season should be cleared in some manner or form such as outside linebacker Charlie Benton, freshman tight end Mike O'Laughlin and possibly Qualls on a limited basis.
He noted Buccigrossi and senior linebacker Adam Hensley are definitely out.
"Those are all I have off the top of my head," Brown said.
Overall, Brown said the last eight weeks of winter conditioning under veteran strength and conditioning coach Mike Joseph have been very productive.
"For the kids, it's probably been a long eight weeks but for the staff, it's been relatively short just because there are so many things going on," he said. "Really, in the winter we focused on developing competitive character, mental toughness, discipline and team chemistry. Those have been our focus, and I think our guys have made huge strides on that.
"The buy-in has been really high, and that's a credit to the leadership on our football team so far. They've really done what we've asked them to do, and I think everyone, coaches and players, is ready for spring ball," he said.
Spring football practice will conclude with the Gold-Blue Spring Game on Saturday, April 13 at 1 p.m. at Milan Puskar Stadium.
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