Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
Full Spring Benefits Sophomore Running Back CJ Donaldson
May 11, 2023 01:38 PM | Football, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Running back CJ Donaldson Jr. credits the WVU athletic training and strength and conditioning staffs for him being able to compete in spring football drills this year.
He wasn't sure that was going to happen after suffering a season-ending lower leg injury in the TCU loss on Saturday, Oct. 29. Donaldson said he wasn't supposed to be walking until late January and cleared for running until the end of the spring.
However, the running back managed to participate in all 15 spring practices and got eight carries for 36 yards and a touchdown in the Gold-Blue Spring Game. Don't sleep on the value of that for Donaldson's development.
"I want to give a big shout out to our strength staff and our training staff," he said recently. "They prepared me very well to be able to play (in the spring game)."
Getting Donaldson out on the field was a huge victory for coach Neal Brown because Donaldson's experience as a running back consists of just seven college football games and 87 carries.
That's it.
Donaldson came to WVU last fall as a tight end/wide receiver after starring at Gulliver Prep in Pinecrest, Florida. There, he caught 96 passes for 1,409 yards and 19 touchdowns during his junior and seasons, helping his high school team to a 9-2 record and a berth in the Florida 4A state regional finals his senior season.
Recruiting services listed the 6-foot-2, 239-pounder as a tight end and assigned him three-star status.
But it took only a couple of fall practices for Brown to realize that Donaldson could be a five-star runner with the football in his hands. That led to an immediate position switch and carries in West Virginia's season opener at Pitt.
His first collegiate run covered 44 yards in a debut that included 125 total yards and a touchdown on only seven attempts. However, Donaldson admits his true introduction to college football came a week later against Kansas.
"My first game against Pitt, I didn't really get hit that much," he explained. "My second game against Kansas is when I kind of had that wakeup call like, 'Okay, at running back you get hit a lot.' That was one different thing where 11 people were actually attacking me. I was not used to getting hit by D-linemen. I was used to getting hit by linebackers, safeties and stuff like that."
He got 13 carries for only 48 yards against the Jayhawks before rebounding to rush for 101 yards and three touchdowns in West Virginia's blowout victory against Towson. He added 106 tough yards on a season-high 23 carries a week later at Virginia Tech and went into the Texas game ranked seventh in the country in yards per carry (7.31), 11th in total touchdowns (six) and 28th in rushing yardage (380).
Then his season began to go sideways when he absorbed a blow to the head in the third quarter of West Virginia's loss in Austin. It was a scary scene that included Donaldson being taken off the field in a neck brace strapped on a cart.
He said it was one of the few times that his mother wasn't at a game to watch him in person.
"Looking at how people reacted to it - because a lot of people didn't know what was going on watching it on TV - that was very scary, especially for my mom because that's one of the first games she missed, and she never misses a game," he admitted. "She was calling and wanting to know what was going on."
The injury forced Donaldson to miss the Baylor game, but he returned 21 days later against Texas Tech. A week later, the Miami resident was having his best all-around game of the season against TCU when he hurt his leg during the fourth quarter in a contest the Mountaineers eventually lost to college football's runner-up.
That put Donaldson out for the remaining games against Iowa State, Oklahoma, Kansas State and Oklahoma State, and that's why getting him back to compete in the spring was so vitally important to his development as a running back and West Virginia's development as a team.
Brown wanted Donaldson to experience live contact work so he could learn how to properly absorb hits, deliver the blow to tacklers and, yes, how to fall to the ground. There is art to these things.
CJ explains.
"I'm not used to being hit low a lot and I'm learning those things of how to brace my body and protect my body," he said. "Coach (Chad) Scott has been teaching me ways to protect myself by applying force instead of allowing the force to hit me. It makes sense applying force to the defender and don't take the hit – deliver it.
"Coach Scott says, 'Fall – get down. Just get down.' That's what he tells me," Donaldson added. "Those little things have helped me protect my body and continue playing this game that I love."
Donaldson is also learning how to make full-speed cuts and keying linebackers, which he admits requires great eye control. That's something the coaches have spent lots of time this spring reminding him to do.
"Eye control is a big part of our game," he noted. "To be able to be a running back in this program, you have to have great eye control, but I don't want to give up all of our schemes and all of our tricks. One person who really helped me a lot was Jaylen Anderson. I think he probably has the best vision in our room. He knows how to make some great cuts, and I've just been watching his game, just critiquing it and taking a little bit and applying it to my downhill running game."
Elementary things such as not tipping off plays are easy in Brown's scheme, according to Donaldson, because their alignments are usually very similar.
"I hear a few of our linebackers say, 'Y'all, never changed alignment so we never know what play y'all are running,'" Donaldson said.
You might see CJ lined up occasionally in other areas on the field because of his outstanding ball skills. The sophomore says that aspect of the offense is still to be determined.
"When we came back from our break in December, coach Brown wanted me to focus just on running back schemes because I don't have that many reps at running back," he said. "I played seven games and of those, only five full games. He wanted me to work on my technique at that position to get a natural feel for it to where I can be more comfortable back there instead of nervous."
These are some of the things to keep an eye on this fall when Donaldson is on the field. Something else to look for is a new number. CJ has exchanged No. 12 for No. 4, the digit he always wore while growing up.
That's the number that actually made up his high school nickname, "C4."
"I've been wearing No. 4 since little league, and that's just the number I've always wanted to wear," he said. "My little nickname, besides CJ, is C4 because I always ran go-routes, which is technically a bomb. Those two played hand-in-hand."
He said his two primary goals between now and fall camp are improving his balance and speed. He also wants to take care of his body so he can get through an entire football season.
"I remember when I first got hurt I kind of took it for granted, playing this sport. I'm not used to being hurt playing receiver all my life," he admitted. "I'm used to catching the ball and running out of bounds.
"Throughout (the rehabilitation) process it made me hungrier and made me want to play more each and every day," he concluded.
Season tickets for WVU's 2023 campaign, including exciting home games against Pitt (Sept. 16), Texas Tech (Sept. 23), BYU (Nov. 4) and Cincinnati (Nov. 18) are currently on sale through the Mountaineer Ticket Office and can be purchased online via WVUGAME.com.
He wasn't sure that was going to happen after suffering a season-ending lower leg injury in the TCU loss on Saturday, Oct. 29. Donaldson said he wasn't supposed to be walking until late January and cleared for running until the end of the spring.
However, the running back managed to participate in all 15 spring practices and got eight carries for 36 yards and a touchdown in the Gold-Blue Spring Game. Don't sleep on the value of that for Donaldson's development.
"I want to give a big shout out to our strength staff and our training staff," he said recently. "They prepared me very well to be able to play (in the spring game)."
Getting Donaldson out on the field was a huge victory for coach Neal Brown because Donaldson's experience as a running back consists of just seven college football games and 87 carries.
That's it.
Donaldson came to WVU last fall as a tight end/wide receiver after starring at Gulliver Prep in Pinecrest, Florida. There, he caught 96 passes for 1,409 yards and 19 touchdowns during his junior and seasons, helping his high school team to a 9-2 record and a berth in the Florida 4A state regional finals his senior season.
Recruiting services listed the 6-foot-2, 239-pounder as a tight end and assigned him three-star status.
But it took only a couple of fall practices for Brown to realize that Donaldson could be a five-star runner with the football in his hands. That led to an immediate position switch and carries in West Virginia's season opener at Pitt.
His first collegiate run covered 44 yards in a debut that included 125 total yards and a touchdown on only seven attempts. However, Donaldson admits his true introduction to college football came a week later against Kansas.
"My first game against Pitt, I didn't really get hit that much," he explained. "My second game against Kansas is when I kind of had that wakeup call like, 'Okay, at running back you get hit a lot.' That was one different thing where 11 people were actually attacking me. I was not used to getting hit by D-linemen. I was used to getting hit by linebackers, safeties and stuff like that."
He got 13 carries for only 48 yards against the Jayhawks before rebounding to rush for 101 yards and three touchdowns in West Virginia's blowout victory against Towson. He added 106 tough yards on a season-high 23 carries a week later at Virginia Tech and went into the Texas game ranked seventh in the country in yards per carry (7.31), 11th in total touchdowns (six) and 28th in rushing yardage (380).
Then his season began to go sideways when he absorbed a blow to the head in the third quarter of West Virginia's loss in Austin. It was a scary scene that included Donaldson being taken off the field in a neck brace strapped on a cart.
He said it was one of the few times that his mother wasn't at a game to watch him in person.
"Looking at how people reacted to it - because a lot of people didn't know what was going on watching it on TV - that was very scary, especially for my mom because that's one of the first games she missed, and she never misses a game," he admitted. "She was calling and wanting to know what was going on."
The injury forced Donaldson to miss the Baylor game, but he returned 21 days later against Texas Tech. A week later, the Miami resident was having his best all-around game of the season against TCU when he hurt his leg during the fourth quarter in a contest the Mountaineers eventually lost to college football's runner-up.
That put Donaldson out for the remaining games against Iowa State, Oklahoma, Kansas State and Oklahoma State, and that's why getting him back to compete in the spring was so vitally important to his development as a running back and West Virginia's development as a team.
Brown wanted Donaldson to experience live contact work so he could learn how to properly absorb hits, deliver the blow to tacklers and, yes, how to fall to the ground. There is art to these things.
CJ explains.
"I'm not used to being hit low a lot and I'm learning those things of how to brace my body and protect my body," he said. "Coach (Chad) Scott has been teaching me ways to protect myself by applying force instead of allowing the force to hit me. It makes sense applying force to the defender and don't take the hit – deliver it.
"Coach Scott says, 'Fall – get down. Just get down.' That's what he tells me," Donaldson added. "Those little things have helped me protect my body and continue playing this game that I love."
Donaldson is also learning how to make full-speed cuts and keying linebackers, which he admits requires great eye control. That's something the coaches have spent lots of time this spring reminding him to do.
"Eye control is a big part of our game," he noted. "To be able to be a running back in this program, you have to have great eye control, but I don't want to give up all of our schemes and all of our tricks. One person who really helped me a lot was Jaylen Anderson. I think he probably has the best vision in our room. He knows how to make some great cuts, and I've just been watching his game, just critiquing it and taking a little bit and applying it to my downhill running game."
Elementary things such as not tipping off plays are easy in Brown's scheme, according to Donaldson, because their alignments are usually very similar.
"I hear a few of our linebackers say, 'Y'all, never changed alignment so we never know what play y'all are running,'" Donaldson said.
You might see CJ lined up occasionally in other areas on the field because of his outstanding ball skills. The sophomore says that aspect of the offense is still to be determined.
"When we came back from our break in December, coach Brown wanted me to focus just on running back schemes because I don't have that many reps at running back," he said. "I played seven games and of those, only five full games. He wanted me to work on my technique at that position to get a natural feel for it to where I can be more comfortable back there instead of nervous."
These are some of the things to keep an eye on this fall when Donaldson is on the field. Something else to look for is a new number. CJ has exchanged No. 12 for No. 4, the digit he always wore while growing up.
That's the number that actually made up his high school nickname, "C4."
"I've been wearing No. 4 since little league, and that's just the number I've always wanted to wear," he said. "My little nickname, besides CJ, is C4 because I always ran go-routes, which is technically a bomb. Those two played hand-in-hand."
He said his two primary goals between now and fall camp are improving his balance and speed. He also wants to take care of his body so he can get through an entire football season.
"I remember when I first got hurt I kind of took it for granted, playing this sport. I'm not used to being hurt playing receiver all my life," he admitted. "I'm used to catching the ball and running out of bounds.
"Throughout (the rehabilitation) process it made me hungrier and made me want to play more each and every day," he concluded.
Season tickets for WVU's 2023 campaign, including exciting home games against Pitt (Sept. 16), Texas Tech (Sept. 23), BYU (Nov. 4) and Cincinnati (Nov. 18) are currently on sale through the Mountaineer Ticket Office and can be purchased online via WVUGAME.com.
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