West Virginia Continues Physical Work on Wednesday
August 09, 2023 04:01 PM | Football, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia continued contact work Wednesday morning on the Steve Antoline Family Practice Field.
Coach Neal Brown said even more tackling is in the practice plans for his team, which is now three weeks out from its season opener at seventh-ranked Penn State on Saturday, Sept. 2.
"We are intentional about being physical during fall camp, and we will tackle as much as they will allow us to," he said following this morning's practice. "I think one of the big components for us to be successful is going to be our ability to be both mentally and physically tough."
Toughness has always been a hallmark of West Virginia football teams going back decades.
Hall of Fame linebacker San Huff used to joke that teams might come into Morgantown and beat the Mountaineers, but they weren't going to get out of town without feeling it afterward.
Former strength and conditioning coach Allan Johnson used to go to conventions and listen to his colleagues complain about having to get their players ready for the week AFTER playing West Virginia when Don Nehlen was the coach.
The Mountaineers might not have always been the biggest, strongest or most talented teams to play, but they were always among the toughest.
Brown is already seeing some development in that aspect of his program this week.
"We did a good-on-good tackling drill (Tuesday) and repeated it today, and I thought there was a lot of growth between day one and day two," he said. "Tackling is two things. The first one is want-to and the second one is technique. You must be under your feet and shoot your arms.
"I thought, defensively, we did a lot better job, and offensively, the key point of breaking tackles is being efficient with your moves. We say it all the time, 'The best moves are no moves,' which means get vertical and run behind your pads," he explained. "I thought that's showing up with our running backs and our big receivers are finishing plays well. We did a short yardage and goal line period today and I thought, defensively, we did."
Brown said he talked to middle linebacker Lee Kpogba out in Dallas about wanting to have more physical practices during preseason camp. He wanted his best players to help sell his message to the rest of the team, and Brown knew he had a willing participant in Kpogba.
"I told him, 'Hey, we're going to do a lot more 11-on-11 work and be more physical.' The issue for us is not going to be that we didn't tackle in fall camp. That's not going to be a reason why we're not significantly better," Brown reasoned. "My conversation with him was, 'Hey, we need buy-in from the top' and that was music to his ears. He's done a good job of enthusiastically selling that because we must do it. We were thin last year. We had some injuries, but when you look back, we needed to be more physical."
Being physical, of course, is subjective. One person's idea of what's physical might be completely different than another's. Guys who played football 10, 20 or 30 years ago might not view physical practices the same way players and coaches do today.
The rules on how teams are allowed to practice (and tackle) have changed significantly through the years. However, introducing any extra contact during practice comes with risks.
"It's such a fine line," Brown admitted. "Myself, and every other college football coach in the country, is dealing with the same deal. What's enough and what's too much? You don't want to get your really good players hurt during preseason camp, but you also want to get in enough work where they're ready to go."
Among the players Brown singled out today for their physicality were bandits Jared Bartlett and Tyrin Bradley, a 6-foot-2, 251-pound junior from Lubbock, Texas, who transferred from Abilene Christian.
"(Bradley) has a physical demeanor about him and he showed up today in our short-yardage stuff," Brown said, "and Bartlett has gotten stronger, and you can see he's playing run blocks better than he has before."
Brown indicated more contact work is in the practice plans when the team repeats this week next week.
"We are in an evaluation process through a week from Saturday. We are trying to evaluate you situationally. We are trying to evaluate how you handle adversity and we're trying to evaluate how you handle success … all those things," he explained.
Some players change once the full pads go on and the tackling begins.
"Yeah, some of them start to hide," Brown chuckled. "It's a different game. Everybody likes flag football, but when you bring the contact aspect of it in, it definitely separates."
Wednesday Practice Notes …
* The last two practices have included lots of situational 11-on-11 work, Brown said.
On-field work will take a pause tomorrow and then Friday's practice will be light leading into Saturday night's scrimmage inside the stadium under the lights. The team will simulate the 7:30 p.m. start for the Penn State opener.
"We will go approximately 45 to 50 plays on Saturday night with both groups," Brown said.
The Mountaineers will repeat this week's schedule next week with Wednesday being the off day because of the start of the fall semester.
* Brown was asked to single out some players who are making jumps during camp. He mentioned the play of Georgia Southern transfer Anthony Wilson, at safety, and Jacolby Spells and Beanie Bishop at corner.
He also cited junior Mike Lockhart's effort this morning at defensive tackle.
"He made a big play today and is starting to make his presence felt," Brown said.
Eddie Vesterinen is another player up front who is demonstrating the consistency and reliability the coaching staff is seeking.
* Will linebacker remains a question mark between sophomore Jairo Faverus, redshirt freshman Trey Lathan and true freshman Ben Cutter, and Brown said it might take a while for that one to be settled.
* At tight end, Kole Taylor and Traylon Davis are clearly the top two right now, with N.C. State transfer Devin Carter emerging at wide receiver. Marshall transfer E.J. Horton made a couple of plays downfield this morning and is also looking to crack the rotation.
"He's given himself an opportunity to play," Brown said of Horton.
Among the running backs, freshman Jahiem White continues to demonstrate the big-play capabilities Mountaineer fans saw during the Gold-Blue Spring game when he broke off a 53-yard touchdown run and led all ball carriers with 91 yards on only seven attempts.
"Given opportunities in 11-on-11, he's made big plays," Brown said of White.
* As for the two quarterbacks, Brown had this to say, beginning with freshman Nicco Marchiol:
"Yesterday, Nicco, about halfway through practice, was probably as poor of decision making as he's made and then he was able to correct it, which I thought was a sign of mental toughness," he said. We did a lot of red zone work today and he made two really big-time plays. We've got to clean up some of those decisions, but I'm encouraged with how he handled adversity."
"Garrett (Greene) had a couple of big runs during the team period and then he made really a tight throw down in the red zone. We're continuing to rotate those guys and we will continue to do. When will we name a starter? I don't have an answer for you – and I know y'all don't like that - but I really don't have an answer for that. Each are continuing to get equal reps."
* Andy Peters and Gary Lombard, two starters on coach Bobby Bowden's 1975 Peach Bowl championship team, were visitors during today's practice. Lombard said he lived in Parkersburg for years, but recently moved to Morgantown where he has a farm just outside of town.
Coach Neal Brown said even more tackling is in the practice plans for his team, which is now three weeks out from its season opener at seventh-ranked Penn State on Saturday, Sept. 2.
"We are intentional about being physical during fall camp, and we will tackle as much as they will allow us to," he said following this morning's practice. "I think one of the big components for us to be successful is going to be our ability to be both mentally and physically tough."
Toughness has always been a hallmark of West Virginia football teams going back decades.
Hall of Fame linebacker San Huff used to joke that teams might come into Morgantown and beat the Mountaineers, but they weren't going to get out of town without feeling it afterward.
Former strength and conditioning coach Allan Johnson used to go to conventions and listen to his colleagues complain about having to get their players ready for the week AFTER playing West Virginia when Don Nehlen was the coach.
The Mountaineers might not have always been the biggest, strongest or most talented teams to play, but they were always among the toughest.
Brown is already seeing some development in that aspect of his program this week.
"We did a good-on-good tackling drill (Tuesday) and repeated it today, and I thought there was a lot of growth between day one and day two," he said. "Tackling is two things. The first one is want-to and the second one is technique. You must be under your feet and shoot your arms.
"I thought, defensively, we did a lot better job, and offensively, the key point of breaking tackles is being efficient with your moves. We say it all the time, 'The best moves are no moves,' which means get vertical and run behind your pads," he explained. "I thought that's showing up with our running backs and our big receivers are finishing plays well. We did a short yardage and goal line period today and I thought, defensively, we did."
Brown said he talked to middle linebacker Lee Kpogba out in Dallas about wanting to have more physical practices during preseason camp. He wanted his best players to help sell his message to the rest of the team, and Brown knew he had a willing participant in Kpogba.
"I told him, 'Hey, we're going to do a lot more 11-on-11 work and be more physical.' The issue for us is not going to be that we didn't tackle in fall camp. That's not going to be a reason why we're not significantly better," Brown reasoned. "My conversation with him was, 'Hey, we need buy-in from the top' and that was music to his ears. He's done a good job of enthusiastically selling that because we must do it. We were thin last year. We had some injuries, but when you look back, we needed to be more physical."
Being physical, of course, is subjective. One person's idea of what's physical might be completely different than another's. Guys who played football 10, 20 or 30 years ago might not view physical practices the same way players and coaches do today.
The rules on how teams are allowed to practice (and tackle) have changed significantly through the years. However, introducing any extra contact during practice comes with risks.
"It's such a fine line," Brown admitted. "Myself, and every other college football coach in the country, is dealing with the same deal. What's enough and what's too much? You don't want to get your really good players hurt during preseason camp, but you also want to get in enough work where they're ready to go."
Among the players Brown singled out today for their physicality were bandits Jared Bartlett and Tyrin Bradley, a 6-foot-2, 251-pound junior from Lubbock, Texas, who transferred from Abilene Christian.
"(Bradley) has a physical demeanor about him and he showed up today in our short-yardage stuff," Brown said, "and Bartlett has gotten stronger, and you can see he's playing run blocks better than he has before."
Brown indicated more contact work is in the practice plans when the team repeats this week next week.
"We are in an evaluation process through a week from Saturday. We are trying to evaluate you situationally. We are trying to evaluate how you handle adversity and we're trying to evaluate how you handle success … all those things," he explained.
Some players change once the full pads go on and the tackling begins.
"Yeah, some of them start to hide," Brown chuckled. "It's a different game. Everybody likes flag football, but when you bring the contact aspect of it in, it definitely separates."
Wednesday Practice Notes …
* The last two practices have included lots of situational 11-on-11 work, Brown said.
On-field work will take a pause tomorrow and then Friday's practice will be light leading into Saturday night's scrimmage inside the stadium under the lights. The team will simulate the 7:30 p.m. start for the Penn State opener.
"We will go approximately 45 to 50 plays on Saturday night with both groups," Brown said.
The Mountaineers will repeat this week's schedule next week with Wednesday being the off day because of the start of the fall semester.
* Brown was asked to single out some players who are making jumps during camp. He mentioned the play of Georgia Southern transfer Anthony Wilson, at safety, and Jacolby Spells and Beanie Bishop at corner.
He also cited junior Mike Lockhart's effort this morning at defensive tackle.
"He made a big play today and is starting to make his presence felt," Brown said.
Eddie Vesterinen is another player up front who is demonstrating the consistency and reliability the coaching staff is seeking.
* Will linebacker remains a question mark between sophomore Jairo Faverus, redshirt freshman Trey Lathan and true freshman Ben Cutter, and Brown said it might take a while for that one to be settled.
* At tight end, Kole Taylor and Traylon Davis are clearly the top two right now, with N.C. State transfer Devin Carter emerging at wide receiver. Marshall transfer E.J. Horton made a couple of plays downfield this morning and is also looking to crack the rotation.
"He's given himself an opportunity to play," Brown said of Horton.
Among the running backs, freshman Jahiem White continues to demonstrate the big-play capabilities Mountaineer fans saw during the Gold-Blue Spring game when he broke off a 53-yard touchdown run and led all ball carriers with 91 yards on only seven attempts.
"Given opportunities in 11-on-11, he's made big plays," Brown said of White.
* As for the two quarterbacks, Brown had this to say, beginning with freshman Nicco Marchiol:
"Yesterday, Nicco, about halfway through practice, was probably as poor of decision making as he's made and then he was able to correct it, which I thought was a sign of mental toughness," he said. We did a lot of red zone work today and he made two really big-time plays. We've got to clean up some of those decisions, but I'm encouraged with how he handled adversity."
"Garrett (Greene) had a couple of big runs during the team period and then he made really a tight throw down in the red zone. We're continuing to rotate those guys and we will continue to do. When will we name a starter? I don't have an answer for you – and I know y'all don't like that - but I really don't have an answer for that. Each are continuing to get equal reps."
* Andy Peters and Gary Lombard, two starters on coach Bobby Bowden's 1975 Peach Bowl championship team, were visitors during today's practice. Lombard said he lived in Parkersburg for years, but recently moved to Morgantown where he has a farm just outside of town.
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