Over at Football Study Hall I wrote about some of Neal Brown’s unique qualities as an Air Raid coach who prizes physicality, defense, and special teams.
The big story today is that Oklahoma gave way and allowed Austin Kendall to transfer to Morgantown to compete for the starting QB job. I haven’t watched Jack Allison in the bowl game yet but it doesn’t sound like he blew anyone away or locked down the job with that outing. Of course Austin Kendall doesn’t seem to have been blowing away Lincoln Riley in Norman either or else he probably wouldn’t have nabbed Jalen Hurts to be the de-facto anointed starter for 2019.
Here are some of the key pieces that West Virginia will need to find this offseason in order to make Brown’s system work properly and give them chance at a winning season in year one:
-Another brute to block in the backfield now that Trevon Wesco is gone.
Per my notes they have Elijah Drummond back but I don’t know what kind of a blocker he is, they have a few other FB types on the roster as well. If they have another Trevon Wesco level talent on the team that’d be a huge boon. Brown has a lot of spread-I run game in his playbook and the Mountaineers have a lot of backs and a fair few OL to utilize in executing it.
-A go-to deep threat, iso WR
This is another one that Holgorsen probably already had stocked up but they need to find him and get him in sync with Kendall or Allison or whomever.
-A DE/OLB hybrid
This is tricky because it’s exactly the sort of player that Tony Gibson ignored in building out the West Virginia football roster. New DC Vic Koenning will utilize the same sort of ILB blitzes that were a regular feature to Gibson’s defenses and that helped David Long put up absurd numbers. The fit at ILB between Gibson’s playbook and Koenning’s style is pretty clean. The only difference is that Koenning will want the guy who can serve as a weak side DE or OLB flat/middle dropper. I don’t know if that guy exists on this roster.
Koenning might be able to adapt to the 3-3-5 stack look, it’s philosophically similar but the playbook can look pretty different.
-A good connection to the defensive backfield in Morgantown
The biggest change is that West Virginia is going to become a primarily quarters-based team after living in the eight man front/cover 3 for years and years. Kenny Robinson and these CBs have some skills that could be very useful in the new scheme but they’re going to have to learn it and figure out how to apply their skills from new angles with new reads.
They’ll need to heavily emphasize teaching this spring, the players are there to make for a solid transition but they have to get up to speed quickly.
If they go for additional grad transfers or JUCOs to fill out the roster keep an eye out for additions at FB, DE/OLB (bandit), and maybe in the secondary even though they appear deep there. Grabbing a corner or especially a safety with experience in a quarters coverage concept could be valuable for making sure everything is translating to the teammates.
Finally, for the record, Neal Brown is a hybrid-bro.
He’s from the Air Raid coaching tree but he spent so much of his formative experiences as an assistant under guys like Tommy Tuberville and Mark Stoops that it’s clear he values physicality and defense more than your average Raid Bro and has experience fostering a program where those things are translated from values into traits.
Hey Ian, really appreciate the write up. I figure the least I can do for all the time you’ve dedicated to WVU is give you one (fairly ignorant) WVU fan’s take on what you’ve got here and some additional notes on the WVU roster elements you highlight.
Allison wasn’t particularly impressive, but he showed some arm strength and made a couple throws. I also thought he showed some of the intangibles you’d look for in a QB, it didn’t seem like he was fazed and didn’t get down when things didn’t go his way. But there were some significant flaws. His timing was way off and he gets knocked over by a stiff breeze because he has approximately 2% body fat and less muscle. It’s hard to know how much the coaching staff was eyeballing the exit sign during bowl prep so I don’t want to discount him too much. And obviously Kendall comes with some questions too since OU never seemed to seriously consider him starter material. But, it’s better to have two junior QBs than one.
TE/FB/H-Back Brutes: Jovanni Haskins returns, he’s like 6’4, 240. But he’s much more of a receiving TE than a blocker. But he got after it a bit when blocking in the second half of the year and frequently spelled Wesco throughout the season. We’ll see if he gets meaner under Brown but either way, I think he’s going to be a matchup problem for Big 12 teams. I’d guess his development as a blocker will determine how much he sees the field.
The real potential bruiser is Rs-Fr. TJ Banks. He came to WVU as a TE but a lot of schools wanted him as a DE. He was listed at 6’5, 260 as a high school senior. He was a high three star per 247 and had a few low level ACC and Big Ten offers. I think he’s the dark horse here for a guy who can lineup next to the tackle and mash a LB or DE while still making the defense respect his ability to catch a pass.
ISO WR: I mean, Marcus Simms all the way. Before he got hurt in the Iowa State game, he was arguably WVU’s best receiver outside the redzone. Even after his body slowed down, he still made some big plays throughout the year. He’s a burner but is also just a hard dude to tackle and keeps his legs moving (although I can’t find any useful highlights of him on Youtube).
Among the younger receivers, I think Sam James is your other ISO guy. By the end of the year he was the clear leader among the 4 WRs WVU redshirted last year. He was listed at 6’2, 160. So he’s got some height but may not be big enough for a full time role yet. A grad transfer here would not hurt.
DE/OLB Hybrid: As you note, Gibby didn’t really recruit these guys. But one guy to keep an eye out is Tavis Lee, who I think blueshirted (and definitely redshirted) this year. He came in at 6’3, 225 and won Scout Team Defensive POY. Word is he is pretty athletic. I don’t know if he’s “go out in the flat and cover a Big 12 RB” athletic, but he seems like a potential candidate for that role based on his size and rep.
The Secondary: I don’t really have anything to add here in terms of the roster (which is somehow perpetually thin at CB and even thin at S this year). But last year’s performance was frustrating. Norwood and Washington both showed the physical ability and the playmaking upside (6.5 TFL, 20 PBUs, 3 INTs, 3 FF between the two) that you might expect from guys who were offered by O$U and Michigan respectively. But so often this year, they were a second late and a foot short. Some of that is because of Big 12 QBs/WRs are unstoppable, but it felt like they weren’t living up to their potential. Maybe it was because this was their first year on campus but I’m hoping to see a lot more out of them this year.
I’m over Hakeem Bailey, dude is a spring game star and a Big 12 game liability. But he’s all we have (Daryl Worley is STILL the last freshman recruit to start at CB for WVU, I think that is ultimately the reason Holgo is gonna be at Houston this year instead of signing a long extension at WVU). He’s got plenty of tools but they almost never show up on the field. This will be his third and final year here, I hope the light finally comes on but I’m done expecting it.
Really appreciate you putting out so much to chew on for a team that you only sorta care about. I know Mountaineer nation really dug your write up on Football Study Hall and I’ll try to point more people to this post as well. Thanks, and I hope this wall of text is at least mildly informative.
Nice! I’ll make some notes from this.