It’s probably a tired story, but that it’s remained a story for so long isn’t really my fault. WVU’s kickoff return defense has bed (insert negative adjective) for two years now and it’s cost the team wins or contributed to losses along the way.

Spring practices don’t typically devote a lot of time to that particular skill because coaches like to bring the players along physically and — this is important — keep them healthy for the summer and then the season. Asking them to engage in a series of collisions a few days a week can be bad business.

Yet there was a reorganization of the coaching staff in the offseason and it’s sometimes neat to see what happens when new eyes get a look at an old problem.

Steve Dunlap, he of the school-record 190-tackle season, is now in charge of the kickoff return defense. Like many others, Dunlap said the rule-change that moved the ball back to the 30-yard line on kickoffs changed the game. The NCAA wanted a little more excitement and kickoff returns could deliver just that. A “good start” for the defense went from making the tackle at or inside the 20 to at or inside the 35.

There were also some injuries that hurt WVU and perhaps too heavy of a reliance on kicking that was “a little erratic, to say the least.” This spring, Dunlap and the Mountaineers want to get a look at players who can help, even if they can’t directly audition in kickoff return defense drills.

“There are certain fundamentals to this,” he said. “This is no different than any other defensive play. There’s just more space. It’s still about taking on blocks, getting off blocks, fitting everything right.

“Guys with speed have to get down the field. And you’ve got to have some courage. There are a lot of collisions out there.”