Meanwhile, spring football began
March 16, 2015 by Mike CasazzaIt was a quiet start Sunday beneath the basketball headlines, but Dana Holgorsen had a four-minute press conference in a noisy area so polluted with sound no one heard him say he was promoting graduate assistant Mark Scott to a full-time position on the staff as the special team coach. Dead serious: The sports information people had to call over to the crowd at the Coliseum covering the selection show and make sure everyone knew what nobody heard.
At the news conference last week, Holgorsen said Scott was “a guy who’s been here, and you need to remember this name because he’s a bright young coach and an up-and-comer in this profession.” Evidently Scott’s time was up as graduate assistant, and Tony Gibson liked and trusted Scott so much up in the coaching box that WVU wanted to keep Scott in the fold. This will do, and his duties will obviously transcend special teams, where he’ll get help from Joe DeForest.
How about a depth chart?
WR (X)
Shelton Gibson
or Devonte Mathis
or Lamar PArker
IR (H)
Daikiel Shorts
K.J. Myers
LT
Russell Haughton-James
or Sylvester Townes
or Yodny Cajuste
LG
Adam Pankey
Tyler Tezeno
C
Tyler Orlosky
Stone Underwood
RG
Tony Matteo
Grant Lingafelter
RT
Marquis Lucas
Marcell Lazard
IR (Y)
Jordan Thompson
Jacky Marcellus
WR (Z)
Vernon Davis
or Devonte Mathis
or Ricky Rogers
QB
Skyler Howard
or William Crest
or David Sills
or Chris Chugunov
or Austin Hensley
HB (B)
Cody Clay
Darren Arndt
Michael Ferns
HB (A)
Rushel Shell
Wendell Smallwood
Dontae Thomas-Williams
Elijah Wellman
DE
Christian Brown
Larry Jefferson
Jon Lewis
NT
Kyle Rose
Darrien Howard
DE
Noble Nwachuku
Eric Kinsey
Spur
K.J. Dillon
Dayron Wilson
Daejuan Funderburk
Sam
Nick Kwiatkoski
Xavier Preston
Isaiah Bruce
Hodari Christian
Mike
Jared Barber
Al-Rasheed Benton
Justin Arndt
Hunter Brown
Will
Shaq Petteway
Edward Muldrow
Sean Walters
Marvin Gross
CB
Ricky Rumph
Khairi Shariff
FS
Dravon Henry
Jeremy Tyler
BS
Karl Joseph
Malik Greaves
CB
Terrell Chestnut
Jaylon Myers
Nana Kyeremeh
K
Josh Lambert
Mike Molina
P
Nick O’Toole
Billy Kinney
LS
John DePalma
Nick Meadows
H
Nick O’Toole
KO
Mike Molina
Billy Kinney
PR
Vernon Davis
Jordan Thompson
KR
Shelton Gibson
Wendell Smallwood
Thoughts
Anything about the receivers apart from Shorts and Thompson is a toss-up. Myers can play all over and might not end up inside. Parker is 5-8 and might not end up outside. I bet the names and positions are juggled during and after the 15 practices. At the worst, there are options, and Gary Jennings, Ka’Raun White and Jovan Durante all have a chance when they hit campus over the summer.
I can’t remember a WVU team having this many bodies on the offensive line.
Left tackle is the position we haven’t talked about that we’re going to talk about a lot.
Wellman is listed as a halfback, and it appears the coaches are going to go ahead with this experiment, but how much will that take away from his role at the other running back/tight end position? If he’s good enough to moonlight at tailback, you obviously don’t want to keep that talent solely in reserve there when he can do useful things at the other position.
The defensive line needs bodies.
The linebacker group is overflowing with bodies.
I urge you not to put much value into a pre-spring depth chart, but Bruce is listed third at his position.
The Will position is going to be fun to watch, even if nothing changes. Petteway knows this defense, and he came on at the end of the season, that after Muldrow came on and helped encourage the coaches to move Brandon Golson to defensive end. They’ll both play a lot, I have to think. I’m not sure what Sean Walters can do that he has not done in his time on campus, but Marvin Gross is really intriguing. He played as a true freshman, out of necessity, and then redshirted last season. He’s a linebacker now and not a safety like he was before and not a defensive end as he was once theorized to become. On the weak side, he can cause problems.
Last summer, WVU sort of sneaked Shariff onto campus. It wasn’t a big deal to us. He was essentially an unrecruited high school player, but he was pretty good in Houston, and he did nothing bad and nothing outstanding in two seasons at Cisco College in Texas, but WVU was happy to take him on, let him redshrit and see what happens. Last week, Brian Mitchell basically told me to watch Shariff during the spring. He’s 5-8, 180, but Mitchell said he’s as tough as he’s got back there, and that’s a good development with Daryl Worley out for the spring.
That said, I’m watching Jaylon Myers this spring. He has all the physical tools, and he can help so much this season as a starter or a third corner or a nickel back or an occasional safety … if he gets there.
Jarrod Harper is out for the spring, which robs the defensive backfield of a pretty good backup who could use the reps, but it gives Greaves a chance, too. Remember, he enrolled early with Smallwood and Shorts, but we haven’t heard much of him since.
You’ll miss Mike Molinari. Do you remember the last time WVU botched a special teams snap? Me neither. That streak is now in O’Toole’s hands. Molinari was also pretty good at kickoffs, and that, for now, looks to be up to a pair of walk-ons — Kinney and Molina. They couldn’t be more different. Kinney is 6-4 and 210 pounds. Molina is 5-8, 175. They both have big legs, though, and their job will be to flex their legs and put the ball deep.
Considering the above, and getting a look at the punt and kick returners, Scott will earn his paychecks.