Rushel Shell, who has had two similar seasons at WVU, even if the numbers were slightly lower last season, went away from campus for spring break and gained a few pounds.

This was welcome news for the Mountaineers, and his coach says Shell is bigger and stronger but also faster now than ever before.

“I feel really comfortable at 230,” he said. “I feel like I’m still 215, but when I hit someone, it feels completely different.”

The fifth-year senior is indeed up 15 pounds from his playing weight last season, a “solid” and gradual addition to his frame. It’s been a goal for the Mountaineers for some time now as they try to get Shell to run to and through holes and replace the occasional finesse in his game with physicality.

If seven spring practices are to be trusted, Shell finally is who WVU thought he’d be when he transferred from Pitt in 2013 and sat out that season.

“This is the kid we were hoping we were going to see last year,” running backs coach JaJuan Seider said. “The light is on right now. If he continues what he’s doing, which I think he will, he’s going to be a happy man this time next year, because he’s going to be rich.”