That man, as you can tell, is Jake Spavital and he has a big title, an important job, a possibly critical role and a potentially priceless ability.

He is the offensive coordinator and the quarterbacks coach, but what does that mean? He’s coaching quarterbacks, which Dana Holgorsen did the past few years in concert with graduate assistant Mike Burchett, but Holgorsen also called plays. He’s always called plays. He’s suggested — and many many who know him believe — he’ll always call plays. But, as we’ve previously detailed, Spavital’s return to WVU was initiated before the coaching change at Cal, and he had some leverage if he was to leave the Golden Bears and return to the Gold and Blue. Yeah, I’ll do it, but I’m calling plays.

So, who’s calling plays? Is it Holgorsen? Has he finally ceded that to someone he really trusts? Is he free to broaden his focus to better manage the team and the games? I don’t know. I figure we’ll get those answers when we have a chance to ask them.

But I’m not sure I really care all that much. To me, the bigger deal for Spavital is not calling plays but handling an even larger task for the Mountaineers: Recruiting quarterbacks. If your qualm or query with Holgorsen’s WVU offenses is the talent of quarterback recruits, then you’re probably hopeful he just hired a fixer. Who cares who’s calling plays if you don’t have the right player running them?

It’s a lucrative profession, and it’s doubly important at WVU, where the greatest quarterbacks were not the greatest recruits. A transfer from Penn State. Lesser-known prospects from Cleveland or Pittsburgh who fit WVU’s plans. A kid from Alabama who the SEC saw as a cornerback or a receiver. A kid from Miami who wasn’t even getting a lot of attention from the Mountaineers until they lost a committed player and enacted a backup plan.

Spavital lured Davis Webb from Texas Tech to Cal last season. He recruited Kyler Murray and Kyle Allen to Texas A&M and Chase Garbers to Cal. He’s worked out West and in Texas, the Pac-12, the Big 12 and the SEC. His family’s name is revered in Oklahoma and his reputation is healthy in living rooms and junior colleges in the East.

Now, he’s not going to fix it altogether. Nothing in recruiting is harder than the quarterback position, and then the Mountaineers have to deal with their ordinary obstacles, like geography and competitors. It’s why there’s nothing wrong with welcoming a junior college transfer like Skyler Howard, an FBS transfer like Will Grier or a graduate transfer like Clint Trickett — or Webb.

“How” should never matter as much as “who.”

Except maybe when it comes to the recruiter.

Quarterback recruiting is a fascinating topic. There are so many variables that make it just so difficult. It’s hard, and it’s harder at a place where standard recruiting is complicated like it is at WVU.

So, what do you think? Can Spavital help? How much? Or why not? Is it institutional or individual? What are realistic expectations bith here and here with Holgorsen and Spavital?