Life doesn’t present many do-overs.

But when the opportunity is there you have to take it.

Taijh Alston, now a redshirt sophomore defensive end, certainly realizes that more than most. Because of that there isn’t a day that goes by where he takes his current situation at West Virginia for granted.

Once a 6-foot-5, 220-pound, lineman at Union Pines High School in Cameron, North Carolina Alston was offered and recruited by the Mountaineers previous coaching staff in the summer of 2016. He had always had a knack for pass rushing and a large number of schools took notice.

“I always had a knack for getting after the quarterback,” he said. “I love it.”

The Mountaineers were one of those. Alston realized the opportunity available at the Big 12 Conference school and family members even attempted to persuade him to travel north to play his college football.

But only 17-years old at the time Alston decided to go with what he knew and instead signed with East Carolina leaving behind the chance to play power five football.

“I wanted to stay close to home,” he said.

While Alston was expected to see the field as a true freshman, things didn’t turn out as planned as he tore the meniscus in his right knee making a tackle only a few weeks before the season opener. That was the first major injury in the football career of Alston and allowed him time to evaluate his situation.

That process led him to elect to leave Greenville at the end of the season and attempt to jump-start his recruitment with one goal in mind: find a way back to West Virginia. He was contacted by several smaller schools as well as a string of junior colleges upon leaving East Carolina and eventually settled in at Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Mississippi.

“I knew it would restart my recruitment,” he said.

Alston would be far away from home, as he attempted to avoid in his first recruitment, but this time wouldn’t be accompanied with the bells and whistles that come with being at a power five program. There was no scholarship checks and other amenities instead hard-work became the goal.

It’s a process that Alston credits to helping him grow up as he found himself away from the familiar and quickly realized that he held the key to his future.

“It’s what I needed,” he admitted.

While excelling on the football field for The Wolves, Alston couldn’t keep the thought out of the back of his mind. If West Virginia contacts him again, he wouldn’t let the opportunity slip through his fingers.

“As I was going through my recruiting process I thought if they offer me one more time I’m going to go to West Virginia,” Alston admitted.

Bruce Tall, then Mountaineers defensive line coach, didn’t forget about Alston either. He visited him during the spring and appeared interested as he developed in his redshirt freshman season on the field.

Then it happened.

Around six games into the season, Alston was in the library studying for an exam when he got the call. It was a call he had imagined receiving so many times before, but this wasn’t a dream. On the other end of the line was Tall and he informed the defensive end that the Mountaineers wanted to shoot their shot again and extend him a scholarship.

This time there wouldn’t be any hesitation, Alston committed the next day.

“I almost cried. It was a good feeling because I was waiting for this opportunity to come back and it did,” he said. “I just knew it was the place for me.”

Alston would sign with West Virginia this past December, but that wasn’t the end of the story – no rather the beginning. A coaching change occurred right after Alston enrolled in January and he now had to adjust to a new position coach and scheme.

Fortunately for him, it was nearly a match made in almost heaven.

Newly minted defensive line coach Jordan Lesley saw the potential that Alston possessed after already recruiting him while at Troy and realized that his skill set was a great fit at the five-technique in his scheme. Lesley wants his linemen to be athletic and disruptive as opposed to simply holding gaps.

That was music to Alston’s ears.

With the help of the strength and conditioning staff he was able to transform his body adding nearly 25-pounds to put him at near 250-pounds off the edge. It’s additional weight that hasn’t sapped his strength in other areas.

“Even though I put on the weight I haven’t gotten any slower,” he said. “I still feel 226-pounds.”

Lesley has done his part was well honing in on the use of his hands instead of just flying up field and understanding the nuances of playing the position as well as controlling his speed and power. The veteran defensive line coach also simplified his pass rushing repertoire to make him more effective.

While Alston was a natural pass rusher, there is more to it than simply skill alone.

“He just has to learn how to use those tools,” Lesley said.

Alston took to the teachings of Lesley and even made it a priority for himself to make significant strides over the summer and in the early stages of fall camp. In essence, Alston was demanding from himself what his coaches had done to him during his first spring with the program.

It’s something his teammates picked up on as well.

“He’s locked in, bought in and coach Lesley has been testing him,” senior Reese Donahue said. “He’s now correcting little things and that’s ultimately the difference.”

It’s hard to say where the story of Alston goes from there but for now he is embracing his do-over in a place that he never thought he’d make it to. Beside his bed he has a list of goals for this season that includes leading the Big 12 in sacks and being a first-team all-conference player.

Goals that he thought he would never have the chance to achieve several years ago.

“I feel like I have to take advantage of this opportunity,” he said.

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