Work continues with the West Virginia football program despite that not occurring on campus.

That is the case with the analysts with the program, too.

Essentially those positions are getting a head start on what they would typically be doing in the months of May, June and July by focusing on professional development opportunities.

“At the NFL and collegiate level in all three phases of things that we’re interested in growing from,” head coach Neal Brown said.

Some of that is typically done in February but the bulk is completed during the summer allowing those in analyst positions to get ahead of where they would be in a normal calendar year.

That also is the case with summer opponent breakdowns too, moving things up from the traditional dates prior to fall camp to now. Those breakdowns are essential so the coaches can get an idea of how opponents have lined up on all three-sides of the ball in the past.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s predictive of what could occur when the Mountaineers meet these teams on the field but it does provide essential building blocks in regards to preparation. That is key during fall camp when the Mountaineers focus on an opponent of the day and work on them.

“What they have done in the past on offense, defense and special teams. Go to each opponent. We have those based on what they’ve done in the past and we work on preparing for those,” he said.

The analysts also still are working with their respective position coaches on their daily tasks to help aid in the process of preparing for the season.

Those analysts at West Virginia include Ryan Nehlen on the offensive side, Tyler Hancock on special teams and Casey Vance and Jeff Casteel on the defensive side. Casteel is the newest edition to position as the one-time West Virginia defensive coordinator was a natural fit for the opening.

“He’s the right kind of guy. He’s from West Virginia, he loves WVU and WVU football,” Brown said.

In addition to what he can add on defense, Casteel also has been able to provide insight by scouting the offense of West Virginia and providing ideas on how he would attack it.

Everybody plays their part and analysts have a role to fill during the standstill as well.

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