It didn’t take long for Dravon Askew-Henry to realize West Virginia’s defense was changing.

When he took the field at his free safety position on the first day of spring practice in Morgantown, he could glance in any direction and not see a familiar face.

Gone were his pals and fellow safeties Karl Joseph and KJ Dillon. Cornerbacks Terrell Chestnut and Daryl Worley had departed too. Even the linebackers right in front of Askew-Henry were different also – Nick Kwiatkoski, Jared Barber and Shaq Petteway had all graduated.

“I could tell it was going to be different that first day because it was real quiet without KJ (Dillon),” Askew-Henry said.

“The group of guys that are replacing KJ and Karl (Joseph) are just as good, but we have to build our chemistry to keep it going. We have to keep getting better.”

Askew-Henry has 26 career starts to his name, which is tied for the most on the entire defense with defensive end Noble Nwachukwu. At this time two years ago, Askew-Henry was still in high school getting ready to show up at West Virginia during the summer.

Now a true junior, no longer is Askew-Henry considered the young guy with enormous potential on the defense. Askew-Henry is the veteran who recorded two interceptions in a game at Oklahoma State during his freshman season and the guy that has more than 100 tackles in his career.

He must be the dependable defender.

“I told myself going into the spring that it’s time for me to step up and be that leader,” Askew-Henry said. “I’m ready to take the role and help my teammates compete.”

“He (Askew-Henry) understands what we want and how we want to do it,” defensive coordinator Tony Gibson said. “I’m really impressed with him. He’s a kid that wants to be great. He learned from two really good leaders in Karl (Joseph) and KJ (Joseph). Now it’s his time and he’s doing a great job with it.”

His new position coach, Matt Caponi has noticed the pull Askew-Henry has with his teammates too.

“Dravon (Askew-Henry) isn’t a big rah-rah guy, but when he talks, everyone listens,” Caponi said.

Part of the reason Askew-Henry has impact with the other guys in the locker room is because he created a bond with some who are seeing significant snaps for the first time, way back when they first came to West Virginia together as members of the 2014 recruiting class.

With only one day until West Virginia’s spring game at the Greenbrier, Askew-Henry knows exactly what his secondary needs to work on over the summer in order to be prepared for fall camp.

Askew-Henry believes the first team secondary players need to communicate more efficiently to avoid breakdown in pass coverage.

“We lost nine starters, so there’s going to be some errors with breaking in so many new guys,” Askew-Henry said. “I think we can get corrected though.”