Bush prepares for multiple spots
Tevin Bush doesn’t really have a set position.
And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Especially when it comes to his chances to maximize his opportunities to see the field in his second year with the program.
Bush was recruited to play running back at West Virginia and spent last season there carrying the ball 20 times for 81 yards, while also hauling in four passes.
The bulk of that came in September as the diminutive athlete gave way to some of the more experienced options in the backfield.
In fact, he only touched the ball three times after the first four games of the year but this season the coaches are hoping to maximize what he can do when he’s on the field by expanding his options.
This spring the coaching staff approached him to make the transition over to wide receiver in order to learn the position and provide a different type of pass catcher than the rest of the roster.
Not only does he look different, he brings a different element as well.
“He does things that nobody else in that room can do,” wide receivers coach Tyron Carrier said.
While the Mountaineers wide receiver room is littered with big-bodied pass-catchers with impressive catch radiuses, Bush is a smaller option that gives a shiftier and more explosive aspect to the spot.
“He’s got twitch. He’s got stop and start ability,” offensive coordinator Jake Spavital said.
While some might look at his size as a disadvantage, Bush is equipped with what Carrier refers to as some of the best hands in the room and it’s nothing new to him because he also did some of that during his high school days in Louisiana where he led his team to a state title.
“Just giving him a full-time role and starting to sit in that room and listen to the lingo a little bit more is going to help him out a lot,” Carrier said.
Don’t expect Bush to abandon the backfield completely, as the Mountaineers will use him in a role where he can serve as a change of pace option at both spots to provide a spark. That means he will have opportunities to carve out a role on each side of the coin in order to find a way to make an impact in year two.
It's something he touched on last season but now will have the full gamut of knowledge in order to apply it to the field.
“He’s going to be playing all over the place,” Spavital said.
Now the responsibility falls on Bush to continue this ascension to becoming a productive asset inside the framework of the West Virginia offense. Two positions certainly could be better than one for Bush.
“He can hit it on the edge as fast as he can or put his foot in the ground and get north and south,” he said.
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