Douglas looks to make the most of last opportunity

It’s safe to say last season didn’t go the way that Rasul Douglas thought it would.

“Last year was kind of a lost season for me,” he said.

But he isn't hanging his head and the former junior college all-American doesn’t point the fingers at anybody other than himself.

Originally scheduled to enroll the previous January, Douglas didn’t make it to Morgantown to start his college career until after the school year had already started meaning he missed the entirety of fall camp as he worked to get things settled away in the classroom.

That put him behind the eight ball from the beginning and he struggled with trying to pick up the basics while the attention of cornerbacks coach Brian Mitchell was focused on game planning for each week. But without the benefit of a redshirt, the clock was ticking and Douglas had to make his way onto the field. It wasn’t until around six to seven weeks into the season that Douglas started to find his footing.

The challenge for Douglas was not just sorting out the terminology and responsibilities of the West Virginia defense but also understanding what everybody else on the field was doing.

“I didn’t know what people were doing so I didn’t know where my help was and where I had to be at certain times,” Douglas said.

The New Jersey native eventually found his way onto the field and even recorded an interception in the Kansas game giving him a boost of confidence heading into the off-season.

But then the unthinkable happened. Mitchell, who served as the personal recruiter for Douglas as well as his position coach, left his post in Morgantown for Virginia Tech and he now was forced to learn a different set of techniques under new cornerbacks coach Blue Adams. However, he would quickly find out that his skill set fit right into what Adams wanted to do.

“He’s a high energy guy. He runs around and he’s just like us. He does the drills with us and he always says you can’t teach it if you can’t do it,” he said.

One major difference in the technique is in man coverage where Mitchell would play three yards off, while Adams asks his players to play up close to the line to disrupt the wide receiver. Douglas put together a strong spring and summer and is now in the midst of a heated competition to earn one of the vacant spots at the team’s widest open position cornerback.

“A lot of guys are asking questions. I was used to being the guy asking the questions because I was the only guy in the room who came in and was playing. This year I’m teaching it,” he said.

During his time on campus he has raised his overall weight 19-pounds, while getting faster in the process. As a redshirt senior, he understands that this is his last opportunity to make an impact and position himself for the possibility to play at the next level.

And he’s hoping that the work he’s done to get here pays off.

“You have 124-days to play football for the rest of your life or have a great season and have a chance to play at the next level. It’s over after this,” Douglas said.