Excitement over spring, schedule for WVU
Dana Holgorsen didn’t hide his excitement.
Sure there are some issues that need addressed, but when aren’t they in the spring?
Offensively the group was dubbed the most veteran unit that the head coach has had since his time in Morgantown. Defensively the Mountaineers are now in the fifth year under coordinator Tony Gibson so there is a comfort level of what to expect and how the unit will respond.
“I just like where the guys are right now and I wanted to get started,” Holgorsen said.
The biggest goal that Holgorsen wants to come out over the course of the spring drills is competition up and down the board but if you’re looking for anything else specific the list is simply too long.
The Mountaineers were one of the worst teams when it came to turnovers in 2017 and will obviously focus on improving in that department but the tricky part is every year is different. And the carryover is hard to predict how teams will fare in areas.
But what he did find after reviewing how his team navigated the 2017 season is that after several years of making it a point of emphasis the Mountaineers did cap off drives with touchdowns better than they had in previous campaigns. But the opposite can be said when it comes to preventing touchdowns.
“2018 is a different team than 2017. We have to understand that,” the head man said.
So for now the goal is to sit there and identify the players and position battles that will shape this team. That must happen before the Mountaineers can really take the steps of identifying goals.
One difference this spring will be the fact that West Virginia has started spring practice earlier than usual and will finish it up much sooner as well.
The spring game is set for April 7 and another bonus of the setup is that the Mountaineers will have six practices then a break followed by six more and a break before the final three and the annual Gold-Blue game.
“I think it will reduce the monotony of spring football that everybody deals with. You can say ‘Well, you can you get tired of practicing football? Well I can assure you these guys get tired of practicing football in the spring,” Holgorsen said.
Defensive coordinator Tony Gibson shared similar thoughts on the issue as he is opposed to practicing consecutively and especially when you go live every day. That in itself helps to create bad habits.
But perhaps more importantly getting spring practice in the rear view mirror earlier will allow the players to have more time to heal up and get ready for fall camp.
“We’ll have more time to heal and get ready for the actual season,” Holgorsen said.
