Numbers, development key for CB Garnett Hollis choosing West Virginia
Cornerback Garnett Hollis knew when he entered the transfer portal what he wanted to find in a college football program for his final season of eligibility.
After four years at Northwestern and with a degree in-tact, Hollis wanted to find a place situated in a college town that could offer a passionate fan base with a chance to win on the field as well as a good culture within the football program as well as a place he could be developed.
And once West Virginia got involved, Hollis felt that it could very well check all of those boxes for him.
But it wasn’t until he spoke with secondary coach ShaDon Brown and assistant secondary coach Jevaughn Codlin that he realized how true that was.
“They were focused on the right stuff,” he said.
Hollis has goals of making it to the next level and West Virginia made him feel that was possible.
“They made me feel I could do that. They made me feel I could be a top-round guy. They made me feel that I could come here and make plays,” Hollis said.
That’s because the Mountaineers coaches didn’t just say the right things, they had the example to back it up after the season that consensus all-American Beanie Bishop put together.
Bishop, like Hollis, transferred to Morgantown after spending time in the Big 10 at Minnesota and put together the best season of his college career and he is now with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The West Virginia coaching staff felt that Hollis could have much of that same success with the Mountaineers and they had the statistics to back it up.
“Just seeing the process and him going from Big 10 to Big 12 and seeing his stats and the plays he made, the transition he made, it was night and day,” Hollis said. “I only had 37 targets last year in the Big 10 but he made 24 pass breakups. So you can see the difference.”
Hollis also was able to speak to Bishop during his recruitment and he confirmed that the program had a great culture with coaches that really coached players to get the best out of them. That matched with what Hollis wanted as he wanted to find a school that was going to heighten his technique, improve his feet, and get him better with his ball skills.
He was also impressed with what he learned about how Brown teaches the techniques at the position and how they work in game situations.
“You can kind of get lost in what coaches tell you but him solidifying that information is something I didn’t take for granted at all,” he said.
Hollis took all of that along with the connection he forged with the coaches and made it his destination for his final year of college football. And he’ll try to follow up what Bishop put together.
“It was really a no-brainer to be behind a consensus all-American and try to replace him. I was up for the challenge, it was something I was looking forward to,” he said.
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