West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez addressed the media following the ninth practice of spring football. WVSports.com provides a summary of what was said.
--Shorter practice today and they earned a break. Proud of the work that he's done and it's been a pretty good spring so far.
--Blaine Stewart got an opportunity to go back to the NFL. Over the next week, he will interview some potential candidates but they are well positioned to take care of it. They're in good shape.
--Rodriguez said they could get away with not replacing the position but he plans to replace it. The recruiting piece is going to be a big part of it and he wants to find the guy that does the best job recruiting.
--Rodriguez wants a good recruiter that can go anywhere. It's more positional related than anything and it helps if you have a history of it.
--You have to declare the 10 that you send on the road. Rodriguez said they will do that when they go on the road and have the ten best on the road but everybody in the program recruits.
--The thought might be the younger coaches will be on the road, but he has been around some older coaches that do that. He doesn't want the coordinators on the road during the season but Zac Alley is a really good recruiter so he doesn't know if he wants to take him off.
--Got to work with Ryan Garrett first at Ole Miss and loved his energy. He brought him with him to Louisiana-Monroe and Jacksonville State and he is a hard working recruiter and a great young coach. Ryan has been in the system pretty much the same last five or six years and he knows it well and the whys and the ins and outs. Most coaches, when they move from spot to spot they bring a core group with them and know the value.
--Rodriguez said that they have everything they need and then some when it comes to the facilities. When you come into this building for the first time as a recruit or a family you can see there is a commitment to football.
--Rodriguez jokes that he's one of the largest donors to the basketball practice facility because of his buyout.
--Rodriguez said they really need to evaluate and he's talked to his coaches and personnel and they need to get a plan to get down to 105. They need to have the best 105 that they can have here. They have to look at the roster in totality and what they need to do with the portal coming up and the moves they need to make.
--He has to be honest with all of the players because of the roster size. You need another spot because of the roster size and this is going to be really hard.
--Jahiem White practiced today and could do a lot more when he gets back. But all the new guys have been getting a lot of reps so it's good to get them reps to get them evaluated. They're going to look at every position in the portal to see if they can help.
--Jaden Bray has done some good things but the outside wide receiver spots are open. That's one of the positions they are taking close evaluations on. Preston Fox can play inside or outside. Rodriguez thinks they may have one or two taller guys that can go up and get the ball but you always want more.
--Rodriguez said Cam Vaughn never took and reps at quarterback and from the time he got there he played wideout at Jacksonville State. He's fast and a really competitive guy but he's going to get stronger too.
--The part about playing fast is a large part of coaching and for them to get the players to understand being a faster thinker and analyzing things quickly.
--Rodriguez said that he thinks as coaches he's not doing the same old stuff. There's a lot of smart guys in coaching and you can get a lot of ideas and get creative.
--Rodriguez feels that if you're a coach at any level you should be looking at what's out there. There is some innovative stuff. You have to get used to rejection because recruits reject you all the time but keep looking.
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