Recruiting comes into focus during WVU bye week

Bye weeks are always important for several reasons and perhaps one of the biggest outside of an opportunity to rest and mend wounds is recruiting.

Away from the typical weekly grind of preparing for opponents and readying their own team for games, college coaches will hit the road starting today in order to evaluate potential prospects across the nation.

And that will be no different at West Virginia.

“Go recruit. There’s no such thing as an off-week,” Holgorsen said.

Part of the equation is making the brand visible in high schools and junior colleges across the country, while the other is valuable on-site evaluation that gives coaches a chance to see potential talent.

Holgorsen will be spending his few days in the state of Mississippi mining the junior college circuit alongside offensive coordinator Joe Wickline, who served as an assistant at that level in the past.

That area has been generous to the Mountaineers in the past, including signing running back Justin Crawford in the last cycle after getting into the picture late with the NJCAA offensive player of the year.

“I’m going to go to Mississippi on Thursday and try to find another Justin Crawford,” Holgorsen said.

Holgorsen and Wickline plan to hit multiple schools down there during their time and even though there isn’t a pressing need for junior college players in this cycle, the Mountaineers will fill needs.

“It’s like it always is. Our take is the same as it’s been for the last three to four years,” he said.

The West Virginia assistants also will be hitting the road across the country to take in games of high school prospects. The schedule for that is typically set a month in advance and will take the assistants to different locations throughout the nation.

Running backs coach JaJuan Seider will be heading to Delaware and Louisiana, while the other assistants will be spread out at high schools or junior colleges in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia and Texas.

West Virginia currently has a total of 14 commitments in the class of 2017, currently ranking as the 45th best class in the nation and the fourth best in the Big 12 Conference.