Relationship between Koonz and Trotter crucial for his development
As a four-star recruit with the family background that he has, Josiah Trotter could have played at a handful of the top schools in the country.
Instead, Trotter chose WVU, mostly because of relationships and the trust in those people has paid off after being sidelined for a year.
"Josiah was a kid that I think there was probably a couple different things. One, there might have been a little intimidation on people because of his dad and because of his brother and what is he going to be. He’s an excellent football player, played at a really young age at a great nationally ranked program and played in national games. It was one of those deals where there was a connection really early on with him. I called, he answered. One phone call turned into two phone calls and consistency. I think there was some other inconsistencies whatever the reasons and I think some people probably thought he was going to Clemson. I didn’t listen to any of that and he didn’t listen to any of that and it kind of just worked out," West Virginia inside linebackers coach Jeff Koonz said.
"When he came to campus, to our guys' credit, to our players' credit, to our staff’s credit and to the state of West Virginia and Morgantown, he got here and fell in love with the place and that’s pretty cool."
Trotter's relationship and trust he built with Koonz came to the forefront last year when he suffered a season-ending lower-body injury. He would miss the entirety of his true freshman season.
"I think he showed in his practices last spring that he was going to have an opportunity to really compete and to be a huge factor for us last year, no question," Koonz said.
While he wasn't working on the field with Trotter, he was sure to still include him off it. Part of that belief was Koonz was the promise he made to Trotter and many other families during their recruiting process about developing them as players no matter what.
"When we recruit guys to come here and we talk to them as players and we talk to their parents and families, we talk about developing them on the field and as people. That was no different, just because a guy is hurt doesn’t mean you can stop developing them. It’s my job, everybody in that room, whether they have a surgery and they’re out for the year or they’re playing on Saturday, it’s my job and what was asked of me to develop these guys and Josiah is no different and that’s would’ve been the same for anybody. Whether I thought he was going to be a starter as a whatever year in his career or he’s a five-play guy, It’s about development," Koonz said.
During the season last year, Koonz would take the lunch period to go over things with Trotter, trying to get everything he could out of Trotter even though he was far from being able to suit up on Saturdays.
"What we did was I tasked him with watching the opponent early in the week, writing down notes, so we could visit and we would dialogue during the week at lunch. We’d get a plate of food and go into my office and that's probably my half an hour or 45 minutes that I have to get my thoughts right for the afternoon after practice and I’d spend it with him. Go through the notes, okay, yup, you’re right on that, you’re right on that, now this one, here’s what we’re thinking on this backset against this formation, this call and he’d write a note down, okay, I understand that. It was his way to not just practice breaking down an opponent like what he’s going to have to do now for Penn State in two weeks but also how our defense matches different opponents and how our defense and our scheme matches different things," Koonz said.
"You wanted to maximize that so when he was able to come back in spring, he was way further along and wasn’t relying on what he naturally had as a true freshman because at the end of the day, he’s not a true freshman anymore, he’s a redshirt freshman. That goes the same along the lines with Ben Cutter and Trey Lathan and all those guys. So, to maximize that development and fulfill that promise, that’s what you do and that’s what we’re about."
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