Safety Anthony Wilson doesn’t have to look far to find the inspiration for his physical brand of play.

Just a quick glance down at his cell phone’s lock screen will do the trick. That’s because it holds a picture of former West Virginia safety Karl Joseph inside it.

Wilson had long idolized Joseph long before he was even on the radar of the Mountaineers and given the fact that the two were similar in stature, he saw himself in his style of play. Both play with a hard edge and while Wilson stands just 5-foot-9, Joseph was listed an inch taller, he doesn’t play like it.

“Seeing how he played the game physically and made plays on the ball,” Wilson said. “That’s something I drew to and want to emulate in my game.”

It’s something that’s been ingrained in him since little league, and he’s always had the will to tackle.

Wilson made a name for himself in that department at Georgia Southern where he is coming off a season where he finished with 101 tackles to go along with 1.5 sacks and an interception. But the South Carolina native wanted the opportunity to showcase his skills on a bigger stage.

So naturally when West Virginia came calling, there was immediate interest given his interest in Joseph. Given his production there were plenty of other schools involved as well, but the Mountaineers coaching staff gave him a good feeling about not only them but the program.

After a visit to campus, it was essentially a wrap.

“First thing I thought of is I get to sit in the same meeting room as Karl Joseph did, walk through the same door,” he said.

And while Wilson has yet to meet Joseph in person, he is excited for that opportunity, too.

West Virginia coaches were equally excited about the marriage given how he approaches the game.

“He had a bunch of plays on the ball. He produced; he was physical. You never saw lack of effort. We don’t just watch a highlight tape we’re going to watch everything. The good the bad, you never worried about effort, you could see him communicating on film,” safeties coach Dontae Wright said.

And after arriving in May to begin the next chapter in his career, Wilson certainly hasn’t disappointed. Everything that the coaching staff saw on film has played out on the practice field.

Wilson doesn’t fit the narrative of what you would draw on the board in terms of his stature, but according to Wright he is everything you want out of a football player.

Given his experience, Wilson can bounce around to several different spots in the defense from free safety to cat safety to even nickel. Wilson has bought such a physical element that Wright has even had to dial it back some when he has collided with wide receivers.

“That’s your teammate, you need him on Saturday,” Wright reminds him.

Finding that balance of being aggressive but controlled will be the key for Wilson as he must hit with his facemask in the strike zone to avoid any issues that weren’t necessarily around when Joseph was delivering big hits on the sideline. One play that he is very familiar with is the shot at Oklahoma.

Wilson now has his chance to prove himself at the highest level and will get to do it in the same stomping grounds as one of his idols on the football field.

Where that takes him will be up to Wilson, but you can expect physicality to be a staple.

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