West Virginia's defense has a plethora of new faces on the defensive side of the ball, but three of their few returners have provided some stability for defensive coordinator Zac Alley.
Linebackers Reid Carrico and Ben Cutter are two of those returners, while defensive lineman Eddie Vesterinen is the other who has helped Alley.
"I think leadership, mainly. We've got some really good seniors, and I think Ben's a junior, but some really good senior linebackers in that room that provide every single day that juice, that leadership. I've never been a part of a great defense that didn't have great linebackers," Alley said.
Cutter finished last season with 39 total tackles, while Carrico had 54 tackles on the year.
"I think that Reid does a great job of calling guys up all the time and making sure that they know the standards of the things I want to get done. He's a guy that's fully bought into that. I think he believes in the culture and the mindset that we have. And I think he likes it. He fits that mindset and so I'm very proud of him and excited for the future for what he'll look like this year," Alley said.
Both guys are learning a new scheme on defense, but they are starting to get aligned with Alley more and more.
"I think our guys understand what we're trying to do more and more. A couple of them just got to make some competitive plays out on the edges and the perimeter. Coach Rod does a great job of getting one-on-ones in space out with a blocker, those types of things. And so I thought our tackling in space could have been better, a little more physical, setting edges out there. But as a whole, we've improved," Alley said.
Vesterinen was supposed to be out of eligibility last season, but a season-ending injury prematurely ended his season, allowing him to come back this year.
"You talk about a tough dude, I mean, I think Eddie was in the Army overseas beforehand. You can't yell at him enough. He's awesome just as far as the mindset, the consistency. He's just consistent. He comes in every single day. He goes to work. He plays gritty. He plays tough inside. He gives you some juice in pass rush and he's going to be a stalwart in there for us," Alley said.
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- WDE
- DUAL
- ATH
- C
- SDE
- DT
- SDE
- ATH
- TE
- SDE
