Transfers fitting right in at a higher level in the WVU secondary
This offseason West Virginia has revamped their secondary with the help of the transfer portal.
The Mountaineers hit all levels of college football from other Power Five to Group of Five to FCS transfers this cycle and that experience is playing out how they expected.
"The game experience helps anytime you’ve played. What you always want is are they strong enough, big enough to play in this league if they've been at a lower level maybe a [group of five] or FCS kid. The game experience is invaluable but the thing that’s different between a transfer and a freshman is just their overall play strength," WVU secondary coach and co-defensive coordinator ShaDon Brown said.
"Maybe not their weight room numbers but their ability to play down the field against a bigger, stronger wide receiver that may bump them or knock them around outside or a big tight end in the slot like Kole Taylor does. If you’re a younger player it’s really hard from a strength standpoint, not necessarily a skill standpoint. So that's where you see the difference is the transfer guys are a little bit bigger, a little stronger, and just more mature."
Three of those lower-level transfers WVU acquired in the offseason were Ayden Garnes from Duquesne, an FCS level school as well as Dontez Fagan from UNC Charlotte and Kekeoura Tarnue from Jacksonville State, both are Group of Five schools. All three guys have impressed Brown early on in fall camp and he can see the experience with them.
Fagan is as experienced as they come. He spent 2019-22 at two different junior colleges before making it to the Division I level last season. There, he had 21 tackles, four pass breakups and an interception.
"Dontez Fagan came in from UNC Charlotte, he's a corner. Strong built kid, can really run, plays the ball down the field really well, can play bump and run. Probably a little better than he plays off-coverage just because he wasn't asked to play a lot of zone at his previous stop. He has the physicality to his game and hes not afraid of contact. He'll definitely have a role for us," Brown said.
Tarnue also started at the junior college level before transferring up to Jacksonville State and now to WVU. Last season, Tarnue compiled 48 tackles and three interceptions. Brown is high on his speed but the learning curve for Tarnue is how he handles being a full-time safety.
"Kekoura came over from Jacksonville State, he’s playing cat safety for us right now. He’s a big, strong kid and he looks like a safety when he walks in and he can really run as well," Brown said. "His deficiencies we’re working on is playing the ball in the deep part of the field just because it’s been new in how we do it. He has really good ball skills but just playing the ball at safety. He played corner at Jacksonville State and was moved to safety in different packages. So now he’s a primary safety he just hasn’t done it as much. He's going to be a guy that's in the mix as well."
Garnes played against WVU last season at Duquesne and now he will be playing in a Mountaineer uniform one year later.
Garnes has turned heads specifically with his coverage and strength thus far in camp.
"Ayden Garnes is playing really well. I don't know if they've caught a ball on Ayden Garnes through five practices. He’s playing really well, he’s playing the ball in the deep part of the field extremely well and that’s an area he had to get better," Brown said.
"At Duquesne he could play with his eyes in the backfield and still, be first team all-league but he can’t at this level. He had to learn that in the spring. When you look at his stature, he's 6-foot-0, 179-pounds. He was 163-pounds when he arrived in January. But the thing he is one of the strongest pound-for-pound guys in the DB room. When you look at him you think, he's a slender-built, lean muscle mass kid but he’s really strong and he plays like it. He’s been outstanding. He's got a chance to be a plus player in this league."
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