The way that spring practice operates on college campuses has undergone changes in recent years. And it’s a direct reflection of the challenges of roster management.
Just five to ten years ago the focus was on getting as many reps as possible for the first and second team units on any given roster, especially on the offensive and defensive lines. The former is especially important to allow chemistry to develop between the group.
But in today’s game of college football there are so many moving parts with the rise of the transfer portal and players being added to the roster late that it forces coaches to maximize their time.
“You rotate guys because everybody needs to learn to play with everybody because you don’t know what the fall will look like,” head coach Neal Brown said.
West Virginia has also placed a stronger emphasis on playing more 11-on-11 football not only to get valuable experience but to keep energy levels up throughout the course of the spring.
The Mountaineers have structured the spring in essentially two parts with the first half basically focused on drills, fundamentals and group work. Then things shift to more team and 11-on-11 football in order to get good-on-good reps throughout the 14-practices leading up to the spring game.
“We’re in the evaluation piece. We work drills for skill development and now we’re into team evaluations trying to get a good picture of what our personnel is,” Brown said.
The goal of that during the spring is to take those high competition reps in low pressure situations to determine which players have taken the next steps in the development. Which players have gone from redshirt seasons or being a backup to taking on a lead role? Are there any off-the-radar guys that are now ready to be core special teams players?
“Those are the kind of decisions that are made,” Brown said.
When it comes to the special teams aspect, West Virginia has seen several players take a leap this spring such as running back Jaylen Anderson who has embraced being a complete football player and helping the team in any way that he can. Redshirt freshman tight end TJ Johnson is another that has impressed in controlled competitions this spring. Others such as Colin McBee, Reid Carrico, Zae Jennings, Jordan Jackson and Derek Berlitz also have made strong impressions there.
The Mountaineers also plan to work on some different looks and schemes that they could see this upcoming season from opponents on the schedule. The goal of that is to avoid getting into bad habits just repping your own schemes and to prepare both units for the season.
And while the roster is admittedly not complete as the Mountaineers will welcome a number of freshmen in May and any additional transfer pieces, the coaching staff believes that the roster is currently as ready-made as it’s been since Brown has been atop the program.
That is especially evident on special teams as the Mountaineers were doing a four on four drill with punt and punt return and the staff commented that it was the most competitive it has been.
“Which is a credit to the overall depth and guys understanding the techniques that we’re teaching in those areas,” Brown said.
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