West Virginia Mountaineers football: Five reasons to be cautious in 2019

West Virginia has undergone quite a bit of change in a short period of time with the coaching staff and then the roster due to graduation and departures. But with what has unfolded we look at reasons for caution heading in the 2019 season.

Here are five of those.

A transition. Regardless of how things turn out in a few years, anytime you deal with a coaching transition it usually involves a few hiccups along the way. Take for example the first season under Rich Rodriguez when the Mountaineers finished 3-8 before a run of success. There has been a change of culture and the way things operate in the Puskar Center which is common with any situation like this.

Still, given what was lost off the team a year ago and the relative inexperience across the board in a lot of other areas there is going to be some young players that need to step up. I’m not saying it can’t or won’t happen because it’s been done before but a transition, especially when you consider how much is changing on the defensive side of the ball, complicates things further. Neal Brown has said it multiple times that this football program is going to be great he just doesn’t know when and building to that could mean some bumps in the road. It will be interesting to see the ceiling with this team.

West Virginia doesn’t return its quarterback. Anytime you undergo a change at the most important position on the field it makes things tough. When you consider that the player you’re losing there finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy standings and was a two-year starter, it makes the pill even tougher to swallow. Add to the fact that through spring the Mountaineers have yet to determine a clear cut starter for a replacement and you have questions at a spot where you need to have as few as possible. Granted fall camp could help provide some much needed clarity here but it is at least somewhat concerning that neither Austin Kendall or Jack Allison could create any separation between one another over the course of 15 spring practices.

Neither quarterback has much experience at the college level with only one start and a less than 200 snaps between them in their college careers. That level of inexperience is always going to be a question mark until one of them proves that they are up for the challenge and can handle the job.

The schedule. West Virginia is one of four power five teams that will play 11 opponents from the power five ranks this year. Digging even further a total of six of those are going to be on the road. That doesn’t help when there is so much uncertainty overall with the changes with the roster. Yes, there are some teams in the Big 12 that are undergoing coaching changes as well but a non-conference schedule that includes a trip to Missouri and a home game against N.C. State on top of the conference slate isn’t going to be the easiest for Neal Brown to navigate in his first year.

Even the one non-power five opponent is going to be far from a cakewalk when you consider that James Madison returns 20 of 22 starters and is one of the top FCS programs annually. All in all, this is going to make for a challenging slate with very few games that you’d circle as an obvious win right now. That means that the Mountaineers are going to have their work cut out navigating it.

There are holes on the roster. This was going to be the case regardless if there was a coaching change or not but West Virginia has some holes to fill. At wide receiver there is one player that saw significant action returning in T.J. Simmons after the departure of Marcus Simms in the off-season, while another player in Temple transfer Sean Ryan isn’t even aware yet if he will be eligible for the 2019 season as he has requested a waiver. Even the graduate transfer brought into the program in George Campbell, while immensely talented, has little experience. The offensive line has two very important pieces returning in Josh Sills and Colton McKivitz, but the rest is relatively inexperienced players that are going to have to develop in their roles this fall. Mike Brown is the favorite at left guard for now, the open spot on the unit while Kelby Wickline has emerged at right tackle and Chase Behrndt at center. But even behind those five depth remains a very big concern there as well as there just isn’t much experience to pick from.

On the defensive side, West Virginia certainly has talent at spots but the safety position was dealt a major blow both with graduation but even more so when starting free safety Kenny Robinson and projected starting cat safety Derrek Pitts put their names into the transfer portal. That has forced some shuffling at that spot with Josh Norwood sliding over from corner and denting the depth there. The Mountaineers have been able to add some late pieces there but again most of it will be inexperienced in a passing league where good safety play is a necessity for success.

Even some of the players expected to step up have some question marks around them. This was going to be a year where there were holes in many spots and now the question becomes can they be filled?

Who emerges as leaders? Leadership is always a tricky topic when discussing a football team and there are a lot of different ways to skin a cat to accomplish it. Still, West Virginia was dealt a blow with the departures of a bunch of the core of leadership off last year’s team with departures due to graduation and then even more exited the program during the off-season. That’s a lot for a young team to take and while the challenge now will be for others to step up being a leader is a lot more than just calling yourself one. Which players are going to step up in the middle of games and push their teammates, which ones will do it by being vocal or by example? Those are questions that won’t really be found out until the bullets start flying but several players have started to assume these roles on the team such as T.J. Simmons on offense and others like Reese Donahue on the defensive side.

Finding leadership from the players and outside of the coaches is a fundamental part of every successful football team and while there are candidates there to make the leap it is now about doing it.

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