West Virginia players understand they can only control, well, what they can control.

So, despite being picked last in the 14-team Big 12 pre-season media poll the work has continued to gear up for the season with the players taking charge of their own development. They can't stop what people say outside the football building.

They can control their preparation.

“Really, it’s just about holding each other accountable as a unit. If we see one person doing the wrong thing or wrong technique, we’ll call them out immediately and say that we need to do that better or redo it,” offensive lineman Doug Nester said. “It’s been great this off-season.”

Because of the rules, coaches can only spend so much time with the players which means that accountability lies at the feet of those on the team. It’s a maturity deal for those on the team and speaks to how the Mountaineers have come together as a team in many different respects.

And while there is nothing that can be done in July to change the minds of those on the outside, West Virginia certainly is using the pre-season poll as motivation to gear up for the season.

“We’re hearing it a lot from strength coaches. Coaches like using it as motivation right now during our workouts but once the season starts it will fade away,” he said.

Linebacker Lee Kpogba took it even a step further.

“It shows what everybody thinks about us. Just being around the guys and the facility I can promise we’re not finishing last. We see it. It gets under our skin. Nobody wants to be picked last,” he said.

Zach Frazier is one of the leaders on the West Virginia football team and has tried to handle that role by example with a focus on what he did wrong individually and working on ways to improve it. In the off-season, Frazier cut up all of his bad plays into a cutup where he can highlight what needs to get better.

For Frazier, that means playing pass protection with length, working on his punch, using his hands, being lower in the run game and avoiding hopping.

“The little details matter,” he said.

And the hope is that same approach spills over not only to the rest of the offensive line but the football team as a whole. Up front West Virginia has had much of the same group for the past three years and there are high expectations on what they can accomplish.

“It’s always pushing each other every day whether it’s workouts during the summer. I try to nudge them any way I can. That’s what makes this group special is we’re able to push each other without getting our feelings hurt,” Frazier said.

The same can be said on the defensive side of the ball where West Virginia players have also stepped up in leadership roles and taking responsibility with the group. Defensive lineman Sean Martin believes that the Mountaineers have come a long way since the spring and are excited to showcase the improvement.

Last season simply wasn’t a good one for West Virginia on defense and the focus is on changing that. The group has also been closer than they were at any point last year, which has helped with accountability.

“We just all clicked once we all. It all happened through spring ball. We go to the pool, cookout and talk to the guys. We’re tighter as a team,” Kpogba said.

West Virginia understands that they can only control what’s in front of them and that means taking the season one game at a time and trying to stack wins.

“We want to prove it to everybody, but we have to prove it to ourselves first,” safety Aubrey Burks said.

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