WVU focused on team unity
A big part of the success of a college football team is team unity.
Coming off a 10-3 campaign on the field it’s safe to say that the Mountaineers have achieved the first part of that statement. But what about the second?
Speak to anybody associated with the football program, or even the recruits that are considering joining it, and the conversations consistently comes back to the family atmosphere.
That’s fostered a number of ways. But it all started when head coach Dana Holgorsen took some initiative to push things in that direction when he arrived in Morgantown.
Holgorsen recalls putting up a map of Morgantown and pinning the locations of where each of the players on the football team lived. The results of the experiment were quite literally everywhere with some in close proximity and others being five miles away from their classes with no car on campus to transport them back and forth.
“Hello?” Holgorsen chimed in.
Holgorsen also noticed that many of the players choose not to live with one another. So the football program implemented a housing policy where players now live within a certain area around the stadium.
That has improved not only attendance, but also more players started to room together.
“A lot of our guys live together,” Holgorsen said.
It’s also came from a group of assistant coaches that truly care about the program and the development of the players under them. But It’s not just the assistants either, it comes from the strength coaches, academic support staff and down the line.
“A lot of meals together. We can feed them a lot more now,” Holgorsen added.
The players also know what to expect when they enter the football facilities and there are no surprises. But perhaps the biggest part of the formula is simply targeting “good kids,” on the recruiting trail and not being afraid to dismiss those that don’t live up to the standards of the program.
It’s all part of a formula designed to bring the team together and generate success. Currently, West Virginia is succeeding in both departments.