MORGANTOWN — Looking back on the 2017 season, it’s still hard to believe that David Sills was playing his first full year as a wide receiver.
“I’ve never seen anybody just catch on to it that fast, ever,” WVU wide receivers coach Tyron Carrier said.
Shooting up the Mountaineers’ record book, Sills was one of the top wideouts in all of college football, hauling in a nation-leading 18 touchdown passes and finishing as a finalist to the Biletnikoff Award.
The story has been told again and again — the former quarterback prodigy turned disappointment turned into all-American wide receiver. But what can Sills do with an entire offseason to craft his skills and hope for an encore even better than his introduction on the outside?
Sills knows the work isn’t finished yet — there is still a lot to build on from last season, and it begins with keeping the chemistry he had with his teammates on offense.
“It starts with just having a good group of guys in the locker room,” Sills said. “A lot of guys have some great character, a lot of great leadership. Which I feel like this year we have great leadership, not that we didn’t have that in the past, I just feel that this year is very special with our locker room and the guys we have in there are good character.”
Named one of the team’s Iron Mountaineer Award winners — given to players for hard work in the strength and conditioning program during spring practice — Sills is trying to morph into a more traditional receiver’s body.
He gained a few pounds of muscle and lost some body fat along the way. The key was eating right and making sure he lifts to continue to add weight.
He weighed 203 pounds at 6-foot-4.
“I’m trying to eat a lot better food and I’m trying to trim some body fat and get a little bit bigger,” Sills said. “That’s what it’s been the whole offseason, but definitely in the summer is where I want to put on a few more pounds. I’ve gained a couple pounds and went down a couple body fat percentage, but in the summer, I’ll be able to eat more meals and work out a lot, and I think that’ll be a good time for me.”
This time a year ago, Sills just finished spring camp knowing he was a wide receiver, but didn’t know how well he’d adapt into the offense.
Now, with a year under his belt as proof that he can be a successful wide receiver at this level, spring camp was as important, if not more so, than last year.
“Definitely, every practice is very valuable, only getting 14 this year,” Sills said. “You want to take every time you get out there as a chance to get better. We did that this year, everybody came to practice ready to practice, ready to play with a good energy throughout the whole practice. We felt good about our spring ball, felt like we got a lot done and we feel good going into summer and into fall camp.”
