MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Center will be a position at the center of attention when West Virginia gets spring drills underway on March 19.
The Mountaineers have no returning experience at center this spring. Two-year starter Matt Jones departed for FCS Youngstown State, where he will play as a graduate transfer. His backup, Jacob Buccigrossi, had surgery last week and isn’t expected back any time before August camp.
That leaves junior Chase Behrndt and redshirt freshman Briason Mays as the next men up at the position. Behrndt has played at tackle and guard in his West Virginia career, including three starts at guard last season. Mays has yet to take a college snap.
“Center is as important a spot for us as any on either side of the ball [this spring],” Brown said. “Those will be the first two to get a crack at it.”
Overall, the offensive line will be bolstered by the addition of one more player this spring. Redshirt freshman James Gmiter is switching from the defensive line. Gmiter was a two-way player who also played offensive tackle in high school.
Other spring position switches
Quandarius Qualls is moving from outside linebacker to defensive end, though according to Brown he will be “very limited” as he continues to recover from last spring’s knee injury that wiped out his 2018 season.
“I knew him really well from junior college,” said WVU defensive line coach Jordan Lesley. “And one thing he did better than anything was rush the passer. There’s some technical things he’ll have to learn against the run game, but I told him ‘Let’s get back to what you’re good at. Let’s focus on that.’ And he’s all on-board.”
There is plenty of juggling in the back end of the secondary. Junior Jake Long is moving from cornerback to safety. So is early enrollee Kerry Martin, who signed with WVU as a cornerback. Martin is a graduate of Capital High in Charleston who started school at WVU in January.
As a result of the changes, one of WVU’s incoming freshmen is expected to move out of the secondary. According to outside linebackers coach Al Pogue, four-star signee Osita Smith will move from safety to outside linebacker when he arrives on campus this summer.
“Great length, can run a little bit,” Pogue said of Smith’s attributes. “And really, he’s a down safety in our scheme.”
Injury updates
Buccigrossi isn’t the only Mountaineer on the mend this spring.
Tight end Mike O’Laughlin, who is in position to become West Virginia’s No. 2 option at the position behind Jovani Haskins, won’t participate in contact drills as he works back from a knee injury.
“O’Laughlin will be able to do some stuff running routes, but won’t do anything in a competitive scenario,” Brown said.
Linebacker Charlie Benton is another player who doesn’t figure to see contact as he begins the process of working back into football shape. Brown said Benton is “beginning to move around.”
Fellow linebacker Dylan Tonkery, who missed six of West Virginia’s last seven games due to injury, will go into the spring “close to full speed.”
Yet another banged-up linebacker, Adam Hensley, is out for the spring.
Spring goals
Brown noted that West Virginia will begin spring practice without a depth chart.
“There’s nothing to base it off of,” Brown said. “Everybody’s got a clean slate.”
Brown cited the following five goals for the Mountaineers this spring:
Establish expectations in how we practice
Identify personnel and create a depth chart
Continue to teach base fundamentals — “This is one of my favorite times because there’s not a game to prepare for. It’s really about the basics of football.”
Continue to teach the base scheme in all three phases.
Competition in several different ways — offense vs. defense, and within the team rooms.
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