MORGANTOWN — With the recent changes to the NCAA rulebook that allows players to transfer without repercussions, it’s easy for someone buried on the depth chart to say “see ya” and held elsewhere.
That was the furthest thing from WVU linebacker Exree Loe’s mind the last four seasons.
The last remaining member of the Mountaineers’ 2017 recruiting class, Loe has switched positions, been passed over and sat behind transfers who came in and reshuffled Loe to a backup role.
He could have bolted at the first opportunity, but instead stuck around in what is now now his fifth year with the program.
“I could have got down on myself those first couple of years when nothing was happening. I’m not a quitter. I’m not going to give up just because something isn’t going my way,” Loe said. “Life doesn’t treat you fair so you just have to keep your head down and keep working and once you get to that point, you still have to work because there’s room for improvement.”
Now, with Tony Fields spending just one year at WVU, Josh Chandler-Semedo moved from “Will” linebacker to “Mike,” leaving the door wide open for Loe to earn a starting spot at Will, a position he’s played for four years, even though that is far from what he expected when he came to WVU.
Loe was a star receiver and cornerback for Greater Johnstown (Pa.) High, but his ceiling was definitely on the defensive side of the ball. Even though Loe thought he was going to be a safety in college, former WVU defensive coordinator Tony Gibson had different plans during the 2018 season.
“He said, ‘I think your way on the field is becoming a backer,’ and just me being a young guy, I just wanted to get on the field and experience what it’s like to play on this level so I committed myself to it and just went after it,” Loe said.
Outside of responsibilities — playing more in the box and closer to the light of scrimmage — Loe had to change his body significantly, but one of the biggest reasons Gibson wanted to move Loe from safety to linebacker was because he had the body type to gain weight.
He weighed less than 200 pounds in high school and was just over 200 during his redshirt freshman season in 2017. He was able to gain about 20 pounds when he switched positions.
“It took about six months to get my weight up because I was only 200 pounds,” Loe said. “They wanted me 215-218, so I had to eat consistently. It took me probably a good three to six months to get where I needed to be.”
Loe is the favorite to win the Will starting spot, but he is battling Penn State transfer Lance Dixon, who is learning the system but has the talent to compete.
Still, head coach Neal Brown wants Loe to grab hold of this opportunity.
“I think this is his time,” Brown said. “He battled a foot injury all year last year. He’s been one of the best special teams players now going on three years. We know he’s going to be a contributor on special teams. He’s going to be a great, not a good special teams player but I think it’s time for him. I think it’s a good opportunity for him in this preseason camp to earn quality playing time on defense.”
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