MORGANTOWN — West Virginia led the Big 12 with 33 sacks last season, but only seven of those sacks came from edge players, and only 2.5 of those sacks return for the 2024 season.
Wanting more production from its edge rushers, West Virginia brought in assistant coach Vic Cabral this offseason to coach outside linebackers.
With Jared Bartlett and Brayden Dudley both entering the transfer portal this offseason, that left Tyrin Bradley as the lone returner at WVU’s spur position, formerly called bandit.
Bradley, who transferred up from FCS Abilene Christian last year, registered 2.5 sacks during his first season in Morgantown, and had a highlight in the team’s bowl game, snagging a one-handed interception.
“I’ve really enjoyed getting to know him,” Cabral said of Bradley. “He’s got this fire inside of him, he wants to be great and he wants to lead.”
Bradley was super productive at the FCS level, tallying 49 tackles and four sacks in 2022, but the jump in competition was bigger than he initially expected.
“Coming here was night and day for me,” Bradley said. “I was able to run around guys at the FCS level and coming here, guys are just a lot better. Coming from being one of the best athletes, it was different. I had to come here and learn some new techniques and lean on my techniques.”
With his experience making the transition last year, Bradley will be able to help WVU’s newest FCS import, Ty French from Gardner-Webb.
“We relate a lot,” Bradley said of French. “I tell him all the time he’s going to make plays just off of being an athlete. His production at the level he was at speaks for itself.”
French set the program records with 34.4 career sacks and 61 career tackles for loss at Gardner-Webb. He posted 9.5 sacks in 2023 and the hope is he will bring an injection of energy into the Mountaineers’ pass rush.
“He’s been awesome,” Cabral said. “His body language, his energy, his athleticism, all that stuff has been great.”
At 6-1 and 225 pounds, French is not small by normal standards, but he is for an edge rusher, which is why he landed at the FCS level in the first place.
“It’s probably a size thing with him,” Cabral said. “He’s probably been told for a long time that he’s too small. I think that’s what fuels a lot of guys, especially guys like him. When you have as much production as he had at Gardner-Webb…that’s good no matter how you slice it.”
WVU also added a true freshman to the room in Obinna Onwuka, who enrolled early and went through spring practices.
Other outside linebackers include senior Taurus Simmons, who has played in 36 career games, redshirt sophomores Jackson Biser, who transferred from Shepherd, and Harry Hilvert, redshirt freshmen Oryend Fisher and Donovan Grayson and true freshman Zyir Daniel.
Projected Depth Chart
Spur
Tyrin Bradley Jr., Sr
Ty French, Sr (Gardner-Webb)
Obinna Onwuka, Fr
Edge
Taurus Simmons, Sr
Oryend Fisher, R-Fr
Zyir Daniel, Fr
Jackson Biser, R-So
Harry Hilvert, R-So
Donovan Grayson, R-Fr
