MORGANTOWN — The West Virginia University football team kicked things up a notch Saturday, putting on pads for the first time this spring practice season.
Head coach Rich Rodriguez said that out of the entire practice, the Mountaineers went about 10 to 15 minutes in live contact. Even in that short time, he said he was able to learn plenty about the players he has on his roster.
One of the things he was able to learn was that the potential for the hard edge he preaches was there at times, but not all the time.
“I saw some pretty good moments where we looked like we were playing with our edge,” he said. “And then I saw too many periods of softness, and we’ll have to get that fixed.”
For the spring, there won’t be any full tackling, Rodriguez said, no cut tackles or cut blocks. The players will practice in “thud” mode, where they’ll stay playing high and going full speed, but when they make contact, they won’t be taking their opponent to the ground.
The coaches will have plenty of opportunities to evaluate where the players stand before preseason practices begin in August. Rodriguez said his staff will need to use all of them. The evaluation period, in his mind, can last the entire spring, especially this one, his first spring practice season back with the Mountaineers since his first stint from 2001-07.
“There’s multiple things you want to get done,” he said. “The teaching of your system and schemes and technique, but also how we operate.
“The first spring is always the hardest and always been the ugliest wherever I’ve been,” Rodriguez added.
Spring game details
Those first-spring hurdles are why the Gold-Blue Spring Showcase, scheduled for 1 p.m. April 5 at Milan Puskar Stadium, won’t look much like a conventional spring football game. Rodriguez said the WVU coaching staff will need every available opportunity to install its new system, including April 5.
“The spring game, we’ll have a little fun,” he said. “We’ll do some stuff out there and engage with the fans, but we’re not going to do a true scrimmage or game from that standpoint. We just have so many other things we’ve got to get done.”
Additional information on the event – such as tickets, fan activities, parking, radio broadcasts and streaming – will be announced later.
More tight ends
One change Rodriguez has made in the years since his first tenure in Morgantown was more use of tight ends. In previous seasons, he said his offense more often used “10 personnel,” a formation with four receivers, a running back and no tight ends. Now he employs more of an “11 personnel” formation, three receivers, a running back and a tight end.
“Now we’re in 11 personnel probably 70% of the time,” he said. “And then sometimes we have two tight ends and sometimes three tight ends. We have evolved into using those guys a lot more.”
The Mountaineers have seven tight ends listed on their spring roster – freshman Jackson Accuardi, sophomore Jack Sammarco, redshirt sophomore Noah Braham, redshirt junior Colin McBee, senior Jacob Barrick and redshirt seniors Greg Genross and Johnny Pascuzzi.
— Story by Derek Redd
