MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Josh Norwood may have learned a thing or two from his time spent with former West Virginia linebacker David Long last season.
Like with Long, though, that comes with some good and bad.
Long, now with the Tennessee Titans after declaring a year early for the NFL draft, was known for taking chances and more often than not, those chances paid off. Long finished his career tied for third in school history in tackles for loss, with 40.
Norwood, on the other hand, plays free safety after spending much of last year at cornerback. His ability to make plays down hill is a reason the coaching staff decided he was more suited for safety than corner after Kenny Robinson left the team. With Norwood’s ability, however, comes extra stress on the defensive coaching staff.
“If he gets his degree and finishes this thing up, I think he’s got a pretty good chance to be a coach some day,” defensive coordinator Vic Koenning said. “He’ll get paid back 10-fold for all the pain that he’s created as a player on little stuff and day-to-day stuff. When he gets out to practice now, he’s interesting to coach. But when he gets into coaching, he’ll get paid back 10-fold because he’ll have a bunch of guys that’ll challenge him, too.”
Head coach Neal Brown complimented Norwood for being the most physical player on the defense over the last three weeks, coming to a head in the Iowa State game, where he led the team with 10 tackles and one for a loss.
At just 5-foot-10 and 179 pounds, which is undersized for a safety, Koenning joked that he asks Norwood if he remembered to eat that day. But despite his size, Norwood has what Brown likes to call “contact courage.”
“He’ll put his body in there — he has zero fear about going in there and tackling big running backs or tight ends,” Brown said. “He just tries to get in there and make tackles.”
Brown believes the mold Norwood is built is becoming more of a trend across the Big 12 — a cornerback that is eventually moved to safety. Defensive coordinators are recruiting more corners, and if they struggle in man coverage, they’ll eventually move them to safety.
The difference for Norwood is how physical he can be. Through 5 1/2 games (he was ejected in the first half against N.C. state for targeting), he has 41 tackles — on pace to shatter his career total of 71 with 63 last season and eight in 2016 at Ohio State.
“We moved Josh there out of need because of attrition over the summer, but also knowing that he was physical,” Brown said. “That’s the thing I like about how he plays — he plays with an edge. It got him in trouble a little bit with the hit against N.C. State, but he puts his body in there and has contact courage.”
But the fact he isn’t afraid of contact is what makes Norwood one of the most important defenders for the Mountaineers, especially with injuries and youth in the secondary. It’s rubbed off on a few of his teammates, and Koenning said he’d love to have all 11 players on his defense play with the same physicality as Norwood does.
“The thing I like about Norwood is that that’s what he brings every day,” safety Sean Mahone said. “Seeing that helps with the energy for our team.”
