MORGANTOWN — Special teams have been a strength during Neal Brown’s time at WVU and 2023 has the potential to be its best season yet.
Among the Mountaineers’ specialists heading into 2023, punter Oliver Straw and long snapper Austin Brinkman have both been named to the watch list for their positions’ Player of the Year award.
Straw, a sophomore from Australia, was named to the Ray Guy Award watch list following a great freshman season in which he averaged 42.5 yards on 49 punts. He downed 18 kicks inside the opponent’s 20-yard line and had eight punts travel over 50 yards.
“I think we really figured out what he was going to be good at early on and we really hung our hat on what he was going to be good at,” special teams coordinator Jeff Koonz said. “He has the ability to do so many different things, but to ask him as a first-year player at a Power 5 conference to do all of those things at an elite level, it’s not fair to him. We’ll be able to add some more on him (this year).”
Brinkman, a junior, drew rave reviews from coaches last season despite playing one of the least-visible positions on the field. He was recognized this offseason by being named to the Patrick Mannelly Award watch list for the nation’s best long snapper.
“The praise is definitely well-deserved,” Straw said of Brinkman. “He’s probably one of the best, if not the best, snapper in the country. Sometimes he doesn’t believe that of himself, but he’s just consistent beyond any means. He knows exactly where the ball needs to be and can put it on a little penny if he needs to.”
At kicker, West Virginia needs to replace Casey Legg, who was 33-for-38 on field goals the last two seasons. Competing for the job are Georgia State transfer Michael Hayes and redshirt-sophomore Danny King.
“Michael’s done a really good job,” Koonz said. “He was really, really productive where he was before he came here. I’m excited about him, he’s got experience and he’s kicked in a live setting in front of a big crowd and big atmosphere. The cool thing is, Danny King is competing with him and is having the best spring that he’s had since I’ve been here. I feel really good about where we’re going to come out of spring and fall camp.”
Hayes, a redshirt-junior, punted for two seasons at Georgia State before taking on double duties as punter and placekicker last season. With Straw established at WVU, Hayes will focus solely on kicking with the Mountaineers. He made 41-of-42 extra points and 11-of-14 field goals for the Panthers last season. King has seen limited game action, making four kickoffs last season.
The biggest difference in WVU’s special teams will be in the return game in 2023. After disappointing results in that area last year, the Mountaineers brought in two transfers with experience, Ja’Shaun Poke from Kent State and Beanie Bishop from Minnesota.
“On our kickoff return last year, we really made a bunch of bad decisions. I think our average starting field position on kickoff returns was at the 21-yard line,” WVU head coach Neal Brown said. “We went out and invested in two returners. Beanie Bishop’s returned a lot of kicks and Ja’Shaun Poke’s been a high-level kickoff returner. We’re going to put those guys back there and we’re going to coach them up to make better decisions.”
Poke, a senior, averaged 29.4 yards per return last season for the Golden Flashes and has returned 43 kicks in his career. Bishop was not involved last season at Minnesota, but returned 29 kicks at his previous school, Western Kentucky, averaging 24.6 yards.
At punt returner, WVU brings back Preston Fox, who took over those duties late last season. Fox averaged 8.5 yards on six punt returns, with a long of 27.
“Our field position differential has got to be better,” Brown said. “We got better in the return game once we went with Preston. I thought he did a nice job later in the year.”
Other specialists on the roster are redshirt-freshman kicker RJ Kocan, redshirt-sophomore punter Ronan Swope, redshirt-junior punter and long snapper Leighton Bechdel and redshirt-freshman long snapper Macquire Moss.
Projected Depth Chart
Kicker
Michael Hayes, R-Jr. (Georgia State)
Danny King, R-So.
RJ Kocan, R-Fr.
Punter
Oliver Straw, So.
Leighton Bechdel, R-Jr.
Ronan Swope, R-So.
Long Snapper
Austin Brinkman, Jr.
Macquire Moss, R-Fr.
Kick Returner
Ja’Shaun Poke, Sr. (Kent State)
Beanie Bishop, R-Sr. (Minnesota)
Punt Returner
Preston Fox, R-So.
Beanie Bishop, R-Sr. (Minnesota)
The Dominion Post will be previewing WVU football by position in the lead-up to the 2023 season. Previews of offensive positions will be published on Saturdays and defensive position previews on Sundays throughout the summer.
