COMMENTARY
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — His junior college sabbatical complete, David Sills doesn’t view 2016 as a wasted season.
Yes, he missed out on 10 wins at West Virginia, and delayed his development as a receiver, the position at which coaches think he may have an NFL future. Yet Sills sees usefulness in the time he spent at El Camino College, a few months that satisfied his quarterback craving and gave him “a clear mind” before seeking a return to WVU.
“If I had stayed here, maybe I would’ve regretted not giving my all at quarterback,” he said. “I wasn’t ready to give it up yet. It was something I needed to do for me.
“Going out there kind of opened my eyes that I’m supposed to be a receiver,” he said. “I think that’s what God was telling me to do.”
It’s also what Tyron Carrier was telling Sills to do last year, when they briefly overlapped during spring practice. West Virginia’s receivers coach saw a 6-foot-4 frame, long-striding speed and good hand-eye coordination. He also saw a kid not yet convinced to let go of his quarterback dream.
“I had about three weeks with him (last spring) and I begged him to become a receiver,” Carrier said, ”but he didn’t want to listen.”
Sills told coaches he wanted to give quarterback another chance, an opportunity that wouldn’t materialize at West Virginia with Skyler Howard prepping for his senior season and Will Grier waiting on deck. So Sills headed for the California juco ranks, and put up decent numbers for El Camino.
Then one night in early December, Carrier received a text from Daikiel Shorts, the Mountaineers’ top pass-catcher last season and a former high school teammate of Sills.
“Daikiel hit me up saying ‘David wants to come play receiver for you,’ and I said ‘Oh now he listens.’”
Within days, Sills was headed back to West Virginia, warmly welcomed by teammates and coaches who understood why he left.
“They all love him,” Carrier said.
This time around, Sills sports a new No. 13 jersey — his old No. 15 belongs to punter Billy Kinney — and he has a new focus on playing receiver. No longer splitting time with the quarterbacks room, Sills is digging into route-running techniques, working to lower his pad level and learning how to manipulate defensive backs.
Watching his freshman cutups — the over-the-shoulder bomb he caught at Baylor, the game-winning catch in the Cactus Bowl — Sills realizes he was winging it.
“He said ‘Coach I never thought playing receiver was so hard,’” Carrier said. “Until you actually play it, you don’t realize how much thinking goes into the process — how deep you’re supposed to be, the right angles you’re supposed to take.”
Carrier relishes those teaching moments, and he hopes an all-in Sills will provide plenty of opportunities to say I-told-you-so come fall.