MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — After a spring break that essentially signaled halftime for spring football practice, the West Virginia Mountaineers reconvene today, with nine workouts remaining before the Gold/Blue game on April 20.
Following last season’s defensive catastrophe, no position demands more improvement than WVU’s cornerbacks, and the man charged with bettering that unit is new assistant coach Brian Mitchell.
The former East Carolina defensive coordinator said he’s taking a boiled-down approach so far, emphasizing fundamentals for a group whose top seven players include three sophomores, two redshirt freshmen and only one senior.
“Right now, I want to make sure we’re doing the simplest of things, and that’s getting in a stance,” Mitchell said. “Then let’s master the backpedal technique, and then it’s ‘When do I transition out of that? When do I go to the post? Where is my aiming point? What is my control key?'”
He stands as a stark contrast to last season’s cornerbacks coach Daron Roberts, a respected overachiever who possessed a master’s degree from Harvard but zero playing experience beyond the high school level. Mitchell, meanwhile, was a four-year contributor at cornerback for BYU who spent three NFL seasons with the Falcons and Panthers. Where his pupils are concerned, Mitchell’s time in the league trumps a degree from the Ivy League.
“When you say, ‘Well, when I did this against Jerry Rice, and when I did this against Tim Brown …’ they listen a little bit closer,” said Mitchell, who was hired in January, about a month after Roberts was fired.
Straightforward and demanding, Mitchell has had no problem holding the attention of a group hungry for a turnaround after being the weekly scapegoats in 2012. (Cue the obligatory reminder that WVU ranked 118th nationally in pass defense and allowed 38 passing touchdowns. Only Colorado, with 39, surrendered more.)
“I tell them, ‘I’ve been your age, you’ve never been my age, so have big eyes and big ears and listen,'” Mitchell said.
While re-establishing a foundation for techniques, Mitchell knows the mindset has to change.
“If we come out of spring with a fearless and confident group of corners we’re going to be on our way,” he said.
Brodrick Jenkins, with 36 games and 12 starts under his belt, is the lone senior competing for playing time among the cornerbacks. He credited Mitchell with winning over the unit quickly.
“You can tell from him coaching and being around him these last couple of months that he knows what he is doing,” Jenkins said. “All he wants us to do is just buy in, and I feel like he is going to be able to take us to a good place this year.”
EARLY PROJECTIONS FOR 2013
Starters: Jenkins has the most experience and appears healthy after missing two games with a knee injury last season. Opposite him, redshirt freshman Vernon Davis, a three-start recruit who transferred from Miami, gets the nod.
Top backups: Sophomores Ricky Rumph and Nana Kyeremeh are my pick for second-string, especially with redshirt sophomore Terrell Chestnut missing spring practice with knee injury.