MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Neal Brown was not shy about sharing his opinion on Wednesday that sophomore running back Jahiem White was being overlooked nationally throughout the offseason. Offensive coordinator Chad Scott believes that perhaps White’s biggest improvement has come with his practice habits. Those strides were taken in the spring and reinforced through the summer.
“The very first day of practice, he showed up at the building at 5:30 in the morning,” Scott said. “I will tell you, that is a feat to show up that early. So I asked him the second day, ‘What time did you show up the second day?’ ‘Six o’clock’. ‘What time did you get here the third day?’ ‘6:15’. ‘You are going backwards man. You’ve got to stay consistent’.
“But he is trying, man. He is doing the things like that to get himself in a position where he gets his body prepared and his mindset prepared so he can attack every day.”
Throughout his media session following Saturday’s practice, Scott used the terms ‘talented’ and ‘confident’ a number of times to describe the guys on his offense. The confidence comes from experienced gained in a nine-win season.
“We are talented, very talented right now and it is a great thing to see. Last year at this particular time, we might have had a couple guys just pressing trying to make plays. Right now, they are trusting their ability to do the little things right to create big things.”
In his first full year as a starter last fall, Garrett Greene tossed just four interceptions in 147 attempts. Balancing risk and reward on some throws is a process that built throughout the summer.
“We’ve got days where he will go through progressions like he is supposed to. Then we may have days where we say, ‘Hey, if you see it and you feel like you can throw it, take a chance at it’. We do that in the summertime where if there are mistakes or you feel like you can’t throw it or it wasn’t the right decision or the right throw to make, he knows not to do it when we get in the season.”
Several of West Virginia’s top wideouts from last year are back. Power 4 transfers Jaden Bray and Justin Robinson have entered the mix. And one of the most high-profile recruits in the freshman Class of 2024, Ric’Darious Farmer, has adjusted well in the first week of practice.
“He fits in our offense perfectly. He has a great skill set. He’s a tough kid. He has shown the ability already to block on the perimeter. He is willing to do it. He has shown the ability in four days to be able to do it. And he is dynamic.”
From 2022 to 2023, the Mountaineers allowed over a touchdown per game less (26.15 points from 32.92 points) and 32 fewer yards per game. Defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley says a renewed focus on fundamentals led to better results.
“The big difference in our group last year is that we worked really hard at being good at football — tackling, shedding blocks, angles to the football, force and overlap angles. We worked extremely hard on that,” Lesley said.
“I know you all have heard me say this that I made that mistake in ’22. And I will never do it again.”
WVU’s linebacker group will see new starters work into the lineup and the expectation is that redshirt freshman Josiah Trotter will be in the mix after missing all of last season due to injury. Trotter was perhaps WVU’s most-touted recruit in the Class of 2023.
“The combination of the size, the power, the explosiveness, the athleticism with speed at 240-plus, he is just a total package type of guy,” Lesley said.
Aubrey Burks is perhaps West Virginia’s best player on the defensive side of the ball. After playing safety last year, Burks is moving up to the spear position, much closer to the line of scrimmage.
“It frees him up. It allows him to play very free. I think that helps his game. I think that with his body type, it helps his future. And is has been good for us,” Lesley said.