MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — When Rod West looked back on some of West Virginia’s struggles defending the pass in 2025, he didn’t necessarily discover a common theme that consistently plagued the Mountaineers.
However, the WVU cornerbacks coach did pick up on something he felt too often proved problematic on the back end.
“With the way the current game is played, you have to make a lot of plays in space,” West said. “Teams are going to find ways to try and isolate you and create 1-on-1 matchups, so you have to do a great job of making sure you have the size No. 1 to get off blocks in space to tackle the screen game. If there’s 50-50 balls, just physics that if you’re bigger, normally you’re going to be in better position a lot than some smaller guys.
“One of the toughest things in football is open field tackling. Obviously, the more size and length you have, you don’t have to be perfect. When you’re a 5-9 guy, you have to be darn near perfect to get some guys down in space. It was a point of emphasis to get a little bigger at that position.”
West Virginia did exactly that with several additions in the offseason, including one in Chams Diagne whose size immediately stands out.
At 6-foot-3 and 208 pounds, Diagne fits the stature of exactly what the Mountaineers desired. The redshirt senior is plenty experienced having played in 20 games at Georgia State over the previous two years, including six starts last season when he totaled 25 tackles, three pass breakups and the lone interception of his career to this point against Ole Miss.
“No I haven’t,” West said in response to a question if he’d ever coached a cornerback that size. “Never had a safety that big either when I coached safeties.”
Diagne figures to be in the mix for significant playing time, as does Nick Taylor, a junior in his second season at WVU who came to Morgantown with West from Appalachian State after the 2024 campaign.
The 6-1, 193-pound Taylor played 351 snaps a year ago, though only 144 came on defense as he rotated between safety and nickel corner. Taylor was in on 20 tackles and recorded an interception against Utah. For now, the Mountaineers plan to exclusively use Taylor at corner this season.
“Nick originally came in as a corner. Very unique skillset. A physical kid,” West said. “We felt like we needed to get him on the field, and he’s versatile, so we kind of transitioned him to play some nickel and he played some safety as well. But we feel like cornerback is his natural position. A great football player. We have to find different ways to get him on the field.”
While he doesn’t have near the same stature as Diagne, the Mountaineers added an experienced cornerback in Jaire Rawlison, a 5-9, 183-pound redshirt sophomore who played all 12 games and started 11 last year at Kent State.
“A tough, tenacious kid. Very relentless on the perimeter,” West said. “A lot of people may not know this, but out of the entire room, he’s played the most snaps at the FBS level. He played a lot last year at Kent State and we’re excited to see what he does this fall. A high motor kid. He’s smart and can play different positions, sow we’re going to be excited to see his growth throughout the season.”
Rawlison could be in the mix for at least somewhat of a featured role, and the Mountaineers hope to have enough cornerback depth with the potential return of Jason Chambers as well as the likes of Jefferson High School product Keyshawn Robinson, redshirt freshman ChaMarruys Bomar and a pair of additions from Hutchison Community College in Da’Mun Allen and Rayshawn Reynolds Jr.
Both Allen and Reynolds are 6-3, with Allen weighing 203 pounds and 15 more than Reynolds.
“I don’t want to put a label on somebody and say because they went to junior college it’s going to take longer,” West said. “Everybody is different. You might have a fifth-year grad transfer that struggles to learn. You might have a 17-year-old freshman come in who picks it up right away.
“Just following the lead that coach Rodriguez has set where we have to do a great job of keeping everything clear, concise and straightforward, so all of our guys can play and contribute as soon as possible. As coaches, that’s our job. Make it as simple as possible so we can get the best guys on the field. All of our guys have done a great job to gravitate toward what we’re trying to get done.”
There is also an intriguing true freshman in Vincent Smith, who at 6-1, 215 pounds already has the size to aid in his transition to college football.
“Extremely athletic and fast. He’s going to be a great player,” West said. He can be one of those, too, in time, who can serve in a multitude of roles for us. So we’re going to be excited to see how the season goes for him. I know he’s going to probably contribute on special teams early, and hopefully at some point throughout the season, he can be a contributor on defense as well.”