Hershey McLaurin only arrived in Morgantown in January, but the safety is already making a big impression.
The Friendship, Mississippi, native attended Jones County Junior College for two seasons, where he played on both sides of the ball and earned a scholarship to West Virginia. Now, the redshirt sophomore has caught the eye of Dontae Wright, the West Virginia safeties coach.
When coach Wright was asked if he felt comfortable with McLaurin, the assistant coach immediately compared the Mississippi native to an ideal safety.
“I do feel good with Hershey. Now, Hershey has to clean some things up, and he knows that, but man, if you could draw one, that’s what you want. That’s the way they look,” Wright said.
Although that is high praise for a player entering his first season with the Mountaineers, Wright mentioned he is not the only assistant coach that sees Hershey’s potential.
“We sit here, and coach (Jeff) Koonz is salivating at the mouth because he wants him to come play backer one day,” Wright said. “I’m saying no, he’s a safety because he runs so well.”
Besides his speed, the assistant coach also spoke on McLaurin’s other physical qualities that can make him an excellent safety in the future and why he is improving each day.
“He’s got pterodactyl arms. I mean, he’s so long that he can get beat and still have the opportunity to make a play on the ball because of his length. He’s going to continue to get better because there is more football in him. The more reps that he plays (the better he will be) because he hasn’t played a ton,” said Wright.
The safeties coach also mentioned Hershey’s past and how he committed to West Virginia.
“He was a high school quarterback and blew his knee out,” Wright said. “That’s why he didn’t get highly recruited, and I’m still not sure how we got him.”
In his final statement about Hershey, coach Wright confidently looked around the room and said, “He is going to be a really, really good football player for us.”
