At the beginning of the season and for most of his time as a football coach, West Virginia defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley has coached from the field.
However, after a tough start to the season, Lesley has coached from a birds-eye view, in the press box starting when the Mountaineers played Kansas. He explained the benefits to doing so and some differences compared to being on the field.
“I just think it changes what the look is and how you approach each play and you’re able to, you obviously see more,” Lesley said. “You just kind of see the big picture of things and you’re able to probably get your kids (players) in some better positions than you normally would.”
On top of the visual difference, Lesley touched on the mental difference of being up in the box.
“It’s not necessarily emotion, it’s just there’s a lot of things that go on, on the sideline. There’s a lot of moving pieces and there’s a lot of things where you’re two and three plays ahead. Whether that’s defense to special teams offense to special teams and there’s a lot of moving pieces. And so just kind of calms things down, I wouldn’t say emotional just kind of calms it down a little bit,” Lesley said.
Lesley also doesn’t expect to return to coaching on the field anytime soon. He brought up a humorous interaction he shared with a fan at the Oklahoma State game.
“There was a fan there at the game and as we were walking down after the game, he [said] ‘Hey stay in the box.’ I plan to,” Lesley said.
Lesley also mentioned one of the reasons he started the season on the field was to get a feel for the new changes in college football, but was thinking about moving up to the box as far back as last season.
“The only reason that I stayed down (on the field) starting the year was trying to get a feel for the the changes that we have in college football with the Green Dot and the iPad,” Lesley said. “What made the ultimate decision for me was there really there really wasn’t a big difference in what it was last year. I really thought about going to the box last year, but now that I’m there, I’ll never go back.”
Since his move to the box the Mountaineers are 2-0 and have let up 187.5 passing yards per game compared to 280.6 the first three games. West Virginia is tasked with a tough opponent this week in No. 11 Iowa State, the game kicksoff at 8 p.m. EST on Saturday and will be televised on FOX.
