Head coach Rich Rodriguez and defensive coordinator Zac Alley met with the media Thursday afternoon and talked about everything going with WVU football as they approach the start of spring ball.
Rich Rodriguez opened up the press conference with his opening statement in which he credited all the hard work that the players and coaching staff have put in to this point. Rodriguez, in his first off-season back in Morgantown, has had to deal with replacing an entire roster and coaching staff and is very confident in both aspects.
Rodriguez did mention, however, that as of right now, there are zero returning defensive players he views as a starter and “one or maybe two” on offense. The team has yet to start actual practices, so it doesn’t hold much weight, but he also mentioned that this is the first time in his coaching career that he has had to deal with a situation like that.
“There’s a lot of wide open competitions,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez fielded questions about who might be the signal caller on offense and play quarterback.
“I watched a little bit of film. I thought Garret was a really good player; he was dynamic, but Nicco played really well in his opportunities. We are really pleased that he’s coming back, and I think we have really good competition in that room,” Rodriguez said about the quarterback room.
He also addressed the elephant in the room when asked about the departure of running back coach Chad Scott to Texas that came to fruition Wednesday night. When asked about replacing Scott he made it clear that they will find a replacement.
“He was re-hired, but theres a lot I’ve got agents and coaches blowing me up, I will be able to find a really good coach,” Rodriguez said.
“I didnt get hired for nostalgia reasons, I got hired to win. We’ve lost a lot of good players but thats not an excuse not to win,” Rodriguez said as he wrapped up his press conference.
After Rich Rod was done, new Assistant Coach, Defensive Coordinator, and Linebackers coach Zac Alley took the stage. Alley fielded questions about the culture and scheme that they are trying to implement into the defense, and what he looks for in his players.
“I definitely would say personnel based… Sometimes the scheme can override but we think about what we can do to put players in position to win,” Alley said when he was asked about finding players that fit personnel wise or scheme based.
Alley, expressed pleasure with the way that the team has attacked their winter workouts and how they have bought into what the coaching staff is preaching before the start of Spring practices.
“Im happy with the buy in from a lot of our players and I hope that continues.”
“I think overall I’ve been very impressed with the commitment the guys have, were not where we want to be, but we have a vision and were learning about how to get there,” Alley said.
He also made it clear that WVU has a standard that the coaching staff sticks too and anything that they believe does not meet that standard is “unexceptable.”
“I think we demand it everyday, I think they can feel the strain and the stress,” Alley said when he was asked how he is going to implement culture into his defense.
West Virginia is set to begin their Spring practices early next week on Tuesday, Feb. 25. Head coach Rich Rodriguez will meet with the media after the conclusion of practice.
