During his press conference Tuesday afternoon, defensive backs coach Rod West discussed what he wants to see from his secondary.
Last year, the Mountaineers secondary gave up an average of 270.85 passing yards per game to their opponents. The secondary struggled all year and many fans were tired of seeing it.
Coach West brings a new defensive mind to the secondary, focusing on the mental part of the game first. West addressed the three C’s that he preaches to his players, confidence, composure and the will to compete.
“Confidence, composure, and the will to compete, those are things we try to stress in all our habits all the time. And obviously on the field you have to be able to make plays, but that part will come,” West said.
Surprisingly, West stated that he has not watched any film from last season.
“Full disclosure, I tried my hardest not to watch any other film from last year just because I tell a lot of guys I want a clean slate. I didn’t want to hold anything against the guys that were here in the past,” West said.
Being a cornerback at the Division 1 level is known to be one of the most challenging positions on the field. West wants his defensive backs to embrace that.
“I tell my guys you have to be different to play cornerback. You wake up with a certain chip on your shoulder and a certain sense of accountability that some other positions may not have,” West said.
West and his new perspective look to turn around the Mountaineers defense heading into the fall.
Photo courtesy of @wvufandom on X
