West Virginia
Mountaineers

West Virginia Team Report

Updated: February 03, 2012 03:23 EST

The West Virginia Mountaineers cannot wait to get to spring practice, still riding a high off their stunning, 70-33, upset of Clemson in the Orange Bowl.

The emphasis in the spring will be to work in a new defense and a new defensive coaching staff, the Mountaineers going to a 3-4 while also working in a 4-3 look to be used against running teams and on running downs.

Most of the graduation losses were on the defensive side of the ball so players such as defensive end Will Clarke and linebackers Doug Rigg and Jerwone Snow will get plenty of looks in an effort to see where they belong in the new scheme.

The offense is relatively set, with all the key pieces coming back. It will operate around the passing skills of quarterback Geno Smith, who established himself as a Heisman Trophy candidate with a record-shattering performance in the Orange Bowl.

Smith has all of his top receivers back in Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey and Ivan McCartney, so the emphasis will be on creating a more consistent offense in the second year of the Holgorsen regime. Last year WVU had games in which it scored 21, 23, 24 and 21 points -- just 19 more points in those four games than they totaled in the Orange Bowl.

In part, that will come with a more consistent running game. That aspect, however, could be hindered in the spring because starting running back Dustin Garrison is recovering from knee surgery.

TOP OF THE CLASS

QB Ford Childress (Kinkaid HS, Houston, Texas) -- He's a Texas quarterback who can make all the throws. As a senior he completed 184 of 292 passes for 3,171 yards and 41 touchdowns. Amazingly threw for only seven interceptions.

CB Brandon Napoleon (St. Peter's Prep, Jersey City, N.J.) -- Played quarterback in high school but understood the whole time that his build and speed made him perfect for the corner. Son of former WVU star Eugene Napoleon, he played at stories St.Peter's Prep program in New Jersey and is listed as the No. 17 corner in the country by Tom Lemming.

WR Deontay McManus (Dunbar HS, Baltimore, Md.) -- Out of the same Dunbar High in Baltimore that gave Tavon Austin to WVU, McManus is a big, physical specimen who played in three state championship games, winning the last two years. He is a four-star prospect who was also courted by Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, South Carolina, Oregon, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, Michigan, Ohio State and Miami among others.

--WVU was still waiting, as of signing day, to learn whether it would play its season in the Big East or Big 12. Lawsuits had been filed in courts in Rhode Island and West Virginia and a judge had the problem, through unbinding arbitration, to work out a deal. WVU maintains strongly it will be in the Big 12 and the Big 12 has a schedule ready to go but delayed it release pending some resolution of the situation.

--Veteran WVU Coach Steve Dunlap is the only defensive holdover on the coaching staff this year and head coach Dana Holgorsen opted to put in a new 3-4 defense and do away with the 3-3-5 West Virginia had sported under coordinator Jeff Casteel. Casteel is now at Arizona. Holgorsen added veteran coach Joe DeForest from Oklahoma State. The assignments have not yet been given out as Holgorsen still has two more coaches to hire.

--Two weeks after agreeing to a one-year deal for $250,000 as a defensive coach, Mike Smith resigned to return to the New Yorks Jets as linebacker coach. He had served there as a coaching intern for two and a half years before taking the WVU job, ever so briefly.

SPRING SNAPSHOT:

Practice priorities: At the top of the list is putting in a new defensive scheme as the Mountaineers, looking ahead to joining the wide-open, pass happy Big 12, are going to switch to a 3-4. That means they must also come up with a nose guard, as well as an extra linebacker. Coach Dana Holgorsen is also hoping to develop some slot receivers as Tavon Austin is the only returning slot he has, but the recruiting class was rich in this type of player and help may be found there in the fall.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "Developing the unity of the 2012 team is way more important than any other facet of football." -- West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen on the No. 1 goal of spring practice this year.

KEY LOSSES: The key losses West Virginia suffered were in the defensive coaching staff as veteran Mountaineer assistants Jeff Casteel, Bill Kirelawich and David Lockwood left to rejoin their former boss Rich Rodriguez in Arizona.

Casteel was a decorated defensive coordinator who ran the rarely used 3-3-5 defense while Kirelawich had spent more than 30 years on the staff, most of them as defensive line coach producing the likes of John Browning, John Thornton, Canute Curtis and Gary Stills in the pro ranks.

David Lockwood was a former WVU player who worked with the cornerbacks.

Among the players, the key losses were probably left tackle Don Barclay, a team captain who anchored the offensive line, and cornerback Keith Tandy, an All-Big East performer who intercepted 13 passes in his career.

The Mountaineers pass rush was completely depleted with the exits of senior defensive linemen Julian Miller and Bruce Irvin, who combined for 29.5 sacks over the past two years. Versatile senior linebacker Najee Goode also leaves the defense after making All-Big East with 87 tackles, 14 for losses.

It figures that Quinton Spain, a 338-pound junior, will move to the defensive line on a full-time basis, probably at guard although he could fill Barclay's tackle position. Tandy will be replaced Broderick Jenkins, who figures to team at cornerback with Pat Miller. Both have starting experience.

The defensive line will be tricky to fill, with Will Clarke moving up at one of the end spots, but it isn't yet known exactly what defense will be run by the new staff. Doug Rigg will go full-time at the same linebacker spot while Jermaine Snow and Jarrod Barber could handle the two inside backer spots if they go to a 3-4.

PLAYERS TO WATCH IN 2012:

QB Geno Smith -- The man who makes the Mountaineers' offense go is Smith, who figures to be Heisman Trophy candidate this season. Playing in just his first season in Coach Dana Holgorsen's high-powered spread offense, Smith passed for 4,385 yards to become the first 4,000-yard passer in WVU history. He also broke the Big East record for passing yards, set by Louisville's Brian Brohm in 2007 at 4,024 yards. Smith, of course, saved his best for last as he led the Mountaineers to 70 points on 10 touchdowns in Orange Bowl. He completely rewrote the BCS Bowl record book for passing in the Orange Bowl as he went 32 of 43 for 407 yards. He passed for six touchdowns and ran for one.

WR Tavon Austin -- The nation learned about Austin in the Orange Bowl when he caught four touchdown passes among his 12 receptions, which tied the school record. Four touchdowns set an Orange Bowl and BCS record. Fast and quick, WVU gets the ball to Austin in a variety of ways as he rushes on reverses out of the slot catches passes and returns kickoffs and punts. He had two kickoff returns for touchdowns, one for 100 yards, and a 64-yard punt return. He led the nation in all-purpose yards with a school record 2,574, averaging 198 yards per game. He ranked sixth nationally in punt returns and 20th in kickoff returns.

WR Stedman Bailey -- While most of the publicity went to slot receiver Tavon Austin last season, Bailey set a WVU record for most receiving yards with 1,279. Bailey has what may be the biggest and strongest hands on the team and had some incredible grabs last season. A receiver for QB Geno Smith when the two were at Miramar High, they know each other so well that they are able to improvise on pass patterns. Bailey caught passes for 100 or more yards in five consecutive games.

C Joe Madsen -- Probably one of the least-known prospects in the game, Madsen begins his third year as the starter at center as the anchor on a line that must not only protect QB Geno Smith but block for the running game. Madsen seldom misses a snap, let alone a game, seeing action on 890 plays last year while leading the team in knockdowns with 55, which figures out to 4.2 per game. And, he saved his best for the best, having knockdowns against LSU.

PLAYER NOTES

--RB Dustin Garrison is recovering nicely from the knee surgery that kept him out of the Orange Bowl. He will, however, miss spring drills. Garrison, a freshman last year, had the best rushing day in all of Division I when he ran for 291 yards against Bowling Green.

--S Terence Garvin is out of his brace and off his crutches after left knee surgery that kept him out of the Orange Bowl. He should be cleared to begin all activities at the beginning of June.

--OT Josh Jenkins missed last year with a patellar dislocation injury. He has been cleared and is participating full in all team activities now.