Mike Asti’s WVU Football Spring Takeaways: Tempo, Urgency

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – In the interest of full disclosure, it’s difficult to truly evaluate this WVU football team right now. West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez has even been honest about not knowing what to make of his group just yet as well.

But understanding the fluid situation of the roster, here are my takeaways based on the brief period of practice made open to the media through the first two weeks of spring ball.

No standing around!

To no surprise, the tempo demanded by a Rodriguez team is evident. No one, and that means no one, is allowed to stand around during practice.

In one of his post practice media sessions, Rodriguez explained that there’s plenty of time to stand and sit during meetings – he joked they meet more than congress. This appears to be something the players are getting used to.

While players were sprinting to lineup for the next play during practice, Rodriguez could still be heard yelling for them to be even faster. It’s all about seeing a sense of urgency.

Rodriguez also noted that he likes the effort he’s seeing, but he hasn’t seen enough to even be able to tell if the offense or defense is further along. The position battles will undoubtedly go into fall camp as players get in better shape throughout the summer. Rodriguez has made it clear almost no one is in the kind of shape he commands from his players, and that goes for starters to the last guy on the roster.

Thoughts on the QB battle

As expected this early in the spring period, Rodriguez is shying away from tipping his hand at all in terms of the quarterback battle, which will likely end up as the determining factor for what happens in the season.

Personally, I feel Jaylen Henderson has a higher ceiling. There’s a chance Rodriguez sees him as more of the pro type that he’s had success with in the past, both at WVU and elsewhere. Henderson is very athletic, especially for someone with his bigger frame.

But that’s not to say Nicco Marchiol can’t or won’t win the starting job. In fact, sources say he’s getting paid more in NIL money, which certainly can signal that he’s in pole position as the leader of the competition and would likely get the bump in a tie breaking scenario.

WVSN photo by Cody Nespor

Don’t expect for any quarterback announcement until after fall camp at the absolute earliest. It may even linger until right before kickoff of the season opener…or as close to game time as possible. Seriously.

Rich Rodriguez Reveals Truth in Joke About Timeline for Naming Starting Quarterback

Jahiem White is fine

Jahiem White is the literal only player Rodriguez has felt comfortable mentioning as having secured the No. 1 spot on the depth chart for any position.

However, White is also the most note worthy player unable to practice. He’s fine and there’s no reason for concern, but White is still in shorts as everyone else is in pads trying to be as “hard edge” as possible.

What to expect….

To no surprise, Rodriguez plans to be the most aggressive in adding more help at wide receiver and in the secondary in the upcoming spring portal.

What we know for sure

The only thing we know for sure is Rodney Gallagher’s days getting snaps on defense are over.

Rodriguez quickly shot down any talk of that scenario repeating itself for Gallagher during a press conference after a practice.

“If Rodney is playing both ways, then we did a crappy job of filling our roster,” responded Rodriguez to a direct question about the possibility of Gallagher getting any reps on defense again. That said, Gallagher’s overall role is still unclear.

Note: West Virginia will not be holding a spring GAME this year. Instead, the WVU football will offer fans a Gold-Blue “Showcase” event to take place on Saturday, April 5.

For a related story, Rich Rodriguez has pressure to return WVU football to national contender status as soon as possible.