With National Signing Day in the rearview mirror and spring practice on the horizon, West Virginia football’s depth chart is coming together.
For West Virginia football, a new era officially begins on April 13 at Milan Puskar Stadium when first-year head coach Neal Brown’s Mountaineers take the field in the annual Gold-Blue Spring Game. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. ET.
It’ll be a new-look Mountaineer group, though, from the offense, to the defense, to the coaches on the sidelines. Nearly 20 seniors are gone from last year’s 8-4 team, including quarterback Will Grier, wide receivers Gary Jennings and David Sills, and four-year starter at safety Dravon Askew-Henry.
Junior linebacker and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year David Long also won’t return, instead opting to enter his name in the 2019 NFL Draft. Head coach Dana Holgorsen fled to Houston, too, while Tony Gibson accepted the co-defensive coordinator job at NC State. It’s safe to say there’ll be plenty of new faces at Mountaineer Field in 2019.
Taking over for Gibson as defensive coordinator is Vic Koenning, who’s been with Brown at Troy since 2015. Koenning’s system is similar to the 3-3-5 Gibson deployed at WVU, but he’s not married to any specific system.
“It’s going to be an ongoing process, and it’s never going to stop changing,” Koenning said about adjusting his scheme to his new players. “We’re part 3-4, we’re part 4-2-5, there’s some 4-3 stuff we do. And again, if our guys do things better, we’ll do that.”
With plenty of turnover this offseason, these depth chart projections will be just that – projections. A combination of interviews, player performances, and expectations will determine who lands where. Ready to get a way-too-early look at your 2019 West Virginia Mountaineers?