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Apr. 9—MORGANTOWN — West Virginia's defensive coordinator, Zac Alley, named the defensive line as a group that needs improvement, whether that's in the transfer portal in the coming days or with the players currently on the roster.
Redshirt senior defensive lineman Hammon Russell IV is one of the returning players from the Neal Brown regime and has had to adjust to Alley's new defense.
"There were a lot of things from the first day to now, especially getting used to the tempo of the offense and how fast the offense is, " Russell said. "I also had to get used to the new techniques that I have to use."
Alley and defensive line coach William Green taught the defensive linemen to "attack the block " more and not "read and react " like they've been doing in the past.
A lot of his spring has been adjusting to the tempo.
College football teams are adopting the tempo offense. Last season, 41 FBS teams had an average snap time of 25 seconds or under, and five Big 12 schools were in the top 50, making it harder for defenses to get set each year.
Luckily for WVU's defense, it faces a high-tempo offense every day at practice, preparing them for the season to come. Rich Rodriguez's Jacksonville State offense was 11th in snap time at 23.2 seconds.
Russell said it's been different from what he's lined up against in the past, and he had to get used to the speed. Brown's offense last year had a snap time of 27.1 seconds, 84th in the FBS.
"You have to get your calls, you have to get the line, and you have to also still do your job and understand they're going to move fast, " Russell said. "I feel like it can hurt an offense, and it can help an offense."
Russell's goal, now that spring practice is over, is to get in better shape to prepare for the tempo, which seems like a common theme. Center Landen Livingston provided the same goal.
"Going through the spring, we seen a few when I was tired, " Russell said. "Definitely getting more in shape."
The other area Russell and the rest of the defense worked on was their communication. Alley liked the defense's communication during the Gold-Blue Spring Showcase.
Russell said communication is used to make sure everyone has the play quickly because if someone doesn't hear, it's an issue. He said it's hard for a defense to communicate because they forget when they are so "locked in " on their job.
"If we all communicate, everyone can be on the same page, " Russell said. "We're all moving fast."
This is his fifth year at WVU and his third getting a full workload, so Russell is one of the veterans on the squad. Russell is not familiar to the coaching staff, like the rest of the roster, but he's still developed into a leader on the team.
"I try to help the freshmen as much as I can, " Russell said. "The whole coaching staff thing was new for everybody, so I learned it quicker than the freshmen because they're still young. Once I learned it, I started to help the freshmen out ... Everyone was helping each other."
Russell's advice to the youngsters, now they are cut free for a little, is to get in shape, too, and keep reading the playbook.
What he's taught most of the underclassmen is his mentality and the mentality Rodriguez brought to his second term in Morgantown, the hard edge. The trenches are a place for the hard edge and the mentality Russell hopes to show this season.
"I'll say you got to have a hard edge, " Russell said. "You got to be willing to dominate your opponent every play and play harder than your opponent every play."
Continue reading...
Redshirt senior defensive lineman Hammon Russell IV is one of the returning players from the Neal Brown regime and has had to adjust to Alley's new defense.
"There were a lot of things from the first day to now, especially getting used to the tempo of the offense and how fast the offense is, " Russell said. "I also had to get used to the new techniques that I have to use."
Alley and defensive line coach William Green taught the defensive linemen to "attack the block " more and not "read and react " like they've been doing in the past.
A lot of his spring has been adjusting to the tempo.
College football teams are adopting the tempo offense. Last season, 41 FBS teams had an average snap time of 25 seconds or under, and five Big 12 schools were in the top 50, making it harder for defenses to get set each year.
Luckily for WVU's defense, it faces a high-tempo offense every day at practice, preparing them for the season to come. Rich Rodriguez's Jacksonville State offense was 11th in snap time at 23.2 seconds.
Russell said it's been different from what he's lined up against in the past, and he had to get used to the speed. Brown's offense last year had a snap time of 27.1 seconds, 84th in the FBS.
"You have to get your calls, you have to get the line, and you have to also still do your job and understand they're going to move fast, " Russell said. "I feel like it can hurt an offense, and it can help an offense."
Russell's goal, now that spring practice is over, is to get in better shape to prepare for the tempo, which seems like a common theme. Center Landen Livingston provided the same goal.
"Going through the spring, we seen a few when I was tired, " Russell said. "Definitely getting more in shape."
The other area Russell and the rest of the defense worked on was their communication. Alley liked the defense's communication during the Gold-Blue Spring Showcase.
Russell said communication is used to make sure everyone has the play quickly because if someone doesn't hear, it's an issue. He said it's hard for a defense to communicate because they forget when they are so "locked in " on their job.
"If we all communicate, everyone can be on the same page, " Russell said. "We're all moving fast."
This is his fifth year at WVU and his third getting a full workload, so Russell is one of the veterans on the squad. Russell is not familiar to the coaching staff, like the rest of the roster, but he's still developed into a leader on the team.
"I try to help the freshmen as much as I can, " Russell said. "The whole coaching staff thing was new for everybody, so I learned it quicker than the freshmen because they're still young. Once I learned it, I started to help the freshmen out ... Everyone was helping each other."
Russell's advice to the youngsters, now they are cut free for a little, is to get in shape, too, and keep reading the playbook.
What he's taught most of the underclassmen is his mentality and the mentality Rodriguez brought to his second term in Morgantown, the hard edge. The trenches are a place for the hard edge and the mentality Russell hopes to show this season.
"I'll say you got to have a hard edge, " Russell said. "You got to be willing to dominate your opponent every play and play harder than your opponent every play."
Continue reading...
