Between The Eers: What Will WVU Get in the Portal?
Between The Eers: What Will WVU Get in the Portal?
Transcript
00:00 Good morning everybody, Skylar Callen here on Between Ears and I'm joined with Christopher
00:13 Hall today.
00:14 Look, we can't get enough Portal talk at this point.
00:18 We've hit just about every angle of this thing, but I did want to go over some of the Transfer
00:23 Portal needs, maybe some names to watch for, get Chris's thoughts on this.
00:27 I already gave my thoughts a little bit earlier this week in an article that's up on Mountain
00:32 Ears Now, which you can check out, but I wanted to speak on it a little bit more so I can
00:38 go a little bit more in depth because I feel like I can do that a little easier and can
00:43 kind of convey that message a little easier through talking.
00:46 So Chris, I gave my thoughts.
00:49 I'll let you open up first.
00:51 There's what, six or seven guys that West Virginia has lost in the Portal so far, two
00:57 of which hit the Portal yesterday, Andrew Wilson-Lamp and Hershey McLaurin.
01:03 So four receivers in there as well, but you got four receivers, three defensive backs
01:10 and a whole ton of offers going out to defensive backs, which really shouldn't surprise anybody.
01:16 No, it's their biggest need.
01:19 I think even the guys that entered the Portal, without them entering the Portal, still the
01:25 biggest need by far.
01:28 You're losing Beanie.
01:29 That was a great pickup in the last offseason, and they're going to have to try to find some
01:34 magic in the Portal this year.
01:35 They're going to have to get a slew of players, safety and corner, and that's to me the biggest
01:41 need, and then you drop from there to linebacker.
01:46 They're still going to be really young at linebacker and really thin, unless they get
01:50 some veteran presence in there.
01:52 So Ben, yeah, he's going to be a veteran.
01:55 He got thrown in there this year as a freshman, but he's still only going to be a sophomore.
01:58 He's got a lot of growing to do as far as the mental part of it.
02:03 I'm sure he'll have a great offseason.
02:06 He'll make big strides, but after Ben, you don't really have too much going on in that
02:11 room.
02:12 So you lose Lee Kova as well.
02:14 It's going to be a big offseason, really, for the defensive side of the ball.
02:20 All three phases, you're really trying to build that defense that's just taking a hit
02:24 the prior two offseasons when you start looking at the list of names that left the program
02:30 because they, to be honest, they didn't utilize DNIL prior to last offseason.
02:38 So we can go down the names, Darryl Borders Jr., Dre'Sean Miller, Key Messador, Ty Key
02:44 I know gets brought up a lot.
02:46 Not sure.
02:47 I think it was kind of like pre-Portal-ish almost.
02:50 Yeah.
02:51 You know, right when it started.
02:52 Yeah.
02:53 So I don't know if you pull him away from Georgia, but if you have the NIL, you can
02:57 probably throw what they overlooked to you the first time around.
03:02 So having that, you're able maybe to talk some kids in the stand that maybe would have
03:07 left.
03:08 But yeah, I mean, that defense was definitely decimated by the Portal and they're still
03:14 trying to catch up.
03:15 Again, they've got a lot of good young talent, but you need some guys that can come in and
03:20 step in and play in secondary.
03:23 It's obviously the priority and it's going to be the priority all offseason.
03:26 Yeah.
03:27 I mean, 80, maybe not quite 80% now, but at one point through, I think the first 24 hours
03:34 of the Portal opening on Monday, like 80% of the offers were to corners and safeties.
03:39 And again, it's not a surprise.
03:41 And like you said, if Beanie Bishop was coming back, if Malachi Ruffin was coming back, they're
03:46 still probably adding two corners to this class.
03:49 Oh yeah.
03:50 Without a doubt, more than that.
03:52 That's nothing against Malachi or Beanie.
03:55 We've seen what happens to injury.
03:58 When a team runs go routes continuously, they're going to need a breather probably for a couple
04:04 downs.
04:05 So yeah, it's a big offseason for a defense.
04:09 Leslie gets kind of beat up a little bit with the media and the fans, but he's kind of been
04:17 dealt a shorthand of recently.
04:21 They're good evaluators of talent, even before the NFL GM.
04:24 Again, just look at the players that they had that left.
04:28 I mean, those were all three stars under the guys that bigger programs came and took them
04:33 away.
04:34 So they can find the guys.
04:35 It's all about the retention right now.
04:37 And they've got it.
04:39 They've got that kind of figured out.
04:41 And now it's just a matter is how much money is there.
04:44 It'd be great to get a bunch of people in the country reds.
04:48 I know they're well over 1100 now.
04:50 Man, if you could just almost triple that, you can start really looking at say, OK, maybe
04:57 we can go get a lockdown corner and do some things here in the portal that we could really
05:03 jump this team in the offseason.
05:04 Because really, when you look at it, yes, they bring a lot of pieces back next year,
05:08 but there's still a lot of holes.
05:10 There are still a lot of holes.
05:12 For them to get that maybe ninth, 10th regular season win because the schedule is going to
05:16 go home on textily and schedule doesn't get that much easier next year.
05:21 So the wins are still going to be hard to come by to 11 power five schedule.
05:26 So they're going to need all the help they can get and trying to get this defense back
05:30 on the right track to where it was a few years ago is going to take time.
05:34 It would be great to be able to get again, go get some lockdown corners.
05:37 But that's going to come with a hefty price tag.
05:39 So they'll have to do their due diligence and maybe try to find some guys at a discount
05:44 and see what they can do from there.
05:45 Yeah, like I said two days ago on here.
05:51 There's going to be FCS offers.
05:52 There's going to be D2 offers because I mean, you're not going to go out there and pull
05:57 power five talent away when there's other options on the table that are going to throw
06:01 money in their face, because at that point it's a betting war.
06:05 And right now they're not in a position to win those types of wars.
06:08 So there's going to be some of these under the radar guys.
06:12 And I get the frustration from the fans.
06:14 They get it or they see it for what it is.
06:17 Some kid from Tennessee State or some kid from Canada who is playing that entered the
06:23 portal who's going to be visiting this weekend, Devin Cromwell.
06:26 But these are guys that they've had success with hitting on in the past.
06:31 They're going to have to continue to do that even when the trust gets to a spot where they
06:35 feel really comfortable.
06:37 You're still going to have to get some of those types of guys.
06:40 But when you look at like a Saeed Gibbs, for example, out of Rhode Island, he's got some
06:46 power five offers.
06:47 I've known this kid for a little while now because Brandon's told us about him.
06:53 And he's in the portal now.
06:54 He's got a West Virginia offer.
06:55 He's got Wisconsin, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Cincinnati, Kentucky.
06:59 He's a guy that's going to have an impact on a power five roster somewhere.
07:04 You're talking about Bryce Phillips at Tennessee State.
07:06 Another guy, Ethan Robinson from Bucknell.
07:10 Another one, the kid that played at Duquesne, Aiden Garnes, who's getting attention from
07:14 a couple of big 12 schools, including West Virginia, actually had three tackles in the
07:18 game against WV.
07:19 So like these are guys that I think are going to not only have interest, but they're going
07:23 to play well at the next level and the next bump up.
07:28 But when you look at kind of what they need to target at the position specifically, you're
07:33 losing a locked down guy in Beanie Bishop.
07:36 We didn't really know that that's what Beanie was going to turn into when they first got
07:40 him.
07:42 It's going to be hard to kind of duplicate that.
07:44 So to make up for it, how do you go about building a cornerback room that can last in
07:51 the big 12?
07:52 I mean, they identified a kid that played at Western Kentucky and saw his potential
07:58 there and went to Minnesota and wasn't utilized correctly, right?
08:01 So you kind of have to have a little faith that the coaching staff can do that again.
08:08 Beanie was not hyped coming into this program.
08:11 We didn't even know if he'd start.
08:14 So really, you can rattle off the names and whatever.
08:19 I would think they've had enough success that you have to trust the staff that they are
08:26 finding guys within their scheme.
08:29 So I think that's just kind of where you have to be.
08:31 Just have a little faith that they're identifying the right guys and that they're going to be
08:39 able to bring them in.
08:40 I don't really worry too much about if they're from FCS or wherever.
08:46 They've done a good enough job.
08:47 Like I said, you go back to Keem Estor, no one was recruiting that kid heavily.
08:51 No one recruited Jaheim White either.
08:54 So Garrett Green was a work in progress coming out of high school and he's made great strides.
09:01 So they're developing guys.
09:03 We just haven't got to see a full body of work because how the portal hit right in the
09:09 middle of COVID and everything that kind of went on there.
09:12 We just haven't got to see a full body of work.
09:14 This is the first time the staff is having a consecutive off season where they're going
09:18 to have the potential of building the program.
09:21 So they hit some home runs last year.
09:23 They missed on some guys.
09:24 They're never going to bat a thousand.
09:27 You just hope that they hit more than they missed and so far they've done that.
09:30 Yeah.
09:31 I mean, for example, the kid that was just offered yesterday, Jamad McCoy out of Oregon
09:36 State.
09:37 When I went back and looked at his high school offer list, it was like night and freaking
09:42 day compared to what he's getting right now.
09:45 Mind you, this is a kid that's only played one year of college football at Oregon State.
09:49 He had offers, his only power five offer, power four offer, whatever you want to call
09:53 it was Oregon State.
09:55 And then he had a couple of like G5 schools and then a bunch of FCS.
10:00 A year later, he's getting nothing but big time names like Auburn and Oregon and Washington.
10:06 I mean, this is what we're talking about when you kind of look at these kids that are overlooked
10:11 all the time.
10:12 So it's going to happen.
10:14 And I'm with you.
10:16 I think you got to trust that this is a staff that kind of knows how to do this.
10:21 They know the inner workings of these kids.
10:24 They know which kind of guys that fit their scheme the best.
10:27 And I think you just got to relax with it.
10:29 But enough talks about the corners.
10:33 We did mention a linebacker a little bit.
10:35 Look, you lose Lee Koba.
10:36 I don't think they really need to get a Mike, maybe more of an athletic outside linebacker
10:42 that can get sideline to sideline because I mean, Josiah Trotter's a Mike, Ben Cutter's
10:47 a Mike.
10:48 I mean, all of those guys that are coming back, Trey Latham's technically played Mike.
10:53 And they're going to go and play other positions to play cross positions or get cross trained.
10:59 But probably more of an outside linebacker that's athletic, wouldn't you think?
11:05 Yeah, you probably still want a veteran Mike in there as well, because those other guys
11:10 are athletic.
11:11 You could probably just use Ben more as a middle linebacker and use those other guys
11:15 on the outside.
11:16 Use Trey as a weak side or...
11:18 Yeah, so I mean, really, yeah, I mean, they're going to mix and match.
11:24 And I think kind of in today's game, you need to cross train.
11:30 Some guys are going to be better in coverage and some guys are going to fit the run better.
11:34 And depending on how you weak is who you play that week is how you're going to line up those
11:39 guys.
11:40 And I think they did it this year with Ben and Lee, and they did it throughout the game.
11:43 They just kind of mix it up a little bit.
11:46 So I think that I think ideally, they would like to have a solid Mike, they like to have
11:50 a solid wheel, and they like to have a solid bandit.
11:54 That's what they do.
11:55 And then, you know, you can have your third down specialty guys in there, like a down
12:00 package linebackers.
12:02 That's definitely a work in progress.
12:04 I think, again, that's another area that you're going to get multiple guys, you're not going
12:09 to hit on everyone.
12:11 But I think really, you want a veteran, middle linebacker, that's going to be able to communicate
12:16 to the secondary.
12:17 And that's a really a big key piece to that defense, you got to relay back and forth.
12:22 And, you know, we're kind of we I know we touched on secondary, but safety is a big
12:26 position as that as well.
12:27 So getting a veteran guy that will understand come in understand this game quickly, and
12:33 be a leader within that defense.
12:36 They hit with Coba a couple years ago, and obviously came out of Syracuse, I think you
12:40 got to kind of find a situation like that.
12:42 I'm tough ass to find a lead Coba, but they're out there.
12:46 Again, it's just price tags get kind of hefty after a while.
12:49 And you probably want to find that guy that may be getting a little overlooked may have
12:54 may have some other really good offers, but maybe they can't afford the price tag because
12:58 they've hit.
12:59 It's like free agency, right?
13:01 They don't have a cap, but there is a cap.
13:03 There is a cap essentially, right?
13:05 You can only raise so much money.
13:07 Exactly.
13:08 So yeah, they are working with a cap.
13:09 So who they can get and the price tags.
13:13 I mean, that's just another part of managing.
13:15 It's pretty much why they brought that guy in from the NFL, the NFL scout, right?
13:21 So that's how you manage your roster.
13:23 So yeah, I think you have to get a veteran linebacker in there without a doubt.
13:27 And I think it wouldn't hurt to get to if you can get a weak side linebacker because
13:32 again, you saw the toll that the defense took this year injury wise.
13:37 If you can get some of those guys less snaps, a little fresher and not that they haven't
13:43 finished strong the last two seasons.
13:45 You're not playing those guys on special teams either.
13:47 When it comes to October after that, I mean, they played five games in the month of September.
13:51 They were really banged up come October and the losses kind of followed after that.
13:55 So having depth obviously is key.
13:57 We talked about this in the joint of the Big 12, but they definitely need to find some
14:01 better linebackers.
14:02 I believe as well.
14:04 I mean, really just the whole defense.
14:07 They need they're going to have to fill in some slots there.
14:10 And the linebacker I think is one of the biggest ones.
14:13 Yeah.
14:14 And really from a leadership standpoint, too, because you mentioned the experience like
14:19 I think it really benefited Ben Cutter to have Lee Coba to work next to him when Trey
14:25 Latham went down because if he goes out there and he's working and again, no offense to
14:29 anybody that we name here, but like if he's just working with Caden Beiser, who's a walk
14:34 on guy, that's a young player himself.
14:37 That's a tough position for both those guys to be in.
14:40 Have a late Lee Coba who's been around the games, played a ton of college football.
14:44 He's a leader.
14:46 I think that provides a sense of comfort.
14:48 And I think you need that.
14:49 I don't know that you need a guy like Coba production wise.
14:53 It would be nice, but I don't think it's necessary.
14:56 I think you just need a Lee Coba voice.
14:59 You need an alpha in that room, even if it's a guy that comes in for a year, whether it's
15:03 a grad transfer, just a guy's one year remaining of eligibility.
15:06 Let him come in, kind of own that room for a year because these are pups we're talking
15:10 about.
15:11 I mean, they still got their trainers on.
15:14 So like they need another year before they can kind of take that that leadership role
15:19 themselves.
15:20 Ben Cutter didn't really get significant playing time until Trey Latham went down.
15:25 Trey Latham only played what, half a season, not even.
15:29 So we're talking about those two guys moving forward and they don't even have a full year
15:33 under their belt.
15:35 So it's nice to talk about Josiah Trotter too, but he hasn't even played a snap, even
15:40 though he's got a ton of potential.
15:41 So I am 1000% on with bringing in a linebacker that's got experience, got some veteran leadership
15:48 to him.
15:49 Going over to the offensive side.
15:51 I think it's, Neil hit this right on the head in his press conference the other day.
15:57 They've got to be careful with what they do because you don't want to bring in too much
16:01 talent at one position, mainly because you don't want to essentially piss off the guys
16:08 on your roster already.
16:10 Like you gave those opportunities to Trae Lynn Ray, Rodney Gallagher, receiver, Hudson
16:14 Clement even.
16:16 And then obviously the running back room is loaded, but there might be some departures
16:21 here and there.
16:22 So you got to kind of strategically figure this out and that's up to Neil to kind of
16:26 read the room essentially on some of these guys.
16:30 And at the skill position, honestly, Chris, I'm thinking tight end is probably your number
16:36 one outside.
16:37 I mean, you could use some help at receivers certainly, and I think they will get one.
16:42 But I think if you had another receiving threat at tight end, that really helps Cole Taylor
16:47 out.
16:48 What do you think about that in terms of the skills, skill spots?
16:52 They have to go get a receiver.
16:54 I think the guys they have are unproven.
16:57 Just talked about how young they are defensively.
17:00 Same thing with the receivers.
17:02 This is only going to be second year.
17:04 Trae Lynn Ray is going to have to gain some muscle.
17:06 These guys haven't proven they can get off the press yet.
17:09 They won't have a chance until next year against the opening game against Penn State.
17:14 Yeah, because North Carolina more than likely is going to do that to them in the bowl game.
17:18 They got three weeks to get a little stronger and kind of work on those scenarios where
17:25 they're getting press coverage.
17:26 But I think you got to go get a better guy.
17:28 And the receivers have a huge price tag on them right now.
17:32 Same thing as cornerback, right?
17:33 So how much can you afford?
17:35 Is it that big of a need?
17:37 Can you find a guy that can beat press coverage?
17:43 Because that's important.
17:44 If you're trying to run the ball, you got to get those guys back.
17:47 And you got to get someone down the sideline.
17:52 The reason I'm laughing is because I'm starting to get this thought in my head.
17:56 You know I'm a Pirates fan.
17:58 And the Pirates have done hardly anything this offseason.
18:01 Shocker, right?
18:03 But it seems like they kind of wait until the market hits the right spot for them to
18:08 get involved.
18:10 I hate to make that comparison, but if you're West Virginia, it probably isn't a bad idea
18:16 to let these other schools outbid themselves to where they don't have as much money to
18:20 go to anymore, number one.
18:22 And number two, there might be some guys out there that their price tag starts to drop
18:27 and drop and drop the longer they stay in the portal.
18:30 So I mean, do you think there's a timing to this too?
18:34 Because if you're looking for a receiver, they're going to add more.
18:38 Is it something they have to have now before they get the spring ball?
18:41 Is it something they can add in the summer?
18:45 I think it just, I mean, you kind of hit it there.
18:48 It just really depends.
18:49 If you can get a kid now.
18:50 If the price is right.
18:51 Right.
18:52 You're not going to spend $3 million.
18:53 There's no way they have that kind of money.
18:56 So they're not getting Marvin Iverson Jr.
18:58 We can just roll that out.
19:00 I don't, you know, it's really, it's, it just kind of, it's kind of wait to see the market,
19:05 but I think depending on the veteran, you know, all the routes are the same.
19:10 They don't really change from, from program to program.
19:14 It's all about finding chemistry with Garrett.
19:18 But a good receiver should be fine.
19:20 You're going to get open.
19:22 So I don't think that's something I think ideally, I think they like to bring a veteran
19:25 receiver to help those younger guys, especially during the spring ball.
19:29 But I really don't think that's a need.
19:32 Like, like you will get to that.
19:33 I think defensively.
19:34 Yeah.
19:35 You need to try to get the linebacker in there and the corners in there.
19:38 Cause some of that, so much of that is communication.
19:40 Then yes, you need timing with the receiver and the quarterback.
19:43 But again, if you have a good veteran receiver, he's going to get open.
19:45 It's still going to be the same thing.
19:47 It's just about speed.
19:48 If you know where he's going to be, just put the ball there and he'll go get it.
19:51 That's kind of what they needed as the receiver.
19:54 They haven't had a guy that you can just throw to a spot and you know, he's going to get
19:58 there and be open again, especially in press coverage.
20:03 You'd like to get a big guy.
20:06 Obviously I can go up and get the ball, but I think no matter what position that they're
20:10 in, that, you know, they're going to be open, whether it's a slot guy or a guy that lines
20:14 up on the outside, you just go get them because you need someone that's going to be reliable
20:18 and consistent week in week out.
20:20 That's going to bring in five, six receptions and up to a hundred yards a game because that's
20:25 really what you're going to need.
20:26 Now, Traylor Ray can do that next year.
20:28 Hudson Clement can do that next year.
20:30 And Rodney Gallard can do that next year.
20:32 But we don't know what we don't know.
20:34 And you're always an injury away from all of a sudden being really thin at that position.
20:38 Yeah.
20:39 So, and you can't add after the season starts, Josh Eilert knows.
20:43 Consistency matters in this game.
20:45 The good teams play really at a high level week in week out.
20:49 And you haven't had that receiver at West Virginia yet.
20:52 You had a group of receivers prior to this year that just never came, that just never
20:56 flourished.
20:57 They just never found that consistency.
20:58 And of course, there was a lot of pieces that went into that with the offensive line and
21:02 the quarterback play.
21:03 But, you know, we've gone on about so much.
21:06 There was a lot involved in the struggles the last previous two seasons.
21:10 So really, if you can just find some consistent with the receiver, I think you're happy with
21:16 that.
21:17 And then you can kind of get the mesh with everybody else and be it kind of be a leader
21:19 in that room, especially if it's a veteran to show Traylor and Ray.
21:24 To me, it's about getting off press coverage.
21:25 So if you can find a guy that understands that and kind of show them just little things
21:30 on the field, that's nothing against Belal Marshall either.
21:33 That's just, you know, hearing it from somebody else and showing them little things can do
21:38 wonders for a young group.
21:39 So yeah, I think, I mean, really, if you can go get two veterans, I think it would help
21:43 because really, at the end of the day, you're probably going to lose some running backs.
21:47 And that's not an area that you need anyway.
21:48 But there's so many guys right now that you look at on paper.
21:53 Yeah, we need to get them the ball.
21:54 But at the same time, can they do it week in week out?
21:58 And that's kind of what you're hoping for week one Penn State.
22:00 I think you need to find just a little bit more, again, consistency in that room.
22:06 Yeah, I mean, I think you're right there with you need a more physical, mature body of receiver.
22:12 You need a Devin Carter-esque type body, maybe preferably a little bit more productive earlier
22:19 on in the season and more consistently.
22:21 Yeah, and he was someone that struggled to get off press coverage while they moved him
22:24 in slot.
22:25 So again, you got to find somebody that can show and of course, it's probably more likely
22:31 with the guys that are out there that's going to come with a big price tag.
22:34 So they may have to find a dominant or rough, maybe someone's a little undersized, that
22:39 can get up the field.
22:40 Yeah, you got to put your priorities in order, because unlike the NFL, it's really not fair.
22:48 You're battling up against, you know, schools with deeper pockets, the NFL, you all have
22:52 the same salary cap, and you've got to prioritize how much money you want to spend.
22:57 I mean, in a way, it's similar in terms of where you want to allocate your money to.
23:03 You don't want to pay safety in the NFL, you don't want to give them this large contract
23:07 of safety just don't last in the NFL.
23:09 Same thing with running backs.
23:11 But you got to be smart with where you put it.
23:13 You don't want to go and put, say $500,000 in a receiver, and then your corner room still
23:20 sucks or not still sucks.
23:22 But in terms of the depth, you don't have bodies there.
23:24 So you got to be smart with that two areas.
23:27 I mean, they will not add at all is quarterback and running back unless the dam just breaks.
23:35 And everybody and their brother hits the portal.
23:37 They are not adding a quarterback, they are not adding a running back, they have a surplus
23:41 of running backs.
23:43 And like you mentioned, one of them is probably leaving, maybe two.
23:47 And I guess is to my guess, you've already got to we know you've got young ins comments.
23:57 We have a hunch.
23:59 Let's just say we have a hunch that there's one leaving for sure.
24:01 And there's going to be two potentially.
24:04 They have Dior Hubbard who's coming in, he's already committed.
24:08 They just stopped by and visited Trayvon Dunbar, who's a part of the 2024 class.
24:12 He's uncommitted right now, but they're making a push for him.
24:15 So if they can get commitments from CJ Donaldson and Jaheim White to return, it's really only
24:22 one more guy you need there.
24:24 DJ Oliver is already back there.
24:26 DJ Oliver's back there.
24:28 He's got some some experience, albeit not much.
24:30 And everything that I've experienced, they want to redshirt them.
24:34 So I mean, he's he's going to be ready.
24:36 He's alone.
24:37 They've got they've got plenty of horses in the stable for sure.
24:41 Yeah, running back.
24:42 So which is a good thing.
24:43 And that's where you want to get with the receivers.
24:45 And they're slowly, you know, they just had to replace a bunch because of graduation.
24:50 And obviously, they found some guys and they'll slowly build that up.
24:53 And I don't, I don't really worry too much offensively as much defensively.
24:59 Yeah.
25:00 Lastly, the offensive line.
25:03 Zach Frazier is going to be a tough spot to fill.
25:06 I know some people are out there saying, oh, go get this guy from Notre Dame or go get
25:10 this guy and that guy to come in and center.
25:13 Just that again, that's not where the focus is going to be.
25:17 You have to focus on getting the best two to three corners that you can possibly get
25:22 the best one or two safeties that you can get linebackers receivers.
25:26 There's other areas of this roster that they have to address first.
25:30 In my opinion, I know you're losing an All-American.
25:33 But center is way down the chart for me, because I think there are guys on this roster that
25:40 have experience that can slide in and play that spot, be it Brandon Yates or Jaquay Hover,
25:48 maybe.
25:49 There's guys that they're grooming there at the position to like Sully Weidman, Landon
25:54 Livingston.
25:55 So they've got guys there.
25:57 It's not going to be a step in and replace an All-American and there's not going to be
26:01 any drop off.
26:02 But to me, I think you're more focused on grabbing guys that can maybe come in and compete
26:09 at right tackle with Nick Malone.
26:12 Or maybe they kick Jaquay Hover out there again.
26:14 Who knows?
26:15 But if you can get maybe a swing tackle or a guy that you just want to build with through
26:22 the years in terms of interior guard play, it's got like three or four years eligibility.
26:28 That's probably the route you're going to see them go.
26:31 They do have a center from Valdosta State.
26:35 I'm trying to remember his name, Michael Morata.
26:38 He told me a couple of days ago that he's trying to visit on December 15th.
26:43 So again, don't be thrilled.
26:46 I mean, it's Valdosta State, but he's a solid football player.
26:50 He's going to get some pretty decent offers.
26:52 He's already got some.
26:54 Are you kind of on the same page or do you think they need to go out and get a center?
26:59 Yeah, I think you're just really looking at right tackle and maybe adding a piece along
27:03 the interior, someone that can play guard and maybe center duties as well.
27:07 Like I said, they have Solly Weidman.
27:09 He's still young, still in development.
27:12 And you're kind of probably waiting to see how they come out of winter workouts and going
27:16 into spring.
27:17 See where Johnny Williams is at too.
27:19 Yeah, Johnny Williams will definitely be in the mix.
27:23 I don't know if they're going to really how they're going to handle him fully, but he's
27:28 definitely going to probably be playing within the two deep next season.
27:32 So yeah, they're probably just more looking to add more depth.
27:36 We've seen, you know, Doug Nester went down, Thomas Remack went down, Frazier went down
27:41 a couple of times.
27:42 So it's just that when you're running the ball and guys are going to get rolled up on,
27:48 unfortunately, you just need depth and you don't want that huge drop off.
27:52 They never really had a huge drop off this season.
27:55 Frazier, yeah, that leadership, what he's able to do was incredible.
28:01 But at the same time, when he did go down in that final game, Gates stepped right in
28:07 and they didn't even have to call a timeout, there was no organization needed.
28:11 Clock kept running, he stepped right in and the offense moved right down the field.
28:15 So I don't think offensive line is a huge concern, which is crazy considering that's
28:21 been a big problem.
28:22 But that was one area that didn't get decimated.
28:25 You had a bunch of West Virginia kids in that offensive line.
28:28 Offensive linemen weren't really big in the portal the previous two seasons when you think
28:32 about it.
28:33 But now that it's kind of opened up and everyone knows the value of a good offensive lineman.
28:40 It's something that's going to be probably more of a thing really is that you're going
28:45 to get these Valdez Estates.
28:48 There's 300 pound kids that's in the FCS that are developing in a good offensive lineman.
28:53 That those guys-
28:54 - They make the NFL every year.
28:55 - Some of those guys are late bloomers.
28:57 Some of West Virginia's best offensive linemen were tight ends in high school.
29:02 Rich Braham from here in Morgantown, University High School, he was a tight end in high school,
29:08 jumped into an NFL offensive line.
29:11 Some guys just develop late.
29:12 So again, I think that's something that you just trust the staff on that.
29:17 I know Matt Moore has taken a lot of heat, but look what he's kind of built there along
29:21 the offensive line.
29:22 One of the things that I was wanting Dana to do when he was here is like, look, there's
29:28 a bunch of West Virginia kids here that if you bring them in, let them work with Mike
29:33 Joseph, those kids are going to fight for you in those trenches.
29:38 They just may need two or three years to develop and there's nothing wrong with that whatsoever.
29:44 And that's kind of what they've been doing.
29:45 Look at Nick Malone, he was a walk on and he's out there playing right now.
29:50 So there's kids out there 100% and they've got some in the building right now and they
29:55 may not be ready next year, but maybe here in a couple of years.
29:59 So I think they're at a comfortable spot offensive line, but it never hurts to have
30:04 add or have a couple more pieces in the mix.
30:08 Yeah, and it is a weird season because this is like the first time that we're all experiencing
30:15 this.
30:16 This is really the true first off season of where you have the NIL being such a big factor
30:21 in it.
30:23 It's weird because I tweeted it out a couple of days ago and one of the fans on Twitter
30:29 was like, man, we're really to this point in college sports.
30:33 And I'm like, yeah, it is.
30:34 And it's weird that you have to sit here and wonder about the kids on your roster, but
30:40 then to tweet that a guy that's already on the roster is committed to playing for you
30:44 next year.
30:45 Like it is.
30:46 Yeah, the commitment.
30:47 Some of this is just public.
30:48 I mean, if we're being honest, there's been a salary cap for decades.
30:54 There's a reason why the Blue Bloods did this seemingly seamlessly is because they've had
30:58 this in place for a long time.
31:00 You know, honestly, SMU is the OGs, you can say, but let's be honest, the schools in Texas
31:08 more than likely, there was a lot of digging more than likely ratted them out a place like
31:12 Texas because, oh yeah, they were definitely paying their players too.
31:17 And if people want to continue to be naive about this, that's fine.
31:20 All you have to do is Google Fred Taylor and what he did in Georgia, go down the list of
31:24 names throughout college football.
31:27 And there's been a lot of players that come out and openly said that they got paid to
31:31 play at these big schools.
31:32 So that's why they were able to transition so fast.
31:36 Places like West Virginia did not have that set up.
31:39 So I mean, former AD didn't really understand how to utilize it.
31:43 So now they've got resources in place and they understand how to kind of navigate it
31:49 now.
31:50 And it's not that much different.
31:52 It's just to me, the NIL gave places like West Virginia a fair shot to retain their
31:58 kids.
31:59 Yeah.
32:00 It's weird, man.
32:03 It's a weird thing.
32:05 And I think I give Country Roads Trust like a little tip of the hat too, because I think
32:11 it is kind of neat, whether you hate that we're in this part of college sports or not,
32:18 for them to show that, hey, this guy is coming back or has the intentions of coming back.
32:24 There's no binding contract to this thing.
32:26 So just because they say they're committed to the trust doesn't mean for sure they can't
32:30 go to the portal.
32:32 But you know what I'm saying.
32:34 So I think it shows you don't have to worry about a certain guy as much maybe as some
32:40 of the guys that they haven't either said anything about or whatever the case may be.
32:43 But I think too, like we're not going back.
32:48 Right.
32:49 Like once you once you open this this damn, there's no going back to the college football
32:56 or college sports of old.
32:58 This is the way it's going to be from here on out.
33:00 So if you don't like it, sorry, you're going to have to.
33:03 And the thing is, like I said, this has been going on for decades.
33:07 It's just now out in the open.
33:08 And now I understand, you know, you like that, that whole whatever amateurism.
33:15 It's never been amateur.
33:16 No, I'm going to get that out.
33:19 And I see a lot of people that say, you know, I would play for West Virginia for free.
33:24 And that's good.
33:25 You had zero D1 offers.
33:26 And if you make a squad of kids that have zero D1 offers that will play for free, you're
33:31 going to find yourself on the losing end of a lot of games.
33:34 So this is the reality you're living in.
33:37 And it's going to take a group effort from fans, 10 bucks, 20 bucks a month.
33:41 It's country roads, country roads, trust goes a long way.
33:46 They're building it.
33:47 And it doesn't matter how little.
33:48 But if you get a group effort in a place like West Virginia, there's 1.8 million, as I say,
33:54 right?
33:55 Do you get half that donating?
33:56 What's going to go is going to be able to do some things because there's always big
34:00 donors as well.
34:01 It's going to add to that.
34:02 So the little amount adds up with a collective with a collective effort.
34:05 So I call it a collective, everybody kind of doing it makes a great day.
34:10 It'll make a great Christmas gift.
34:13 Put the family members email in there and they can go to all the country roads, trust
34:16 events, and they can even up it themselves if they want to.
34:19 Exactly.
34:20 And like I pointed out yesterday, if you are somebody that is going to have a very stern
34:25 opinion on what Neil Brown and this staff does in the future, and you have a stern opinion
34:31 on the product that they are putting out there, it's almost like voting, right?
34:36 If you don't vote yet, you cry and complain and moan about it, then I don't know what
34:41 to tell you.
34:42 Like, I think you can still cry.
34:45 I mean, yeah, we're all still going to do that.
34:48 I mean, it's just the world we live in now.
34:49 But yeah, but you have more of a valid, I guess, case to do that.
34:56 And I think with the era that we're in now, fans for the first time ever can actually
35:03 play a part in helping your team piece together their roster.
35:07 And you're not going to handpick them, but you're giving them the tools that they need
35:11 to go out and get some of these guys.
35:13 And look, man, like I said, the progress that the trust has made with the membership over
35:18 the last week or so has been phenomenal.
35:21 But it's still nowhere near where it needs to be for as big and as passionate as this
35:26 fan base is.
35:27 And I think a part of that is partially on the trust, because they weren't really forcing
35:33 this on to people, or they weren't giving the best advertisement for it, I don't think,
35:38 for the longest time.
35:39 A lot of people are just now finding out about it.
35:41 That's a problem.
35:42 So they've got to fix that stuff.
35:43 And I think they are.
35:44 They're taking the right steps.
35:45 Ever since Ren Baker's been here, I think they've made a ton of progress, and they're
35:49 going to be just fine.
35:50 So I think that's it.
35:54 Chris, you got any final thoughts on this?
35:55 Are you ready to roll?
35:57 I think we're good.
35:58 Now we just need the NCAA to get off their keister and actually do something productive
36:07 and free wake on battle.
36:11 I don't know, man, we probably need to do an episode just on the NCAA.
36:14 I've got some ideas on what these ADs and conference commissioners can do and maybe
36:21 start an ACAA and vote in a ACAA commissioner and start doing things the right way, because
36:29 the NCAA has done things the wrong way for a very long time.
36:34 I agree.
36:35 Let's do that.
36:36 Let's do that next week.
36:37 We'll get you back on and we'll talk some of that stuff.
36:40 Maybe some, I want to get your thoughts too on the revenue sharing, because I think we
36:44 can kind of integrate that into that episode too, because I think-
36:47 There's already a model out there.
36:48 It's the NFL model.
36:49 That's what I'm saying.
36:50 Get the D1 commissioners together.
36:51 Yeah.
36:52 There's a lot of dollars.
36:53 Vote in a commissioner and you start having a player union and you start doing things
37:01 the right way and then you stop all this nonsense.
37:07 You can actually have rules in place and actually follow those rules that are in place.
37:12 You want to model the NFL.
37:14 Not just pick and choose what you want to do, what rules you want to follow that week.
37:19 So yeah, they've got to do something soon.
37:21 Yeah.
37:22 A lot of dollars tied up into that.
37:23 They can definitely make a lot of money.
37:24 I think really that was probably what it was intended for, but no one else seemed to be
37:28 on the same page.
37:29 So we'll talk about that next week.
37:32 That's going to be the final episode of Between the Ears this week.
37:35 We're going to do one Monday through Friday in the off season if we can.
37:39 There may be one or two we skip out on just because we're tired and need a break, but
37:43 no, no days off.
37:44 Mainly, I just don't want to hear Skyler talking anymore.
37:48 I mean, I wouldn't either.
37:49 I'll be honest with you, a big round of applause for everyone that stuck around to the very
37:53 end of this thing, right?
37:54 I mean, if you made it past the first five minutes, congratulations.
38:00 We thank you guys for watching.
38:02 For those that do, stick around to the end of this.
38:03 We appreciate it.
38:04 Hit that subscribe button on YouTube at Mountain Ears Now.
38:07 Follow us on Twitter at the same handle.
38:10 We'll be back for the post game show tomorrow night.
38:13 West Virginia and Drexel will recap that action and that'll be the rest you see of us until
38:18 Monday.
38:19 Thank you guys for watching and we'll see you tomorrow night for the post game.
38:22 Take care.
38:22 [music]