- Sep 8, 2014
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In case you forgot what a real OC sounds like:
Q&A with West Virginia offensive coordinator Jake Spavital
https://theathletic.com/119702/2017...-virginia-offensive-coordinator/?source=email
Jake Spavital has received quite the football education. The 32-year-old West Virginia offensive coordinator reunited with mentor Dana Holgorsen this season, after coaching the Mountaineers’ quarterbacks from 2011-12 and after serving as a graduate assistant for Holgorsen (then an assistant coach) at Houston (2009) and Oklahoma State (2010).
The son of a high school coach, Spavital has worked with multiple quarterbacks who have gone on to the NFL. His latest pupil, Florida transfer Will Grier, has led an offense that ranks No. 2 nationally in both yards (594.8) and points (48.8) per game. WVU’s biggest test yet comes this Saturday, when “College GameDay” will be on hand as the No. 23 Mountaineers take on No. 8 TCU, which is second in the Big 12 in total defense (323.5) and scoring D (18.5).
The All-American caught up with Spavital this week to talk about the Mountaineers’ hot start ahead of their trip to Fort Worth, Texas.
The All-American: What’s allowed Will Grier to succeed so early?
JS: The thing about him is he’s a coach’s kid. He’s one of the most unique situations in college football, to be where he’s at. He was a five-star recruit, he transfers out of Florida, he’s married, he has a baby. It’s not your typical college student. He’s very mature — I think Dana said to the media the other day: “He acts like he’s 35 and you forget he’s 22 years old.”
But he’s a coach’s kid. He’s in the office non-stop with me. On the days he doesn’t have class he’s up here from like 8, 9, 10 in the morning till after practice. He sits in there with me and he listens and he bounces ideas off me. And it’s easy for him to translate it to the field because he works so hard at it and has a great understanding of it. Obviously he’s a talented kid. He can make all the throws, but the thing that makes him special is how much effort he puts into it, how much pride he has in it.
I had no idea he was that big of a gamer. That Virginia Tech game he made a couple runs on fourth down to extend drives. He’ll do anything to sacrifice his body to get that first down or make a play. That’s something you really can’t coach. He’s just got that switch.
I’m a coach’s kid, I’m getting obsessed with coaches’ kids now because I had Davis Webb last year and that guy was a gym rat, too, you couldn’t get him out of the facility. And then you get Will Grier and he’s the same way. So I’m kind of getting spoiled with these kids because they just love to play the game.
Like yourself, son of a coach. Both of you are relatively new fathers. Do you find yourselves bonding a lot off the field with some of those similarities?
JS: Oh yeah, I ask him for parenting advice all the time. (Laughs) He’s six months ahead of me on his child, so it’s pretty funny. I don’t know if you’ve ever had a conversation with him but he’s very cerebral, he’s very calm, a monotone guy. He doesn’t get too high, he doesn’t get too low. He’s just a real cool kid with it, with how he handles his situation and where he’s at. It’s pretty impressive how he doesn’t let a lot of these factors faze him.
You mentioned him, you mentioned Davis. You’ve obviously had some history with some pretty talented quarterbacks in a short amount of time. Being a coach’s son is one of (these traits), but looking at all of them, is there a common thread between all these guys that you see in why they succeed?
JS: I think it’s the competitive drive, the competitive nature. It’s the same thing with like Johnny Manziel. Johnny had a lot of issues obviously, but when he crossed the white lines that kid was cold-blooded. He was competitive as ever. The same thing with Davis and Will and Geno (Smith) and even Case Keenum. If you look at Case, he still finds his way to start. Brandon Weeden just got another job, too.
They just find ways. They’re competitive and they never give up and they’re trying to find that edge. It’s study more tape, or doing extra therapy, or working more speed ladders, or doing all the extra stuff. It’s kind of like that competitive desire to be good. It’s just hard being a quarterback, and obviously that’s why they get paid so much money to play the position and they recycle through so many, especially in the NFL. Obviously they’ve got to put that extra effort in.
The way I tell all of our kids here is that it’s a humbling sport, a humbling profession. If you don’t put the work in, put the effort in, it’s definitely gonna catch up to you. Because there’s a lot of people out there trying to outwork you and they’re all gonna end up getting better. I think that’s what separates those guys. I love their competitive nature, the edge that they have.
Are you still in touch with a lot of these guys?
JS: Yeah, all of them. Case, not as much. He was the first quarterback I had. I was a GA, and Kliff Kingsbury was running the room. And that’s where I learned how to coach quarterbacks. And then the next year I get my own room with Brandon Weeden and then I went to West Virginia as quarterbacks coach and coached Geno and then I went and coached Johnny and had Kenny Hill and Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray and then went to Davis Webb, and now Will.
Did you talk to Kenny at all this week? Probably a rare situation for either of you guys.
JS: We talk a lot, but this week I sent him like two emojis of like the wide-eyed, surprised emoji face. He just laughs and says: “I’ll see you Saturday. Look forward to it.” And that’s that. Pretty much ask him how his family’s doing. I recruited Kenny. We have a good relationship because you spend a lot of time with these kids. We haven’t talked crazy much this week, but I look forward to seeing him.
You’re probably one of the few coaches who’s sending these guys emojis and can text with them at a level they can understand.
JS: I think emojis are hilarious, by the way. When you talk to just any of your players, that’s the only way they respond back to you. It’s amazing. I don’t even know if they know how to write back at times; it’s just all abbreviated words and emojis, and you just have to translate it. It’s so funny to me.
TCU’s defense — it seems like every year we in the media write them off and then they come back from the dead and they’re shutting down Oklahoma State. How do you get your group ready for this unit coming off what’s been a very impressive four games for them? What have you seen out of them that’s made them so effective so far?
JS: Having a bye week I had time go back four, five, six years on these guys. (Gary Patterson) does the same stuff. He throws in wrinkles each week on each team that he believes that he sees maybe a tendency or a weakness that he’s going to exploit. But you could tell he’s been there for a long time, obviously, and he’s recruited the guys that he wants and the certain body types and the certain type of athletes for certain positions. You can tell he’s mastered it down. You watch these teams, they will flop and shift and trade and motion and stack and bunch and do all the stuff — these kids just know how to communicate it out and match up perfectly.
That’s just really a testament to them on just how great of teachers they are where they can get these guys to communicate and are very smart. Because people try to trick them because they’re a talented group of guys and you can tell they’re coached well and they can match it all up.
What I’ve been telling my offense all week is none of you guys are going to be screaming: “Wide open.” So you’ve got to make accurate throws and you’ve got to make contested catches and they give you a favorable box to run the ball into, but they do a lot of games and twists and try to be disruptive with that front-four, and they rally with the back end to the run. And they’re just very effective at it. Their eye discipline’s really good. The safeties and those apex linebackers, they keep their eyes in the backfield. And when they see run they trigger it, when they see pass they drop. You can tell they’ve been doing it a long time and he’s got the guys that he wants in there.
It’s definitely gonna be a tough test. They’re holding teams to 323 yards a game vs. some pretty good offenses. So I think our kids are excited to play in a game like this. But they know its gonna be a tough challenge, and we can’t be lazy with the ball. We have to have good ball security. You can’t let them get a lead, because they’re gonna play sound defense.
Q&A with West Virginia offensive coordinator Jake Spavital
https://theathletic.com/119702/2017...-virginia-offensive-coordinator/?source=email
Jake Spavital has received quite the football education. The 32-year-old West Virginia offensive coordinator reunited with mentor Dana Holgorsen this season, after coaching the Mountaineers’ quarterbacks from 2011-12 and after serving as a graduate assistant for Holgorsen (then an assistant coach) at Houston (2009) and Oklahoma State (2010).
The son of a high school coach, Spavital has worked with multiple quarterbacks who have gone on to the NFL. His latest pupil, Florida transfer Will Grier, has led an offense that ranks No. 2 nationally in both yards (594.8) and points (48.8) per game. WVU’s biggest test yet comes this Saturday, when “College GameDay” will be on hand as the No. 23 Mountaineers take on No. 8 TCU, which is second in the Big 12 in total defense (323.5) and scoring D (18.5).
The All-American caught up with Spavital this week to talk about the Mountaineers’ hot start ahead of their trip to Fort Worth, Texas.
The All-American: What’s allowed Will Grier to succeed so early?
JS: The thing about him is he’s a coach’s kid. He’s one of the most unique situations in college football, to be where he’s at. He was a five-star recruit, he transfers out of Florida, he’s married, he has a baby. It’s not your typical college student. He’s very mature — I think Dana said to the media the other day: “He acts like he’s 35 and you forget he’s 22 years old.”
But he’s a coach’s kid. He’s in the office non-stop with me. On the days he doesn’t have class he’s up here from like 8, 9, 10 in the morning till after practice. He sits in there with me and he listens and he bounces ideas off me. And it’s easy for him to translate it to the field because he works so hard at it and has a great understanding of it. Obviously he’s a talented kid. He can make all the throws, but the thing that makes him special is how much effort he puts into it, how much pride he has in it.
I had no idea he was that big of a gamer. That Virginia Tech game he made a couple runs on fourth down to extend drives. He’ll do anything to sacrifice his body to get that first down or make a play. That’s something you really can’t coach. He’s just got that switch.
I’m a coach’s kid, I’m getting obsessed with coaches’ kids now because I had Davis Webb last year and that guy was a gym rat, too, you couldn’t get him out of the facility. And then you get Will Grier and he’s the same way. So I’m kind of getting spoiled with these kids because they just love to play the game.
Like yourself, son of a coach. Both of you are relatively new fathers. Do you find yourselves bonding a lot off the field with some of those similarities?
JS: Oh yeah, I ask him for parenting advice all the time. (Laughs) He’s six months ahead of me on his child, so it’s pretty funny. I don’t know if you’ve ever had a conversation with him but he’s very cerebral, he’s very calm, a monotone guy. He doesn’t get too high, he doesn’t get too low. He’s just a real cool kid with it, with how he handles his situation and where he’s at. It’s pretty impressive how he doesn’t let a lot of these factors faze him.
You mentioned him, you mentioned Davis. You’ve obviously had some history with some pretty talented quarterbacks in a short amount of time. Being a coach’s son is one of (these traits), but looking at all of them, is there a common thread between all these guys that you see in why they succeed?
JS: I think it’s the competitive drive, the competitive nature. It’s the same thing with like Johnny Manziel. Johnny had a lot of issues obviously, but when he crossed the white lines that kid was cold-blooded. He was competitive as ever. The same thing with Davis and Will and Geno (Smith) and even Case Keenum. If you look at Case, he still finds his way to start. Brandon Weeden just got another job, too.
They just find ways. They’re competitive and they never give up and they’re trying to find that edge. It’s study more tape, or doing extra therapy, or working more speed ladders, or doing all the extra stuff. It’s kind of like that competitive desire to be good. It’s just hard being a quarterback, and obviously that’s why they get paid so much money to play the position and they recycle through so many, especially in the NFL. Obviously they’ve got to put that extra effort in.
The way I tell all of our kids here is that it’s a humbling sport, a humbling profession. If you don’t put the work in, put the effort in, it’s definitely gonna catch up to you. Because there’s a lot of people out there trying to outwork you and they’re all gonna end up getting better. I think that’s what separates those guys. I love their competitive nature, the edge that they have.
Are you still in touch with a lot of these guys?
JS: Yeah, all of them. Case, not as much. He was the first quarterback I had. I was a GA, and Kliff Kingsbury was running the room. And that’s where I learned how to coach quarterbacks. And then the next year I get my own room with Brandon Weeden and then I went to West Virginia as quarterbacks coach and coached Geno and then I went and coached Johnny and had Kenny Hill and Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray and then went to Davis Webb, and now Will.
Did you talk to Kenny at all this week? Probably a rare situation for either of you guys.
JS: We talk a lot, but this week I sent him like two emojis of like the wide-eyed, surprised emoji face. He just laughs and says: “I’ll see you Saturday. Look forward to it.” And that’s that. Pretty much ask him how his family’s doing. I recruited Kenny. We have a good relationship because you spend a lot of time with these kids. We haven’t talked crazy much this week, but I look forward to seeing him.
You’re probably one of the few coaches who’s sending these guys emojis and can text with them at a level they can understand.
JS: I think emojis are hilarious, by the way. When you talk to just any of your players, that’s the only way they respond back to you. It’s amazing. I don’t even know if they know how to write back at times; it’s just all abbreviated words and emojis, and you just have to translate it. It’s so funny to me.
TCU’s defense — it seems like every year we in the media write them off and then they come back from the dead and they’re shutting down Oklahoma State. How do you get your group ready for this unit coming off what’s been a very impressive four games for them? What have you seen out of them that’s made them so effective so far?
JS: Having a bye week I had time go back four, five, six years on these guys. (Gary Patterson) does the same stuff. He throws in wrinkles each week on each team that he believes that he sees maybe a tendency or a weakness that he’s going to exploit. But you could tell he’s been there for a long time, obviously, and he’s recruited the guys that he wants and the certain body types and the certain type of athletes for certain positions. You can tell he’s mastered it down. You watch these teams, they will flop and shift and trade and motion and stack and bunch and do all the stuff — these kids just know how to communicate it out and match up perfectly.
That’s just really a testament to them on just how great of teachers they are where they can get these guys to communicate and are very smart. Because people try to trick them because they’re a talented group of guys and you can tell they’re coached well and they can match it all up.
What I’ve been telling my offense all week is none of you guys are going to be screaming: “Wide open.” So you’ve got to make accurate throws and you’ve got to make contested catches and they give you a favorable box to run the ball into, but they do a lot of games and twists and try to be disruptive with that front-four, and they rally with the back end to the run. And they’re just very effective at it. Their eye discipline’s really good. The safeties and those apex linebackers, they keep their eyes in the backfield. And when they see run they trigger it, when they see pass they drop. You can tell they’ve been doing it a long time and he’s got the guys that he wants in there.
It’s definitely gonna be a tough test. They’re holding teams to 323 yards a game vs. some pretty good offenses. So I think our kids are excited to play in a game like this. But they know its gonna be a tough challenge, and we can’t be lazy with the ball. We have to have good ball security. You can’t let them get a lead, because they’re gonna play sound defense.
. I know it's not a victory, but many fans are treating it as such...