West Virginia Football: Why Mountaineer Recruiting Is on the Rise

The move to the Big 12 will bring a lot of changes. There will be exciting new matchups against perennial powers, and WVU players will have the opportunity to showcase their talent in one of the nations premiere conferences. One way WVU will see the biggest jump in success, besides on the field, will be in the world of recruiting. 

In the past several seasons, WVU has done a very nice job recruiting, particularly playing in a conference such as the Big East. Last year both Daron Roberts and Robert Gillespie were co-recruiters of the year in the Big East, and Gillespie was among one of the best recruiters in the nation.

Out of the 28 recruits in the 2012 class, Robert Gillespie was personally responsible for eight commits; all out of Florida. That is ridiculous work on the recruiting trail, and the running backs coach has done an outstanding job bringing players to Morgantown.

Last year, the Mountaineers plucked 12 players out of Florida, which is outstanding. And through the years, the sun-state has been very kind to WVU. 

Star players such as Geno Smith and Stedman Bailey to go along with former standout Noel Devine are all from Florida, and WVU is a serious player recruiting any talent in this region.

Another coach to make a note of is Daron Roberts. This guy is simply impressive all across the board. He has a law degree from Harvard, which is impressive in its own right, and was a former student body president at Texas. He has done an outstanding job for WVU, and in 2012 he will coach the cornerbacks; a position he has NFL experience in when he coached for both the Kansas City Chiefs and the Detroit Lions.

Not too bad for a program that was in the news for all the wrong reasons just one year ago. When Dana Holgorsen was hired as the head coach in waiting, it blew up in West Virginia's face; big time. With the departures of Jeff Casteel along with Bill Kirelawich and Dave Lockwood to Arizona, Holgorsen now has his staff in place.

Joe Deforest, the former associate head coach and special teams coordinator from Oklahoma State, is co-defensive coordinator with Keith Patterson, and Erik Slaughter is the new D-line coach. They all have one thing in common; plenty of coaching experience in the Texas area.

Patterson spent time as a high school coach in Oklahoma as well as Texas, and also eight years as a coach at Tulsa. Slaughter also spent time coaching in the high school ranks in Texas, as well as at Stephen F. Austin. 

Typically, when you think of the West Virginia recruiting base, you think of Florida, Ohio, PA, Maryland and Virginia. Now the Mountaineers are expanding their recruiting base to Texas. According to Steve Megargee of rivals, the Mountaineers’ five Texas signees in the 2012 class is more than the combined total in the last nine years.

This is huge for West Virginia football. One of those players, early enrollee Jordan Thompson is impressing early, turning heads in the spring game. Thompson’s game is very similar to Tavon Austin's; he is elusive, extremely quick and versatile.

The Texas wave didn't begin in 2012. In 2010, the coaching staff recruited freshman RB Dustin Garrison out of Pearland, Texas. He was a beast for WVU in the 2011 season, and blew away the Mountaineer faithful. How he wasn't heavily recruited is beyond me; his high school numbers were simply insane.

This guy put up video game type statistics in his senior year, rushing for 2,842 yards and 46 touchdowns, while leading his team to the state title. Not bad for a 2-star recruit.

As a true freshman, he rushed for a team-high 742 yards with six touchdowns last season, before tearing his ACL before the Orange Bowl.

The newest Texas recruits include QB Ford Childress, LB Garett Hope, DE Noble Nwachukwu, kicker Josh Lambert and the above mentioned Thompson. These players are the building blocks for what the coaching staff hopes is the beginning of a pipeline to Texas. 

What’s interesting about West Virginia’s approach is they do the exact opposite of the traditional powers in the Big 12, Oklahoma and Texas. For example, Texas already has 14 commits, while West Virginia has two. Some people look at this as a negative, but in all honesty it is the opposite.

There is a wealth of talent each year in Texas and therefore, the players are pressured to commit early. WVU likes to recruit players that are a bit under the radar, and have huge senior seasons. Torry Clayton is a prime example, and the Florida-native had over 1,000 rushing yards and 15 TD's as a senior. He is heading to WVU in the fall, and has the potential to be a standout immediately.

Joining Gillespie recruiting Florida will be Joe DeForest. This guy is also among the elite coaches in all of college football when it comes to recruiting, and he has the resume to prove it.

Looking at the players he brought to Oklahoma State from 2009-2011, is simply mind boggling. He personally landed 13 commits during this span, and six were 4-star recruits, while the rest were 3-star players.

Standouts from this collection of players are DT Swanson Miller, now with the New Orleans Saints, and outside linebacker Shaun Lewis. Lewis will be an NFL player, and his stats are incredible.

In two years at Oklahoma State, he had 119 tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss, five picks, four forced fumbles and two defensive TD's. This is the type of player WVU fans are anxious to see rocking the blue and gold. 

Now with Bruce Irvin being drafted in the first-round, the Mountaineers have defensive players attention around the country. The team finally runs a scheme incoming freshman or transfers understand, and don’t have to learn on the fly.

With a successful season, and a new conference, the Mountaineers have a chance to make a huge statement in 2012. If that occurs, the players will come, and Mountaineer nation is more confident than ever.