MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Eventually, Will Clarke has eyes on grabbing a running back, corralling him by his waist and slamming him facemask-first to the Mountaineer Field turf.

But even guys who are 6 feet 6 and 265 pounds need to take some baby steps.

Clarke, a redshirt freshman defensive end for the West Virginia football team, has drawn some chatter among the coaching staff during the Mountaineers' preseason camp.

So much so, the coaches had to infuse the Allderdice High School graduate into the game plan.

Clarke might have solidified a spot as an edge pass-rusher in the Mountaineers' nickel package, or, what they refer to as their "40" formation. It is a configuration in which West Virginia defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel uses four down linemen as opposed to the Mountaineers' signature three-man front.

West Virginia coach Bill Stewart understands Clarke's value -- even as he has yet to play a snap.

"He has so much enthusiasm and just flies around," Stewart said. "He just needs to get in there in the trenches, with [defensive line coach Bill] Kirelawich, and bang around a little bit. Will is going to be, I believe, a very good one."

His peers believe it, too.

Chris Neild, a senior nose tackle, spoke glowingly about Clarke after practice earlier this week.

"Over this past year, he has developed so much," Neild said. "He really worked hard throughout this whole summer. He put his work in and it is going to pay off when the season comes. It is showing right now. He's on the first '40' team and is developing a very good pass rush, and that's something we are going to need."

Because he is large in stature, Clarke might be physically intimidating to some, but he boarders on shy in interviews, speaking in a soft tone and making a point to take an extra moment to calculate a thoughtful response.

At the end of interviews, he says "thank you very much" to members of the media.

The little details are important to Clarke, the son of former Fifth Avenue High and Duquesne University basketball star Bill Clarke.

At practice, when it isn't his turn in a drill, he doesn't idly stand by. He watches the older players, studying their movements.

"I just try to mimic what they do," Clarke said. "Watching [defensive linemen] Scooter Berry, Chris Neild, Julian Miller, and all those guys. I try to imitate each move, step, their hand placement, everything they do. When they see me giving effort to get better, I know that they want to help me out more."

Clarke also has an understanding of how far he has come in a year. He arrived in Morgantown last year after a City League career at Allderdice -- where he also was a very good basketball player -- in which, even he admits, he got by sometimes because he was so much bigger than the others. There is an appreciation within him now that the true measure of a successful task might not just be a tackled ballcarrier in practice, that there is also room for advancement.

"If I was to play football again in high school, it would be totally different," Clarke said. "Everything is so critiqued now I know a lot more about this game. I feel like I've educated myself in the game a lot in the last year.

"In high school, you make a tackle in practice and you think, 'OK, I made a play, I did it right' and it moves onto the next play. Here, in college, sometimes you make what you think is a good play, then coach blows the whistle and instructs you as to something that you did wrong. That has been the biggest difference. That is where I am now, trying to make each play perfect."

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