Sunday, July 27, 2025, 9:05AM | 
MENU
Advertisement

WVU football: Many first-game tests face new, dueling coordinators

WVU football: Many first-game tests face new, dueling coordinators

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Tony Gibson hardly could have asked for a more difficult debut as West Virginia’s defensive coordinator. The Mountaineers’ opponent Saturday in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta is No. 2 Alabama, winner of three of the past five national championships.

As if it weren’t a tall enough task already, the Crimson Tide has yet to name a starting quarterback — speedy Blake Sims or pocket-passer Jacob Coker — and the man across the way, Lane Kiffin, is making his debut as Alabama’s offensive coordinator 11 months after being unceremoniously ousted as Southern California’s head coach.

Preparation has been a logistical nightmare for the West Virginia defensive staff, which has split its time between USC and Alabama game film and is trying to scout two quarterbacks with different styles who never have started a game.

Advertisement

West Virginia senior associate head coach Tom Bradley expects it to be “a balancing act.”

In this Nov. 2, 2013, file photo, West Virginia quarterback Clint Trickett prepares to pass against TCU during the first half of an NCAA football game in Fort Worth, Texas. West Virginia is 11-14 over the past two seasons and must show significant improvements on both sides of the ball to avoid another year of disappointment. The offense will rely on  Trickett, who started seven games a year ago and is coming off shoulder surgery in the offseason.
Stephen Nesbitt
2014 West Virginia football schedule

“Will Coach Kiffin bring in his wrinkles? Absolutely,” Bradley said earlier this week. “What they are, we don’t know. … You just try to take a guess and figure out what they may be trying to get done.”

Every defensive coordinator will agree in-game adjustments are crucial, but, with the uncertainties blanketing the powerful Alabama offense, it will be more important than ever.

“If we’re having issues, we’re not going to wait until halftime [to make fixes],” Gibson said. “It may be over by then.”

Advertisement

Alabama coach Nick Saban said he doesn’t plan on micromanaging Kiffin, either.

“I think you can really mess a guy up if you question what he does,” Saban said. “… It’s just like players. I get on the corners when they get the ball thrown over their head in practice, but I’m over there rubbing their neck in the game so they don’t get it thrown over their head again.

“When a game comes, man, you’ve got to go with what you’ve got and try to get them to do it the best they can.”

West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said the dueling first-year coordinators story line isn’t such a major factor since neither system was overhauled in the offseason.

West Virgina head coach Dana Holgorsen  answers a question from a reporter during the NCAA college Big 12 Conference football media days in Dallas, Tuesday, July 22, 2014.
Stephen J. Nesbitt
Keys to West Virginia’s 2014 season

“It’s not a wholesale change,” Holgorsen said. “I can assure you that when Coach Saban hired Coach Kiffin, it wasn’t, ‘I want you to change the entire thing.’ Coach Saban had an idea of what he wants to do offensively, which isn’t a whole lot different than what USC was doing the previous couple years as well.”

So, for all the chatter, Alabama’s approach isn’t all that much of a mystery, is it?

“Not really,” Gibson said, with a laugh. He gave a nod toward the three-headed backfield attack of T.J. Yeldon, Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake. “When you average 6[feet] 5, 330 [pounds] across the front and have three tailbacks, we know what No. 1 is going to be. They’re going to run it, run it a little bit more and then try to throw it over our heads every once in a while.”

Gibson will bring in a new flavor, too. He began the defensive rehabilitation by re-installing the 3-3-5 defense previously used under defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel in 2011. The scheme employs three down lineman, three true linebackers and five defensive backs — two corners, a safety and two hybrid safeties/outside linebackers.

With any luck, Gibson’s defense can catch the Crimson Tide off balance. Earlier this week, Alabama standout receiver Amari Cooper called the 3-3-5 “a pretty weird defense,” one he never has faced before.

Gibson credited the defense with picking up the scheme quickly.

“With four different coordinators in four years, these guys were like freshmen every year, trying to learn the new scheme,” Gibson said. “I think they’re hungry, a little bit embarrassed. I’d be shocked if we don’t go out and play with great effort. But does that mean we’re going to play mistake-free? No.”

First Published: August 28, 2014, 4:00 a.m.

RELATED
SHOW COMMENTS (0)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
A huge Canadian flag carried by a crowd in Montreal in 1995, before a referendum on Quecec’s independence. Dennis Jett suggests Pennsylvania do the same in reverse.
1
opinion
Dennis Jett: Pennsylvania should become part of Canada
New cornerback Jalen Ramsey (5) gets into position prior to a play during practice on the first day of Steelers Training Camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe Thursday, July 24, 2025.
2
sports
Steelers training camp observations: Jalen Ramsey-led defense comes out 'aggressive and angry'
Several houses are shown along N. Dallas Avenue near Penn Avenue in Point Breeze with “For Sale” signs in the front yard, Friday, March 21, 2025.
3
business
A cooling market and patient buyers are causing many Pittsburgh home sellers to cut their prices
4
news
Person dies after traffic stop in Westmoreland County
5
news
Flash flooding reported in Washington County
Advertisement
LATEST sports
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story