4. What is Jake Spavital’s impact?
After spending time under Dana Holgorsen in Stillwater and Morgantown, Spavital shot up the coaching ranks at Texas A&M and Cal.
But as Spavital comes to Morgantown to replace Joe Wickline, who was moved to offensive line coach, the reality is this: it was really Holgorsen’s offense.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail reported that a source close to Spavital said, “If I’m Jake, I don’t get out and do this unless Dana gets out of the offensive (coaches) room.” So, whose offense will this really be?
Holgorsen claimed before the 2014 Liberty Bowl when West Virginia played Texas A&M that, “I taught Jake Spavital all of his signals.”
So maybe the offense doesn’t change at all and it’s basically Holgorsen’s offense run by Spavital? Or could Spavital have made some tweaks to his playbook since joining Texas A&M as offensive coordinator 4 years and then spending time at Cal? I’m sure this was all addressed prior to Spavital’s hiring, but it’ll be fun to see if there are any noticeable differences and what the demeanor of the two is on the sidelines (although this likely won’t be noticeable in the West Virginia spring game and we’ll have to wait until the real games start in the fall).
