MORGANTOWN - If you wonder why West Virginia University football coach Dana Holgorsen handed over the play-calling duties to new offensive coordinator Jake Spavital, do a little research.
Remember when ex-Mountaineer athletic director Oliver Luck hired Holgorsen? Well, Spavital is now this close to being Holgorsen.
You might know much of the story. You might know Spavital previously worked with Holgorsen at Houston, Oklahoma State and WVU. You might know he worked at Texas A&M and coached Johnny Football, aka Johnny Manziel.
But the former Missouri State quarterback has shown more. Yes, he's shown he can coach. Yet he's also shown he can recruit at a high level. And he's so highly regarded nationally he was California's interim coach after the school fired Sonny Dykes and was a finalist for the position.
Thisclose.
So grabbing Spavital was an opportunity for Holgorsen. At Cal, Spavital took over an offense that had to replace No. 1 NFL draft pick Jared Goff and the team's top six receivers. The Bears still finished with the nation's No. 10 offense.
Understand now? He's become what Holgorsen was heading into Morgantown. So I asked Spavital what most intrigued him about the WVU opportunity.
"Calling the plays," he said with a wide grin. "That was the thing. [Holgorsen and I] always had conversations. We've always talked about where he was with the offense and where I was with the offense. When he called I was actually shocked he was giving it up, but he wanted to go in that direction and I was all aboard. I didn't need any more convincing because I know what Dana has established here and what type of coach he is because I learned from him. It was a pretty easy decision."
Especially, he said, with Florida transfer Will Grier on the roster.
"He's an awesome guy," Spavital said of the QB. "I'm pretty fired up for that. I think everyone in this whole facility is pretty fired up for him. He's pretty motivated right now. There are times when I have to kick him out of the office to go home, get some sleep and relax because he's very focused right now on the direction he wants the offense to go.
"Where he's at, coming off what he did over summer, he's so far ahead in terms of his checks and handling the offense and knowing what's good for certain looks, it's pretty impressive so far. Yet he's got to build on it."
And Spavital has to build on Holgorsen's work with the offense.
"I always adjust to the personnel," said the OC. "I think we have a lot of multiple body types, which is pretty interesting. We have tight end body types like [Trevon] Wesco. We have Eli [Wellman], who is a fullback but he can attach at times. Then we have all these running backs we can run all over the place.
"What we tried to do in the spring and these first couple of weeks is put all these kids in position so we as coaches can evaluate. Who is going to help us win?
"When you realize these guys are our top guys, you build packages around them. You say these are the guys we're going to rely on the most. It's the most multiple [team] I've ever been a part of in terms of having tight ends, fullbacks, running backs, slot receivers, big slot receivers, big outside receivers, small outside receivers, speed guys ... it's going to be pretty fun to see how we piece it all together."
One concern has been the Mountaineer receiving corps, but Spavital said he's confident in the group.
"I am," he said. "We're getting there. I think the receiving corps had one of the best summers I've been a part of in a long time. That's something for which I commend them. They are eager and put in the work. They don't leave me alone. Everybody is wanting the ball. That's when you know you're getting to them and they're starting to buy in. Over the course of time they'll get better and better.
"Also, I got Ka'Raun [White] back [from injury] for the first time. In the spring I was trying to figure it all out, but knew I had some guys sitting out. With Ka'Raun back it makes everything better."
Spavital said he has multiple weapons - and will use them at multiple speeds.
"I think that's where the game has evolved," Spavital said. "When Dana was at the University of Houston, he was taking the 'Air Raid' and implementing an up-tempo offense. No one was doing it. And then, over the course of three, four, five years, everyone in the country was running it.
"Now it's to where you dictate the tempo. You can slow it down or speed it up. If you play fast all the time you're not going to confuse anybody. When you mix up the tempos is when you catch people off guard."
If WVU has success with Spavital in place, however, not a soul will be caught off guard.
Contact Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827 or mitchvingle@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @MitchVingle.