Unfortunately for West Virginia University's football team, that's not necessarily the case - at safety.
There are exceptions. Starting free safety Robert Sands is a returning first-team All-Big East honoree.
There's Sidney Glover, a solid player, moved from spur to bandit.
Otherwise? Well, let's just say it's a concern right now.
"We need some young kids to step up,'' said defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel. "Not a lot of depth there. That hurt us during the bowl game and during [last] year when Nate Sowers had a calf injury, right before the South Florida game. Terence [Garvin] ended up playing. [Assistant coach] Steve [Dunlap] has his work cut out for him a little bit.''
Here's the situation as it stands: At spur, WVU has Garvin, a true sophomore, running with the first team and senior Trippe Hale behind him. At free, Sands is capably backed by Eain Smith. At bandit, there's Glover - and a kid, a redshirt freshman, named Darwin Cook.
If you're not a recruiting junkie, Cook is probably a foreign name. He didn't fly under the proverbial recruiting radar, but simply earned two or three stars on his high school performance.
The suggestion, though, is to take note of his high school. See, Cook hails from Shaw High in East Cleveland, Ohio. That's the exact high school from which WVU extracted one of its all-time great football players, Darryl Talley.
At Shaw, Talley was a fullback and linebacker. Scouts knew he was a talent, but couldn't get a handle on his position. Talley then broke an ankle and missed his last seven high school games.
He overcame. And lit up WVU's program.
Cook right now is simply "a talented kid with great speed,'' according to Casteel. One cannot compare him to Talley, who shuffled off to Buffalo and played in two Pro Bowls and four Super Bowls.
Cook, however, is also trying to overcome as his high school legacy did. And prosper.
"He's shown flashes of being really, really good,'' Dunlap said. "But he played defensive end in high school, so there was a huge learning curve because of a lack of experience.
"He didn't do anything a defensive back does. So he's like a fawn running through the woods. Every day is a new day for him. But he tries really, really hard. He comes in early and stays late. Has all the ingredients to become a good player.''
Cook, however, was stiff-armed in his attempt to play as a true freshman. So he reached out - back to West Virginia's past.
"When I got redshirted, I kind of got down on myself,'' Cook said. "I called [Talley]. He told me, 'Stay focused. They're doing it for a reason. Get your education.' That's what I'm working on now: my education.
"I talk to [Talley] from time to time. He's from my high school. He tells me certain things to do here. To stay motivated. To keep the work ethic.''
Solid advice.
"Darwin wasn't quite used to the intensity we have here,'' Dunlap said with a smile.
There has been improvement though.
"I feel I'm coming along great,'' Cook, 5-foot-11, 191 pounds, said. "The first day, I messed up every play. Every play I messed up. I was getting talked about.
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Cook draws on Talley, heats up safety job
MORGANTOWN - It's said there's safety in numbers.
Unfortunately for West Virginia University's football team, that's not necessarily the case - at safety.
There are exceptions. Starting free safety Robert Sands is a returning first-team All-Big East honoree.
There's Sidney Glover, a solid player, moved from spur to bandit.
Otherwise? Well, let's just say it's a concern right now.
"We need some young kids to step up,'' said defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel. "Not a lot of depth there. That hurt us during the bowl game and during [last] year when Nate Sowers had a calf injury, right before the South Florida game. Terence [Garvin] ended up playing. [Assistant coach] Steve [Dunlap] has his work cut out for him a little bit.''
Here's the situation as it stands: At spur, WVU has Garvin, a true sophomore, running with the first team and senior Trippe Hale behind him. At free, Sands is capably backed by Eain Smith. At bandit, there's Glover - and a kid, a redshirt freshman, named Darwin Cook.
If you're not a recruiting junkie, Cook is probably a foreign name. He didn't fly under the proverbial recruiting radar, but simply earned two or three stars on his high school performance.
The suggestion, though, is to take note of his high school. See, Cook hails from Shaw High in East Cleveland, Ohio. That's the exact high school from which WVU extracted one of its all-time great football players, Darryl Talley.
At Shaw, Talley was a fullback and linebacker. Scouts knew he was a talent, but couldn't get a handle on his position. Talley then broke an ankle and missed his last seven high school games.
He overcame. And lit up WVU's program.
Cook right now is simply "a talented kid with great speed,'' according to Casteel. One cannot compare him to Talley, who shuffled off to Buffalo and played in two Pro Bowls and four Super Bowls.
Cook, however, is also trying to overcome as his high school legacy did. And prosper.
"He's shown flashes of being really, really good,'' Dunlap said. "But he played defensive end in high school, so there was a huge learning curve because of a lack of experience.
"He didn't do anything a defensive back does. So he's like a fawn running through the woods. Every day is a new day for him. But he tries really, really hard. He comes in early and stays late. Has all the ingredients to become a good player.''
Cook, however, was stiff-armed in his attempt to play as a true freshman. So he reached out - back to West Virginia's past.
"When I got redshirted, I kind of got down on myself,'' Cook said. "I called [Talley]. He told me, 'Stay focused. They're doing it for a reason. Get your education.' That's what I'm working on now: my education.
"I talk to [Talley] from time to time. He's from my high school. He tells me certain things to do here. To stay motivated. To keep the work ethic.''
Solid advice.
"Darwin wasn't quite used to the intensity we have here,'' Dunlap said with a smile.
There has been improvement though.
"I feel I'm coming along great,'' Cook, 5-foot-11, 191 pounds, said. "The first day, I messed up every play. Every play I messed up. I was getting talked about.
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MORGANTOWN - It's said there's safety in numbers.
Unfortunately for West Virginia University's football team, that's not necessarily the case - at safety.
There are exceptions. Starting free safety Robert Sands is a returning first-team All-Big East honoree.
There's Sidney Glover, a solid player, moved from spur to bandit.
Otherwise? Well, let's just say it's a concern right now.
"We need some young kids to step up,'' said defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel. "Not a lot of depth there. That hurt us during the bowl game and during [last] year when Nate Sowers had a calf injury, right before the South Florida game. Terence [Garvin] ended up playing. [Assistant coach] Steve [Dunlap] has his work cut out for him a little bit.''
Here's the situation as it stands: At spur, WVU has Garvin, a true sophomore, running with the first team and senior Trippe Hale behind him. At free, Sands is capably backed by Eain Smith. At bandit, there's Glover - and a kid, a redshirt freshman, named Darwin Cook.
If you're not a recruiting junkie, Cook is probably a foreign name. He didn't fly under the proverbial recruiting radar, but simply earned two or three stars on his high school performance.
The suggestion, though, is to take note of his high school. See, Cook hails from Shaw High in East Cleveland, Ohio. That's the exact high school from which WVU extracted one of its all-time great football players, Darryl Talley.
At Shaw, Talley was a fullback and linebacker. Scouts knew he was a talent, but couldn't get a handle on his position. Talley then broke an ankle and missed his last seven high school games.
He overcame. And lit up WVU's program.
Cook right now is simply "a talented kid with great speed,'' according to Casteel. One cannot compare him to Talley, who shuffled off to Buffalo and played in two Pro Bowls and four Super Bowls.
Cook, however, is also trying to overcome as his high school legacy did. And prosper.
"He's shown flashes of being really, really good,'' Dunlap said. "But he played defensive end in high school, so there was a huge learning curve because of a lack of experience.
"He didn't do anything a defensive back does. So he's like a fawn running through the woods. Every day is a new day for him. But he tries really, really hard. He comes in early and stays late. Has all the ingredients to become a good player.''
Cook, however, was stiff-armed in his attempt to play as a true freshman. So he reached out - back to West Virginia's past.
"When I got redshirted, I kind of got down on myself,'' Cook said. "I called [Talley]. He told me, 'Stay focused. They're doing it for a reason. Get your education.' That's what I'm working on now: my education.
"I talk to [Talley] from time to time. He's from my high school. He tells me certain things to do here. To stay motivated. To keep the work ethic.''
Solid advice.
"Darwin wasn't quite used to the intensity we have here,'' Dunlap said with a smile.
There has been improvement though.
"I feel I'm coming along great,'' Cook, 5-foot-11, 191 pounds, said. "The first day, I messed up every play. Every play I messed up. I was getting talked about.
"But it just motivated me. If they weren't talking about me, I wouldn't be any good. Now, I'm drastically getting better. I can see it every day on film. I'm getting better at my craft, on my technique. Watching film with Coach Dunlap really helps.''
So what are Cook's responsibilities?
"I'm a linebacker-safety,'' said the redshirt freshman. "You get the coverage and the blitz. As a defensive end in high school, I always blitzed. That's what intrigued me to go to West Virginia University - the blitzing part. Then they taught me the coverages to make me a better player, to make me more ready.''
"Some people call them rovers,'' Dunlap explained. "Our spur is really half linebacker and half defensive back. The bandit is probably more of a true strong safety.
"They are longer, taller guys. Four-three [front] teams will call them 'tweeners' - not sure if they're linebackers or safeties. A lot like Barrett Green was here. Those guys, though, fit our scheme real well. We can put a faster team out there.''
Cook has the speed. But he's not ready to overtake Glover any time soon.
"Experience,'' Dunlap said. "Sidney has a lot of it. He's played a lot of football, basically a three-year starter. If he can stay out there, he's pretty good. And so far, he's done pretty well at that [this camp]. He's stayed away from hamstrings and shoulders and necks and stingers and whatnot.''
Considering Glover's medical past, though, WVU will need a solid backup. And Dunlap said despite Cook's progress, he's not comfortable with the thought of the redshirt freshman playing second at the bandit position.
"No, not right now. No,'' Dunlap said. "That's one of our goals this spring: developing a two-deep.
"As time went on last year we saw you can't play the first guys the whole season. So we need to do two things: We have to develop more depth and find better blitzers.
"Being with the spur and bandit, the [strong-side and weak-side] linebackers, guys that put pressure on the quarterback ... we have to be better at that.''
Cook is trying. He's trying to overcome the transition from defensive end. He's trying to overcome the ego check of being redshirted. He's trying to make it on a major-college stage.
Just like that other Shaw High player once did in the early 1980s.
Leading to a dream of Cook's.
"I want [Talley] to come and see me,'' Cook said. "I want him to come and see me play. Tell him that.''
This article is available only to our premium digital content subscribers.
Cook draws on Talley, heats up safety job
MORGANTOWN - It's said there's safety in numbers.
Unfortunately for West Virginia University's football team, that's not necessarily the case - at safety.
There are exceptions. Starting free safety Robert Sands is a returning first-team All-Big East honoree.
There's Sidney Glover, a solid player, moved from spur to bandit.
Otherwise? Well, let's just say it's a concern right now.
"We need some young kids to step up,'' said defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel. "Not a lot of depth there. That hurt us during the bowl game and during [last] year when Nate Sowers had a calf injury, right before the South Florida game. Terence [Garvin] ended up playing. [Assistant coach] Steve [Dunlap] has his work cut out for him a little bit.''
Here's the situation as it stands: At spur, WVU has Garvin, a true sophomore, running with the first team and senior Trippe Hale behind him. At free, Sands is capably backed by Eain Smith. At bandit, there's Glover - and a kid, a redshirt freshman, named Darwin Cook.
If you're not a recruiting junkie, Cook is probably a foreign name. He didn't fly under the proverbial recruiting radar, but simply earned two or three stars on his high school performance.
The suggestion, though, is to take note of his high school. See, Cook hails from Shaw High in East Cleveland, Ohio. That's the exact high school from which WVU extracted one of its all-time great football players, Darryl Talley.
At Shaw, Talley was a fullback and linebacker. Scouts knew he was a talent, but couldn't get a handle on his position. Talley then broke an ankle and missed his last seven high school games.
He overcame. And lit up WVU's program.
Cook right now is simply "a talented kid with great speed,'' according to Casteel. One cannot compare him to Talley, who shuffled off to Buffalo and played in two Pro Bowls and four Super Bowls.
Cook, however, is also trying to overcome as his high school legacy did. And prosper.
"He's shown flashes of being really, really good,'' Dunlap said. "But he played defensive end in high school, so there was a huge learning curve because of a lack of experience.
"He didn't do anything a defensive back does. So he's like a fawn running through the woods. Every day is a new day for him. But he tries really, really hard. He comes in early and stays late. Has all the ingredients to become a good player.''
Cook, however, was stiff-armed in his attempt to play as a true freshman. So he reached out - back to West Virginia's past.
"When I got redshirted, I kind of got down on myself,'' Cook said. "I called [Talley]. He told me, 'Stay focused. They're doing it for a reason. Get your education.' That's what I'm working on now: my education.
"I talk to [Talley] from time to time. He's from my high school. He tells me certain things to do here. To stay motivated. To keep the work ethic.''
Solid advice.
"Darwin wasn't quite used to the intensity we have here,'' Dunlap said with a smile.
There has been improvement though.
"I feel I'm coming along great,'' Cook, 5-foot-11, 191 pounds, said. "The first day, I messed up every play. Every play I messed up. I was getting talked about.
