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In 2012, West Virginia will have at least 19 of their regular season games broadcast on national television while only one game [Duquesne on December 11 in Pittsburgh] at this time will not feature any coverage.

Of the aforementioned 19 games, the Mountaineers will be featured in 17 games on the ESPN family of networks while their 2013 road games against Purdue and Kansas will be featured on CBS Sports.

The non-conference games against Glenville State, VMI, Radford and Eastern Kentucky will broadcast by Pittsburgh based Root Sports while the traditional January matchup against Marshall in Charleston will be broadcast on the Capital Classic Network.

Last season, West Virginia had only 16 regular season games featured with some kind of national television coverage.

As part of the Big 12, WVU will also have seven broadcast on the conference’s network with three of those being a part of the league’s Game of the Week syndicated package.

The Mountaineers will kick off their season against Gonzaga on November 12 while their first Big 12 contest will be January 5 against Oklahoma in Morgantown at the Coliseum.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - West Virginia Head Football Coach Dana Holgorsen addresses the media after Thursday, Aug. 9, practice.

Opening Statement
There was a lot of energy and competition tonight. We were out there for a good two hours and 45 minutes or close to it. It became more competitive, and there was more energy as the practice went on. That means that these guys are excited about being out there, excited about playing, obviously that is a good thing, but there were also bad things. That’s what camp is all about, playing a lot of bodies. We’re not trying to narrow anything down at this point, so we’ll getting a lot of bodies in there, which means a lot of mistakes throughout camp. We will evaluate the film tonight as coaches and come back and do a whole bunch of teaching tomorrow morning and tomorrow afternoon, before we get in practice No. 9 and No. 10.

On what he now knows about the team
Camp is three weeks, so you try to figure out your team in three weeks and then at that point you get tired of practicing against each other and you really can’t tell anything until you play that first game. Once you play that first game it’s all about how much improvement you make from game one to game two to game three, before you figure out what your team is all about. The only think I can see is there is a lot of energy out there. There are a lot of guys who enjoy playing football, and there is a lot of energy. Does that mean we’ll be good and capable of winning games? That doesn’t mean that, but we have a bunch of guys with the right attitude that want to play which means we should get better throughout the course of camp.

On if there are noticeable differences in the new defense
There are quite a bit. We still have three down linemen, but as far as the specific gaps and blitzes and coverage’s, there are all kind of differences. If we decided to go to a four down front with four d-linemen, there will certainly be different blitzes and coverages, stunts and twists. It’s completely different. It’ll look different. The stack is a good defense, the 3-4 is a good defense, the 4-3 is a good defense, and it’s about having a bunch of guys knowing what there assignment is and what their technique is.

On what areas he’s happy with and what areas need to improve
With the o-line, you knew what you were getting with (Joey) Madsen, (Jeff) Braun and (Josh) Jenkins, those guys have played a lot of football around here and solidified the inside. Pat Eger had his problems last year, but is a returning starter. He is playing better, and we have the ability to move him down to guard. Curtis Feigt looks like a different guy, we’d feel much more comfortable putting him in. (Quinton) Spain looks like a different guy, we’d feel much more comfortable putting him in. We feel really good about them, we’re trying to find some more guards. We’ve identified some guys with depth, we’re just trying to find a few more. Obviously, we have a couple of receivers who can play, but we need five more, and I’m not sure who they will be. I feel good about the o-line. Those guys are playing well right now.

On the linebacker situation
You have three returning starters in (Jared) Barber, (Doug) Rigg and (Jewone) Snow. They played a lot last year. Najee Goode was the guy who held that together and finding a guy that can replace him from a leadership standpoint, toughness standpoint and playmaking ability standpoint, we haven’t found that yet. We have three guys who have starting experience and then we’ve moved Shaq Petteway and Isaiah Bruce in there. Those are two guys that are really athletic, but just don’t have that much experience. We’re rolling a lot of bodies in there and trying to find the appropriate two people, but we haven’t found that out yet.

On the energy infusion
We coach it, that’s what they pay us to do. That’s something we believe in, and we’ve talked a lot about body language, a lot about confidence, a lot about effort, energy and excitement. I truly believe you can coach that stuff like you can coach where to line up on a specific play. Ultimately the guys have to buy into it and feel good about it. We coach it and steer them in the right direction. They need to feel good about doing it, and I saw a lot of that out there today.

On how the team session went
It’s fun. One thing as a head coach that gets me fired up is when we put the ball down and score. The offense runs into the end zone and has a good time. The next time we put it down and play it and throw an interception in the end zone. The defense is in the end zone hootin’ and hollerin’ and having a good time. If it’s just 100 percent one-sided, it’s not going to do any good. If there is competition, and it goes back and forth, then you have a chance to be successful.

On Dustin Garrison being back to full contact
He didn’t want to be in the green, we just figured we would give him a couple of days to back off a little bit. He has been working through it, and that’s always a work in progress. Especially for a running back, when they need to make those cuts.

On what goes through his mind when he sees K.J. Dillon
Excitement, when he gets two interceptions in team (period) like he did today. He’s going to play. His job is to try and push for a starting job. Karl Joseph is a guy who is always around the ball, he’s a freshman, but we don’t tell them they’re freshmen, we tell them that they’re no different than what Darwin Cook is or some of the seniors. He’s learning, he’s young and he’s going to make mistakes, but he’s a physical guy out there. We have two young safeties that we feel good about.

On how to coach rule changes
We sit here and talk to them about it. We had a Big 12 referee come in and explain it so the guys can ask questions, and they’ll hear it from the referees. We try to practice it as much as we can. Obviously, the kickoff rule is different so when we’re out there we practice it and tell them what the rules are. The helmet rule is new. Throughout the course of a play if someone’s helmet comes off you need to take them off the field for a play. We try to emulate those situations.

On if he cares about being on a stage where he can run 80 or 90 plays
We could do it, but we’re not going to. There is a whole bunch of drill work and stuff we need to address. If you put the ball down and play all day, you’re going to get a bunch of guys hurt. We try to keep that in small segments.

Robert Gillespie, Daron Roberts and Erik Slaughter also broke down competition at their respective positions, who's standing out, and preparation for the Mountaineers inaugural Big 12 season.

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The talented 6-foot-1, 178 pound cornerback has received interest from programs like Virginia Tech, Virginia, Marshall, and East Carolina. Audrex currently holds one offer from James Madison.

Harris is looking for his next offer, West Virginia. He has built a solid relationship with Coach Roberts, and that's something we talked about when we had the chance to speak with Audrex about his recruitment.

EER: Can you describe your relationship with Coach Roberts? What kinda feel you have for him?

Harris: Man I really bonded with Coach Roberts. He was everything I want in a coach and even in a person to teach me life.

EER: You've visited JMU and VT, have you made a visit to WVU? If not, do you plan on making a trip to Motown?

Harris: I want to make a visit to WVU or even just go to a game. I hear they're playing at Fed Ex Field, so I might catch that. Yeah, I wanna visit Motown. It seem fun, the atmosphere is great and exciting.

EER: From the looks of your tape, you like to come up and hit people in the mouth. Tell me a little about the style you play with at the CB position?

Harris: My style at corner was really raw. I wanted to show everyone I wasn't like any corner in high school and I wanted to be that lockdown corner. I wanted to hit people and just wanted to leave my mark. At the end of the season I think I did that finishing up with 50 tackles and only gaving up one TD in man coverage. I took the same pride playing running back. I was trying to let people know that I was the show so come and watch me! I was going shake you, run you over, smack you or lock you down.

EER: What schools are you hearing from most?

Harris: I havent really heard from any schools lately, so ive just been trying get focused on the season, and thats all I want to do anyway.The schools I've heard from the most are WVU, Marshall, Virginia Tech and UNC.

EER: Whats your goals and plans moving forward?

Harris: My goal for the season is to dominate, nothing more nothing less. If I don't dominate then I didn't do what I wanted to do. I was brought up if you don't do what you want to do in football, then why are you playing? You have to control over it.

We wish Audrex the best of luck moving forward in his recruitment, and during his senior season. EERinsider.com will keep you posted on the progress of Harris, and his season.

The staff would like to thank Audrex for taking the time to talk with us.

Under the agreement, the second-year head coach will be paid an annualized salary of $2.3 million this season -- $250,000 in base pay and the remainder in supplemental pay -- all from revenue generated by the athletic department or private sources -- “very much in line with other Big 12 and major college coaches’ salaries,” according to Luck.

“This contract brings us closer to the salaries of other major university head coaches and those within our conference,” Luck said. “We have said all along we are going to pay our coach a competitive salary for a very valued and competitive position. I have full confidence in Coach Holgorsen and his staff and want them to be with us for a long time. He is the right man to lead our football program into the Big 12 and beyond.”

According to conference statistics, Texas Coach Mack Brown and Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops remain the highest paid coaches in the Big 12, followed by Oklahoma State, TCU and Kansas.

“I want to thank Oliver Luck and President Jim Clements for their confidence in and commitment to our football program. We have a lot of things that we want to accomplish, and we have a great administration supporting us,” Holgorsen said. “There is no question that joining the Big 12 Conference presents new challenges in competition, facility upgrades and overall growth. However, I am excited to be the head coach of the West Virginia University Mountaineers, I enjoy living in this state, and I look forward to many more successful years in Morgantown.”

Holgorsen’s contract calls for yearly raises -- $200,000 in year two and three; $100,000 in year four and five; and no increase in the final year. It also has retention payments, and there will continue to be performance-based incentives for team academic achievements, regular season victories, conference titles, postseason bowl appearances and other rankings and honors.

The contract also includes liquidated damages clauses which establish payments by the coach should he leave early and by WVU should it choose to end the contract.

Holgorsen’s previous contract was scheduled to pay him $1.725 million this season. The terms of the new agreement are effective immediately.

The full contract can be viewed at this link http://www.wvusports.com/content/holgorsen_agreement.pdf [8mb file].

WVU finished with a 10-3 record and a Big East championship in Holgorsen’s first season. The Mountaineers also defeated Clemson 70-33 in the Discover Orange Bowl, and will begin their inaugural Big 12 season when the team meets Baylor on Sept. 29 at Milan Puskar Stadium.

WVU remains one of only a dozen or more self-supporting athletic departments in the country.

Smallwood visited with high school teammate Daikiel Shorts during the last WVU camp of the summer, and the visit was enough to make it official.

Smallwood is a 5-foot-11, 194 pound back from Eastern Christian Academy and is rated a 3-star by both Rivals and Scout.

Big, powerful, physical, fast, explosive and flexible are just a few words used to describe Smallwood. He is the most complete pure running back in the state according to the  Rivals

Smallwood knew what he was looking for come decision time.

"First, I'm basing my decision on how the team is doing and if I will have the opportunity to play early," he said. "The coaches mean a lot to me. I'm looking for coaches who can make me better as a player, person and student."

He has terrific straight-line speed, and runs a legit 4.45 40, but it's his change of direction speed that separates him from the rest. He's able to hit the hole, bounce it to the outside and accelerate downfield without losing so much as a step.

He's quick enough to hit the edge and turn upfield or cut back in space and beeline in the opposite direction.

Smallwood had offers from Auburn, UCONN, Temple and Rutgers to name a few.

He cut his list over the last week to WVU and Rutgers before deciding on the Mountaineers today.

Stay with EERinsider.com for WVU and recruiting news.

Senior West Virginia Quarterback Geno Smith finds himself among those on pre-season Heisman watch lists across the internet after collecting 33 touchdowns and more than 4,300 yards of total offense in 2011.

Here’s what the Mountaineers’ signal caller said in regards to himself being a Heisman Trophy candidate this season, courtesy of the CharlestonDaily Mail.

"I will endorse Tavon Austin," Smith said. "I think he's one of the best players in the country and the most electrifying player in the country with the ball in his hands."

Even though choosing not to mention his own candidacy for the Heisman, Smith must know that he has a strong chance just like other star quarterbacks Matt Barkley of USC and new conference rival, Landry Jones of Oklahoma.

Along with entering his second season in the Holgorsen system, the 2012 Big 12 pre-season offensive player of the year could jump into the upper echelon of Heisman contenders if WVU can score some big time wins against conference powers Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

With a Heisman quality player in Tavon Austin on offense for the Mountaineers, what do you think are the chances of Geno Smith becoming the first West Virginia Quarterback to win the Heisman this season?

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