Quick Hits: A 'Legit' QB Battle, A Familiar Face Returns, RBs Taking a Step + More

West Virginia head football coach Rich Rodriguez was made available to the media following Monday's practice and provided his thoughts on how things are going so far this spring. Below are some of the highlights from today's press conference.

Progression of spring ball

“Halfway through spring practice, I think we’ve made some progress. Wasn’t really pleased with Saturday too much, but today, we were in shorts but I thought we were better mentally, scheme-wise, fundamentally - I think we took a step today.”

Bringing Preston Fox back

“I got a call that he might want to come back. I knew about him a little bit. I thought he was out of eligibility. I didn’t realize he had another year. He called me and said he wanted to talk about coming back and I said sure, so he came over, we met and I said I’d love to have him. He’s a good football player. I think all of his teammates love to have him and it’s good to have him. I think he’s a guy that can help us in all four of our receiver positions. He’s a smart guy. He got his second practice in today and he’ll be in full pads Wednesday.”

Hiring RBs coach Larry Porter

“What he’s done in the past and I’ve known of him for a long time. He’s worked for a lot of people that I respect. I kind of felt that I needed another veteran presence. I have some really good young coaches, but I need another veteran presence, so it’s good to have Larry on board. He’ll do a great job with our running backs.”

Development of the running backs

“Getting better. They’re still getting in shape. I think all of them, the tempo is a little bit different for them. Tye Edwards has made a big step from when we first started practicing to now. He’s a 235-pound big guy that can run and can get downhill. Pleased with his progress. LJ Turner is another new, young guy that I think has made some flashes. (Diore) Hubbard has done a good job. We may get Jahiem (White) back for the last part of spring practice, so that’s a good thing as well.”

Use of cannabis by college athletes now that it’s not a banned substance

“I know some people say it’s good for you or it’s not good for you. I said, when it was against the rules, you can’t do it because it’s against the rules. That’s like jumping offsides. Jumping offsides is against the rules, so you can’t do it. Smoking marijuana was against the rules, so you can’t do it. That was the end of the story. Now if it’s not against the rules — I don’t know. I’m not knowledgeable enough to know whether it can hinder your performance or if it leads to other stuff, I don’t know. I just know if you do anything in excess, the same way with alcohol, if you do anything in excess, it’s probably not good for you. I would hope our guys are more focused on getting their education, playing big-time football, being a good teammate, and not worrying about getting high.”

How the quarterback battle is coming along

“I do think they’ve gotten better each day. It’s kind of gotten to where one day you see a couple guys take a step and then another day, it’s another couple. Rhett’s repping all six of them and I think we got to basically come down to four guys before the end of spring. I like the room. I think they’re all really conscientious. I think they’ve gotten better and it’s some really good competition. Legit. It’s not makeup competition. The veterans that have been around a little bit, Nicco (Marchiol) and Jaylen (Henderson) have done a good job, but Max (Brown) has got some skills and I’ve been really impressed with Scotty Fox. I think he’s got a great future.”