Quick Hits: Fan Fest Recap, Optimism, Kamu Shines Again + More

In this story:
Fan Fest turnout
"What a great crowd on a Wednesday night. I'm not sure how many were out there, but it felt like a lot. I felt like the players fed off that. We got some good work done today. We got a little short-yardage work, two-minute work."
How Bryce Young performed in the two-minute drill
"I thought he was great. We moved the ball right down the field. Good decision-making the whole way down the field. And then the last play actually, something I did to him put him in a bad spot. I told him that was my fault. I told him to do something I shouldn't have told him to do. You get in those situations at the end and you got fifteen seconds left, so what do you want to do? You want to take a shot into the end zone? Sometimes it's good to just take your medicine and kick the field goal with fifteen seconds to go and then kickoff. But in this situation, sometimes you want to see is the defense going to screw it up? I wanted to see what our defense was going to do. So I said, hey, let's just go out there let's just run four verts see if the defense plays the wrong coverage and then we'll throw it away. They got a pretty good rush and I put him in a hard position."
Balancing how much to give Bryce Young
"It is a balance. First of all, there's going to be the temptation to give him a lot because he can handle a lot. He's really smart and it's easy for him. But just because it's easy for him and he's smart, that doesn't mean it's what's best for him or what's best for the team. We got to figure out what is that fine balance. We're in install mode right now, so we're just running plays. We're not gameplanning, we're just running our base offense."
Feeling the optimism from the fans
"Without question. I mean, I've felt it for months. I understand it's a long season and we want to put our optimism on the process. Yes, we want immediate results and that's what we're all hoping for and working towards. But I also know as a coach my job is to kind of keep us focused on the play-by-play, execution, getting better, and then the results will follow."
Thoughts on Terrace Marshall Jr.
"He's explosive. He's good versus press coverage, he can get vertical down the field, he's a skilled route runner, he's got good hands. He's got all the skill. It's just a question of opportunity and getting the experience and then making the plays that count in a game."
Kamu Grugier-Hill continuing to make plays
"Obviously, we'll talk that through. EJ is going to be running the show on the defense but this is why we have training camp, we have guys that make plays, they catch your eye and you find ways to get them on the field. We can have role players. It doesn't have to be tradish, you can bring guys in to play specialized roles."
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Schuyler Callihan is the publisher of West Virginia On SI and has been a trusted source covering the Mountaineers since 2016. He is the host of Between The Eers, The Walk Thru Game Day Show, and In the Gun Podcast. The Wheeling, WV native moved to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2020 to cover the Charlotte Hornets and Carolina Panthers.