West Virginia will hold one of the most important spring practices in the history of the school this year as it begins transitioning into a new era.

It became apparent over the past few months that former quarterback Oliver Luck was brought in as athletic director to change and modernize the entire athletic program. He has made a number of coaching changes in minor sports and then pulled off a stunner by renegotiating football coach Bill Stewart's contract in the middle of a third 9-victory season.

Stewart was given one more year and young Dana Holgorsen, the hottest offensive assistant in the country, was brought in from Oklahoma State as coach in waiting. Holgorsen hired a new offensive staff and this spring will be installing his offense.

All of this, of course, is in part due to TCU's upcoming entry into the conference, a program that has been a notch ahead of the Big East nationally and that is going to have to be contended with by the original teams.

While the offense is being retooled by Holgorsen, defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel has to rebuild own defense, which ranked among the top five in the nation last year.

All of this is being done under a lame-duck head coach, making the situation even that much more tricky and with NCAA violations about to be announced against the school.

TOP OF THE CLASS

LB Josh Francis -- He may be the most important player in this year's recruiting class. The Mountaineers lost their top starting linebackers from last season and have very little experience coming back at that position. Francis was recruited to come in and start right away. He can run the 40-yard dash in under 4.5 seconds. Defensive Coordinator Jeff Casteel plans on using both Francis and All-Big East performer Bruce Irvin together in blitz packages. He will play the Will linebacker position and he is already on campus and will take part in spring drills. The linebacker from Lackawanna College should be more than prepared for this upcoming season.

DT Shaq Rowell -- The big defensive tackle should be the perfect replacement for Chris Neild on the defensive line. Rowell went to Iowa Western Community College and will arrive in Morgantown at the beginning of summer classes. Rowell may not start right away because he will miss spring drills and will have some catching up to do in the fall. The 6-foot-4 prospect may find his way into the starting lineup by mid-season, but regardless he should play an important role on the Mountaineer defense.

QBs Brian Athey/Paul Millard -- Just like last season, West Virginia will have two true freshman fighting for the backup quarterback spot behind starter Geno Smith. Both Athey and Millard are pure passers and will need to be ready to step in immediately. Both of these players are enrolled in classes and will take part in spring drills. Athey originally committed to WVU when Jeff Mullen was the offensive coordinator and Millard came to WVU as a walk-on when Holgorsen was named the new OC, but received a scholarship shortly after he arrived on campus. Whoever earns the backup spot behind Smith will need to be ready to step in and run the offense.

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