WKU Football: Top Questions Heading Into Offseason
We’ve had a few days to digest Monday’s thrilling First Responder Bowl victory over Western Michigan. The win capped off a 9–4 debut season by head coach Tyson Helton and the future looks bright as WKU is set to return 17 of 22 starters. WKU has legitimate Conference USA title aspirations next season especially if Helton can build off the momentum from the 2019 campaign. With that in mind here are the top questions for WKU Football heading into the offseason.
Will WKU be able to keep Defensive Coordinator Clayton White? Other Staff turnover?
WKU’s defense was outstanding this season as they improved into a top 40 unit (SP+) after middling around the 80s for Clayton White’s first two seasons. WKU’s defense was a constant all season and gained confidence as the year progressed including shutting down a high powered Southern Miss squad on the road. With the improvement and solid numbers, it is logical to ask if WKU can keep Defensive Coordinator Clayton White for another season. WKU dodged a bullet when White’s alma mater NC State promoted Tony Gibson to defensive coordinator but that doesn’t mean that White won’t become a candidate for more prestigious and higher-paying jobs throughout the Southeast. WKU will have to probably give White a raise to keep him in Bowling Green for another season. The main draw for him is a chance to further build his reputation with a unit that will once again be stacked next season. WKU only losses CoCo Darden and Jaylon George among the regular contributors. They also should benefit from the return of Eli Brown to a linebacking core that played hard but lacked playmakers after Kyle Bailey. If White returns as defensive coordinator WKU could potentially have their best defense in school history as the players will know the scheme and will be in their fourth year of the system.
Other coaches that could get looks due to player performance or recruiting reputations include Maurice Crum, Jimmy Lindsey, Bryan Ellis, and Mike Goff. Maintaining staff continuity will be crucial for WKU to take the next step next season. Should Helton be able to keep most of the staff in the fold for at least one more year WKU’s expectations should continue to rise.
2. Will Tyson Helton get a new contract?
Helton’s big debut resulted in him earning a lot of incentives on top of his $800,000 salary. He earned $125,00 because of bowl eligibility, coach of the year and the bowl win. While $925,000 is very nice, WKU will have to show a commitment to keep Helton longer than expected if he wins big in 2020. A preemptive show of commitment from Todd Stewart and WKU (and the boosters)could help keep Helton in the fold longer than expected (just like WKU did with Brohm after 2015 title). It will be interesting to see if the cash-strapped program ponies up after a season that got them back on track.
3. Will DeAngelo Malone declare for the draft?
DeAngelo Malone had arguably the best season of any WKU defender in the FBS era (only Quanterus Smith is even debatable) finishing with 99 tackles, 11.5 sacks and 21 tackles for loss. Those numbers helped him garner Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year and definitely got him on the radar of NFL teams. The big question is where does that put Malone’s draft stock? and would a mid-round projection be enough for the rising senior to forgo his last year on the Hill?
The 6'4 230-pound defensive end probably is more built to be an outside linebacker at the next level and will need to convince scouts that he can transition to the hybrid role on a consistent basis. Recent CUSA standouts Marcus Davenport, Jaylon Ferguson, and Trey Hendrickson all made successful transitions from the unheralded league to be solid NFL players so the path is there for Malone to do the same. Should he return for one more season, WKU’s defense will return an obvious disruptive force that should allow White or whoever is running the defense to take more risks and continue to rely on the defensive front to get a pass rush. Malone could be the difference between WKU’s defense being good and great in 2020.
4. Can staff avoid grad transfers?
One area WKU’s staff excelled in prior to Mike Sanford was keeping rising seniors inside the program instead of leaving for higher profile opportunities. Keeping players like Forrest Lamp, Taywan Taylor, Brandon Doughty, and Ace Wales from leaving early helped propel WKU to back to back Conference USA Championships in 2015 & 2016. The first small sign of trouble for Sanford was linebacker T.J. McCollum immediately leaving WKU for Purdue when he was hired. McCollum was the first grad transfer up since the rule started a decade earlier. The trend of WKU players leaving had started. Jake Collins, & Dennis Edwards left for the Big Ten the following season. Helton had a similar start to his tenure with Ben Holt leaving to join his dad at Purdue last year. While that was a unique circumstance, the trend of losing rising seniors to transfer has to stop if WKU is to return to championship form.
The majority of the 17 starters coming back are seniors and will be crucial to the team's success in 2020. Rising seniors such as Devon Key, Roger Cray, Malone, Kyle Bailey, Juwaun Jones, Gaej Walker, and Jahcour Pearson will all be crucial to keep on the Hill if WKU is to take the next step next season. Hopefully having the opportunity to build off of a special 2019 season with Championship aspirations with a respected staff will hopefully keep them in the fold over Power 5 interests.
5. Will the staff take a Grad Transfer at QB?
Ty Storey was amazing this year after taking over for injured starter Steven Duncan in week 4. Helton’s decision to bring in the Arkansas grad transfer paid off in spades as he not only pushed Duncan in camp but also provided the depth and leadership the Tops hadn’t had in a few seasons.
WKU will have to start fresh at the quarterback position next season. They’re set to return to Duncan, Davis Shanley, Kavaris Thomas, and bring in true freshman Grady Robison. Both Duncan and Shanley have starting experience and Thomas has high-level talent. Will those qualities be enough for Helton and staff or will they target another grad transfer quarterback to push for the starting job in 2020? Duncan still has to prove that he can take the offense to the next level as he struggled a bit before getting hurt (59% completion percentage and a 5/4 TD/INT ratio). Shanley only played mop-up minutes in 2019 and Thomas still hasn’t proven he can play quarterback at the college level. The staff has seen all three players in practice and knows if they’re comfortable rolling the dice in 2020 with that group. I think they’ll do the same route and try to find a grad transfer again for this season (fair or not for existing quarterbacks.
With the aforementioned amount of talent returning in 2020, this team has to find a quarterback that can try to perform at the level that Storey did down the stretch. While his 70% completion percentage and 21 touchdowns will be tough to match, WKU’s offense should take a big step forward in year two of Helton. Finding the best player possible will be crucial no matter the potential feelings of the existing players.
6. More Grad transfer possibilities?
While there isn’t a lot of holes in the 2020 roster there are definitely areas that could see improvement. The number one spot being Wide Receiver after Lucky Jackson & Quin Jernighan’s departures. Linebacker, Defensive Line and Running Back could all be other areas that Helton could look to replace a starter or add depth in 2020. Helton has a lot to sell to players looking for one final opportunity to shine at the college level. Grad Transfers such as Nick Dawson-Brents, Keith Brown, Steve Donatell and others played huge roles during WKU’s back to back championships in 2015–16 and grad transfers could do the same in 2020. Keeping a lookout on the transfer portal and potential options will be huge this offseason.
7. CUSA Coaching Aftermath
Conference USA had a mini shake-up as three new coaches will roam the sidelines in 2020. While WKU won’t play UTSA in 2020 they do play ODU and FAU next season. How Willie Taggart takes over Lane Kiffin’s championship team will be a big factor for WKU’s championship aspirations. They return tons of talent including starting quarterback Chris Robison and shouldn’t drop off too much if Taggart can keep it going. Other things to keep an eye on in conference are shifts in coaching staffs and grad transfers of players across WKU’s rivals. The team that maintains the most continuity will have the upper hand heading into the 2020 season.
8. Late Signing Class
WKU signed 15 players in the early signing period but still has the room for a few signees in the 2020 class. It will be interesting to see who Tyson Helton targets during the February signing period. We know there are several players that committed to WKU still sitting out there (Dominique Bradshaw, Jamal Worthy, Aaron Key, and others). Seeing if they stay in the fold or go elsewhere will be interesting. Seeing if Helton targets high schoolers, junior college or transfers with his remaining scholarships will also be important to monitor. He said he’s trying to improve his class balance during his signing day press conference. Hopefully, he learned a little bit from the Brohm era and finds a way of both improving the present and the future with his remaining signees.
9. Can WKU build momentum with the fanbase?
WKU has legitimate conference title aspirations in 2020, they’ve got a schedule (P5 opponents Louisville & Indiana) that could get them in the conversation for a New Years' Six access bowl should all the stars align next season. Will WKU’s administration finally figure out a way to get fans to respond and support the team at a higher level than they did in the Brohm era? While next season’s home schedule won’t exactly wow the locals (Chattanooga, Liberty, USM, FIU, Marshall & ODU) with a big name opponent it is solid with four of the six teams having gone to a bowl in 2019.
WKU has now had built a culture of winning during the last decade and has been eligible for a bowl in 8 of the last 9 seasons. Slowly but surely WKU’s fan base has grown accustomed to being used to care about football in the fall. Now is the time for the administration to push for the support that the program deserves. We know the students will do their job but can the Bowling Green community step up and support the school as it should. Seeing a school like Appalachian State support their school despite being half the population size should be a blueprint for WKU. Monitoring the offseason buzz will be interesting in 2020. If they do succeed in getting fans to support the team at a higher level, maybe WKU can continue to elevate the job as a G5 destination and keep Helton a little longer in the process.
2020 looks to be a big year for the Hilltopper program. With the talent returning WKU should compete for a conference title in 2020 and get the program back to the level it was at during the Brohm years. Stay tuned all offseason as we’ll update you on all of the developments from news, signing day and spring ball all the way to fall camp. We can’t wait to see Helton’s encore next season.
