This spring for the West Virginia State football team, quantity and quality go hand in hand.
When head coach Jon Anderson hits the practice field, he'll grin just from counting the heads in the warm-up lines.
"We've got 75 guys that are repping for us," Anderson said, "which is the most we've ever had in spring football."
For a program like WVSU's trying to climb up the ranks of the Mountain East Conference after years of mulling around near the bottom, that's a significant milestone and an important ingredient in helping the Yellow Jackets carry over the work they've put in this month to the start of the 2016 season in August.
Sixteen of the 22 starters in State's 2015 season finale return for 2016, as do 37 of the 48 players who saw action in that game. The rest of the roster is trying to position itself in the few open slots that remain, and that process can start now and end in August, rather than Anderson having to wait until the first preseason camp to begin looking for replacements.
"We're not waiting on to-be-named-later freshmen to come in and complete our two-deep," Anderson said. "We're all here. The guys that are going to be winning for us in Week 1 are here now."
Those players will get extra time to become more attuned to West Virginia State's offensive and defensive philosophies. Anderson said the team is much further along schematically than it was last spring. That's especially crucial on offense, where the Yellow Jackets are in their second year under offensive coordinator John Pennington.
Pennington's arrival paid immediate dividends. The Yellow Jackets more than doubled their scoring output from 2014 to 2015, from 13.1 points per game to 30.5, and became the MEC's most prolific passing offense. State averaged 282.3 yards a game as a team and quarterback Matt Kinnick averaged a conference-best 280.4 yards per game.
The improved competition level in every area of the field is obvious, defensive back Daniel Ware said. He has been part of spring seasons with low turnouts, but can tell more players are buying into Anderson's vision and climbing on board. He also notices that no one walked into the spring assuming he had a starting job. He and teammate Wes Sackey-Rush are veterans of the State secondary, but that doesn't mean their roles are guaranteed.
"Our coach may put us with the twos one day just to humble us, telling us we don't have a specific spot," he said. "Everyone's on their toes all trying to compete for a spot. It's a great feeling to be come in and everyone's just clawing for a spot and playing at their top potential."
Anderson makes sure his players know the importance of strong practice habits. Those without those habits might not see the field as much and Anderson said his roster now has the numbers and talent to make that stick.
"If someone's not producing, there's someone looking for an opportunity," Anderson said. "As a coach, to be able to use that tool to motivate and get production is outstanding."
The Yellow Jackets are hungrier than ever for success. They got a taste of it in 2015, when they finished just minutes away from their first winning season since 2008, but fell to West Liberty in the last 90 seconds of their season finale. That 5-6 finish is something State wants to improve upon, and running back Kelvit Barrett said this spring, with the numbers and talent on the practice field, should help the team achieve that.
"It's just good on good," Barrett said. "You can't help but get better."