Despite a change at head coach for the West Virginia State football team, things have pretty much stayed the same for Matt Kinnick.
The Yellow Jackets' third-year starting quarterback has grown a close bond with coach John Pennington during the last few seasons while Pennington served as the team's offensive coordinator. Not much has changed since Pennington took the top job this season. If anything, the familiarity that Kinnick - and the rest of the offensive personnel - has with Pennington has helped them show the rest of the team what to expect.
"For me, it's been an easy transition. It's not any different on this side of things because we've been with him for a while now," Kinnick said. "One thing I'm trying to do is help the defensive guys see the way that he thinks. We've been with him for three years, all of us offensive guys are used to him having us up at 6 a.m. for motivational talks. But that's something the guys on defense are still having to get used to."
Kinnick enters this season as one of the Mountain East Conference's most prolific returning passers, despite injuries forcing him to the sidelines for a few games. By the time things are said and done this season, he will likely hold every major passing record in school history.
He was the MEC's leading passer in 2015, when he set WVSU records for completions, attempts, passing yards and touchdowns in a single season. Pennington has watched Kinnick grow every day as he's evolved into the player he is now.
"It's all about consistency with Matt," Pennington said. "When you commit yourself as much as he does over a long period of time, you're going to see considerable gains. He leads by his actions and when you have a guy that approaches things like the does, and that person is also the person who is controlling what's going on with your offense, you're going to be in pretty good shape."
Kinnick credits much of his improvement at State to working with Pennington and the way the Yellow Jackets' offense has helped his style of play. Pennington has also challenged Kinnick - who admits he isn't the most vocal leader - to try to take control of the locker room and the offense.
"He's the one who has really gotten me to this point," Kinnick said. "I'm not the kind of guy who will stand up and give a big pregame speech, but I like to lead by my actions. I try to come in every day and consistently do anything that I can to make this team better and make myself better."
It's certainly fair to say that Kinnick is a lock, as long as he's healthy, to be the man under center when West Virginia State opens the regular season against the University of Charleston on Sept. 2. He comes into the year just 18 yards and four touchdowns away from owning both of those school career records and already has the most yards of total offense of any player in the program since 1998.
But Kinnick has also approached this season knowing that he can't coast and expect to just be handed the job. With players like West Virginia transfer and former Hurricane standout Austin Hensley, who excelled when asked to fill in for Kinnick when he was injured last season, and Brett Mabry, WVSU feels it is deep at quarterback.
That fact serves as inspiration for the senior signal-caller every time he steps on the field.
"He's approaching camp as a thing where he has to battle for his job every day. Matt isn't scared of that, he knows it will only make him and our football team better," Pennington said. "Austin and Brett push him every day, and I think the fact that the other players see Matt fighting like he does to make sure he earns his spot gives them a great role model.
"He's a great example of someone who knows that you aren't bigger than the program and, no matter what you've done in the past, you should come out and compete every day because none of it is handed to you. He keeps getting better and I'm excited to see how he continues to grow."
Contact Michael Carvelli at 304-348-4810 or michael.carvelli@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @carvelli3.