Hard Work And Football Go Hand In Hand For The West Virginia Mountaineers

For football coaches, it’s a dilemma as old as the rulebook and as clear as a foggy window - how much work is too much work?

By Michael Miller@michaelmillerWV Jul 11, 2016, 9:17am EDT

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Football:

Hard work and college football have gone hand in hand from the days of Walter Camp and John Heisman all the way to the present. Teams one through 125 in this year's FCS rankings are all going to work hard, but, naturally, some feel the need to work more than others. For years, West Virginia has prided itself on outworking its opponents. There have been countless occasions when good, old-fashioned hard work and will-power have helped the Mountaineers prevail.

West Virginia University senior center Tyler Orlosky was named to the 2016 Outland Trophy Watch List, as announced by the Football Writers Association of America.

West Virginia University senior Josh Lambert is one of 30 kickers from across the nation named to the Lou Groza Award Watch List by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission.

With the 2016 Mountaineer football season less than two months away, the West Virginia University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is releasing its official football schedule poster.

Even as West Virginia aims to capitalize on a rare banner year for in-state football talent, Saturday's news that Spring Valley offensive lineman Riley Locklear committed to Tennessee was a disappointment Mountaineers coaches anticipated.

In the world of college football recruiting, building relationships to further your cause is one of the most important aspects of the job for a college coach. No one knows this better than West Virginia assistant coach JaJuan Seider.

Around The Big 12:

Big 12 expansion is dead, according to one of most powerful people in the conference. Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione told CBS Sports the concept of the league growing beyond 10 teams has ended "for the time being."

ESPN predicts Baker Mayfield will most likely terrorize the Kansas Jayhawks' defense in Week 9. But what about the other Big 12 teams?

Around The NCAA:

Oregon wide receiver Devon Allen has qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympicsin the 110-meter hurdles. His time of 13.03 seconds was better than Ronnie Ash and Jeff Porter, who tied for second place with identical times of 13.21 seconds.

SB Nation's Bill Connelly released his power rankings for Pac-12 football for 2016. The conference might not have a surefire national title contender, but the race itself should be thrilling, with five teams (Stanford, Oregon, Washington, UCLA, USC) positioned to make a strong run.