MORGANTOWN — Defensive ends coach Deke Adams had a unique offseason compared to the rest of West Virginia football’s coaching staff. There were other changes, like Rick Trickett is the new offensive line coach and Jay Boulware is the new running backs coach, but those two were hired well before the roster was set.

Adams was hired after pass rushers specialist Larry Knight took the Georgia linebackers job in the middle of February. Adams was announced to fill the defensive end job on March 2.

“Our truck showed up yesterday at our house, kind of dropped everything off, and this was move 13 out of 30 years,” Adams said. “I’ve been in a lot of really good places.”

Adams is another experienced coach with 30 years of experience, like the other two new hires. He’s coached at North Carolina, Southern Miss, South Carolina, Mississippi State, and, most recently, at Arkansas last season under Sam Pittman. He’s seen a lot.

But Adams has an interesting situation, inheriting a defensive end group, and not having a say in who he was coaching. These first couple of weeks of spring are about learning who his players are as people and athletes.

“This is week four for me,” Adams said. “I hadn’t been here long, and I got in late and didn’t have any say in the recruiting process of them. So coming in, they were getting to know me, getting to know them, my style, their style, who they are and what they’re good at.”

Adams is also getting to know the coaching staff, including his partner, defensive line coach Willie Green. Green was on staff last season after spending a few seasons with Rich Rodriguez at Jacksonville State. He played at Florida in 2011, while Adams was coaching the defensive line at Southern Miss.

Adams knew of Green and has appreciated how both share philosophies and what’s expected out of defensive linemen.

“I’m a lot older than he is right now, but he’s a really good coach,” Adams said. “Coach Green does a great job. Like I said, getting to learn our guys and they learn from me, I think it really helps the process and allows us to grow faster. I think he’s going to be really good. We both are hard coaches. We get on them, but we love them at the same time.”

In the early stages, Adams is implementing his non-negotiables. From a technique standpoint, Adams wants players who have a quick jump off the ball. He wants a player with length, good bend and athleticism.

At its core, Adams wants his players to play with a “hard edge.”

“The biggest part in this program, not just edges, is that you have to play hard,” Adams said. “I mean, it’s not negotiable. You have to play hard. You have to play physical. And that’s the game of football. And so if a kid doesn’t want to do that, then I’m not sure he’s going to be a really good player anyway, but the fact that that’s a non-negotiable here in the entire program, that makes it a lot easier translating it to our players.”

Going by the online roster, there are four defensive ends. The online roster is subject to change, especially with all the experimentation in the spring, but JUCO recruit Jeremiah Johnson, Western Kentucky transfer Harper Holloman, Oregon transfer Tobi Haastrup and Bowling Green transfer David Afogho are listed as edges.

Through the first couple of weeks, Holloman and Coastal Carolina transfer Zeke Durham-Campbell, who is listed as a defensive lineman, have stood out the most to him.

“But ironically, those two have played the most football in the room, so that’s expected of them to be there, and they’re showing a lot of maturity and a lot of improvement,” Adams said. “And like I said, that’s to be expected, because they played the most snaps out of everybody, but I think we got a lot of young, good talent, and it’s just got to develop.”

He also gave some insights into Haastrup. He was a former 4-star recruit and totaled 48 tackles, including 20.0 tackles for loss, nine sacks and 23 hurries in his lone season in high school. Haastrup only played football in his senior year of high school, coming from England. He didn’t play much last season, so he transferred to WVU.

“He’s done a really good job,” Adams said. “He was banged up a little bit early in the spring. He’s just starting to come into himself. But he hadn’t played a whole lot of football. He’s still young.”

WVU is just two weeks and four practices away from wrapping up spring ball. Adams is working to make up for some lost time in the offense, which all the other position coaches had the benefit of. Even if he might be behind, Adams thinks the room is coming along.

“I think they’re doing a good job,” Adams said. “Right now, we’re just kind of trudging away every day and trying to get a little bit better. I think we have a lot of talent in the room, but I still think we have a long way to go.”