Jordan Lesley Spots 'Night and Day' Difference in Jacolby Spells

Will 2024 be the year WVU corner Jacolby Spells breaks through?

West Virginia cornerback Jacolby Spells is making his way back from an upper body injury that required surgery this offseason. Head coach Neal Brown feels good about his chances of being available in Week 1 against Penn State, but did not say for certain that was the case.

More importantly, Spells has made major strides in his development and should see a larger role on defense this fall, according to defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley.

“Jacolby has done a really good job post-surgery with his rehab and looks really good. Once we can get him to where he can full go, we’ll see at what point that’ll be. But Jacolby is a prime example - some guys progress faster than others and some guys it takes time. Especially in the last year he has grown and taken advantage of the development piece of our program and quite honestly is night and day from last year to this year. From his approach to training, his body, just overall being an athlete, being a collegiate football player at this level.

“Probably the thing that sticks out the most to me is Jacolby is stronger. I think he’s probably a little faster I think he understands now how to play corner at this level. Just simple things. You generally start with man coverage and go from there. He has made a drastic improvement. Just every day his approach, especially since his surgery.”

Spells appeared in twelve games last season as a sophomore, but primarily played on special teams. The most defensive snaps he played in a game (26) came in the win against BYU where he picked up two tackles. As a true freshman, he had the pick-six against Virginia Tech on the road, but struggled in pass coverage for the majority of the year. Using this past season to hit somewhat of a reset button appears to have paid off, giving him a real shot at being a contributor who is being groomed to start next season.

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