Another assistant coach is leaving Dana Holgorsen’s staff at West Virginia.

Tennessee Coach Butch Jones tweeted tonight just after 8 p.m. that West Virginia running backs coach Robert Gillespie will be accepting the same position on his staff for the Vols.

The tweet read: “I want to welcome Robert Gillespie & his family to the Tennessee Football Family! Coach Gillespie will be joining our staff as the RB coach!”

Gillespie has spent the last two years on Holgorsen’s staff and is considered both a strong recruiter and position coach.

He is the third assistant to leave the program this offseason, following quarterbacks coach Jake Spavital who left for Texas A&M, and offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh who joined the staff at Oklahoma.

In fact, his departure leaves offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson as the last remaining coach from Holgorsen's original staff in 2011.

West Virginia Coach Dana Holgorsen officially announced the hire of Ron Crook to join his staff as offensive line coach today.

Crook’s hire was reported last week in the Post-Gazette, and fills a key vacancy created when Bill Bedenbaugh left to join the staff at Oklahoma.

“Ron brings many years of outstanding offensive line coaching experience to West Virginia,” Holgorsen said in a statement. “He has helped developed winners at his stops and comes highly recommended. He brings a professional and positive attitude and expects toughness from the players. He has a proven track record as a teacher, coach and recruiter.”

Crook, a Parkersburgh, W.Va. native, has coached in college football for 24 years, most recently as the tight ends and tackles coach at Stanford.

“I’m excited to be part of Coach Holgorsen’s offensive system. When you’re an offensive coach, you like scoring points,” said Crook in a release. “It was good to meet with him (Coach Holgorsen) and see his vision for the program. I look forward to working and learning from him and the other members of the staff.  I’m excited to get started.”

***

More quotes from the release:

Crook: “One of the main reasons I wanted to come here was because I know how important football is in the state of West Virginia, especially the Mountaineer football program,” Crook said. “I’m very excited about this opportunity to work at a program with the history and tradition that it has. I understand the responsibility that it involves, and I don’t take that lightly.

***    

Crook’s coaching resume:

• West Liberty State 1990-92 offensive line
• Cincinnati 1993 graduate assistant
  
• Clarion College 1994-96 offensive line/special teams coordinator
• Glenville State 1997-98 Asst. Head Coach/offensive line/special teams coordinator
  
• West Virginia Tech 1999 offensive line/special teams coordinator
  
• Illinois 2002 graduate assistant
  
• Harvard 2003-10 offensive line
  
• Stanford 2011-12 tight ends/offensive tackles

West Virginia’s big three – Geno Smith, Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey - had a strong day at the NFL Scouting Combine, each upping their stock by the end of the day.

Austin’s blistering 40-yard dash, was clocked unofficially at 4.25 but eventually made official at 4.34. No doubt still impressive.

Smith was accurate in the throwing drills, showcased his athleticism, and ended up being the fastest among all the quarterbacks present with a 4.59 in the 40.

Bailey also had a strong day, particularly in the drills where he could do what he does best: run routes and catch the football.

Here are their official stats from NFL.com:

Tavon Austin

• 40-yard dash: 4.34
• Vertical jump: 32”
• Broad jump: 120”
• Bench press: 14 reps
• 20 yard shuttle: 4.01 seconds

Geno Smith

• 40-yard dash: 4.59 (fastest among quarterbacks)
• Vertical jump: 33.5”
• Broad jump: 124”
  

Stedman Bailey

• 40-yard dash: 4.52
• Vertical jump: 34.5”
• Broad jump: 117”
• Bench press: 11 reps
• 20-yard shuttle: 4.09 seconds

NFL analyst Mike Maycock shared his thoughts on the day's top performers. Here are some excerpts:

On Tavon Austin: “You’ve heard me say a thousand times probably. Fast guys run fast, and it’s not a story. So I expected him to run fast. But what it does for him is that worst case to me, he’s a second round pick. Worst case.”

On Geno Smith: “I saw everything that I saw on tape about Geno, and that is he flashed everything you want to see in a franchise quarterback on tape during the season. He has a big arm, good arm, he moves well, he can be accurate. Everything I saw on tape I saw here today. He’s a natural thrower; he doesn’t force the ball.”

On Stedman Bailey: “Stedman Bailey is really a good football player. There are questions about his size. How fast is he? He’s probably a 4.5 or whatever he is. What I see is an instinctive, smart receiver that catches [the ball]. He’s a natural hands catcher, and because [Tavon] Austin and Geno Smith get all of the attention, he kind of fell into the background. But if you watch him in the red zone on tape and his understanding and knowledge of route running and defenses, he’s one of the more smarter and instinctive receivers in this draft. I’d be surprised if he gets out of the third round.”

~ Agree with this sentiment. I’ve often thought if Bailey didn’t share the spotlight with those two the national media would have made a bigger deal out of him.

Update 12:40 p.m.: Austin's official 40-yard dash time is a 4.34, a .09 drop from his unofficial time of 4.24.

From this morning: Tavon Austin ran a blistering 4.25 this morning in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, which - if it holds - is the second fastest time in combine history to Chris Johnson’s 4.24 record set in the 2008 combine.

Certainly Austin's speed is apparant to anyone with good vision, but to get clocked at a time this fast bodes very well for his draft stock.

Austin's speed was equaled byTexas WR Marquise Goodwin who ran an unofficial 4.25 second 40 as well.

In his second attempt Austin ran an unofficial 4.31 and Goodwin ran an unofficial 4.29.