Covering The Spread

The story. The culture. The people who built it.
🎬 Independent WVU Football Documentary Series
Produced by WVU alumni & former Mountaineers
Coming Soon

[Jed Drenning @TheSignalCaller]

4 is a raging bull …

[Jed Drenning @TheSignalCaller]

A fired up 🔥 Coach Rod thanks a fired up 🔥 Mountaineer Nation ….

[Covering The Spread @CTSWVU]

Wheels Up! The #Mountaineers are just starting to take off! Let’s Go! #wvu

[Big 12 Conference @Big12Conference]

MICHAEL HAWKINS JR. WENT AIRBORNE FOR THE TD ✈️

📺 ACCN

[Whitey Williams @MountainGrown71]

WVU Helmet stickers

Hawkins 313 total yards (123 rushing) 5 total TDs

DJ Epps 3 receptions 92 yards and 2 TD

Cam Cook 30 carries/123 rushing

Geimere Latimer 6 tackles 1 sack 1 PBU

Hon Mention
Ashton Woods
Isaiah Patterson

Team win. Too many to include all.

[Covering The Spread @CTSWVU]

Long before today’s platforms made it easier to share stories, people like @DanLohmann were producing films that helped define how generations of fans experienced #WVUFootball.

His work inspired us when we began this journey, and those highlight films remain a source of inspiration today. Whenever we face challenges in our own production, we think about how much harder it was to create something like this with the tools and technology available at the time.

So we keep grinding—carrying that #HardEdge mentality behind the camera, in the editing room, and throughout our pursuit of telling the best and most authentic story of WVU football possible.

We’re proud to follow the path carved by those who told these stories before us.

[Dan Lohmann @DanLohmann]

People have asked me recently about the origin of these early-2000s WVU football recruiting videos. This is the 2005 video.

Back in 2003, Rich Rodriguez had a vision: show recruits a video on their official visit that captured what Mountaineer Football was all about. Here’s the backstory of how these were made:

It started in 2002. I was shooting practice for the team (did this for 6 seasons) and started making the Friday night hype videos for the team. In 2002, the Continental Tire Bowl needed a highlight video to show at events, so I cut a music video for the team. My wife Bethany gave me the idea to use “A Little Less Conversation” by Elvis.

After 2003, Rich and Dusty Rutledge wanted something that told a deeper story of the program. They gave me total freedom, and in the years I made them, they never changed a shot.

The music was the most important piece. That drove the emotion. Without streaming services, I’d go to Barnes & Noble and stand at the “preview” CD kiosks where you could listen to 30-second snippets. Bethany would also listen intently to songs on commercials or TV shows and we’d hunt them down.

At the same time, I was producing “MSN Game,” a 1-hour recap of every game that aired on Fox Sports Pittsburgh. Games were still being played that weren't on live TV. I’d log every shot of a game and edit the show on Sundays using Tony Caridi’s radio call. I used MSN Game as a template to know when the big plays happened, but then I’d go through all of the other tapes to find the off-the-radar shots that felt different—angles and moments nobody had ever seen in traditional highlights. Those were the money shots.

MSN had shooters at every game—guys like Greg Shock and Joe Webb captured so many shots that brought these videos alive. I wanted every shot to convey emotion to keep the videos constantly moving. I’d also barter with network TV producers to get their “melts” because they were gold: replays of big plays in real speed with zero scorebugs or graphics. Scott Bartlett made sure every game broadcast was recorded, and Tony Caridi and the TV announcers became the voice of the videos along with Rich’s pregame speeches.

The physical workflow was a grind: everything had to be digitized in real time through tape machines. For a single game, you could easily have 20+ tapes to run through. I’d edit all season, and could have up to 50 iterations of the video as I continued to make changes. I’d burn the final version to VHS, and eventually DVD, and hand them off to Dusty for recruiting visits, and they would be shown at fundraising events as well.

Three more football videos from the vault coming soon.

[Jed Drenning @TheSignalCaller]

Nirvana …

[Covering The Spread @CTSWVU]

Behind every interview are the moments that don’t make the final cut.

The slate claps. The outtakes. The laughs. And the occasional attempt to get through “that’s a wrap.”

Over the past two years, we’ve sat down with the players, coaches and voices who lived one of the most unforgettable eras in Mountaineer football history.

Dozens of interviews. Hundreds of hours of stories. One Mountaineer saga.

The interviews may be wrapping up—but Covering The Spread is just getting started.

Coming soon. @Steve23Slaton @coachpatwhite @MountainGrown71 @RasheedMarshall @CoachTTrickett @PatMcAfeeShow @OwenSchmitt35 @TheSignalCaller @TonyCaridi @noel_devine7 @gweyeli @LanceFrazier15 @Coach_QWilson @dreynaud27 @AvonCobourne @jaycolson24 @REALPACMAN24

#CoveringTheSpread #WVUFootball #hardedge #MountaineerFootball #AlmostHeaven

[Whitey Williams @MountainGrown71]

Talent and hustle. Not a lot of lineman can fall, get up and then pancake a guy.

@KevinHBrown07 is going to have a special career.

[Covering The Spread @CTSWVU]

Mountaineers who have shaped WVU history and culture.
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60+ interviews, almost 3 years of shooting, and 8 years of football to cover. (Well, technically 30 but you’ll find out).
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Cover The Spread: a multi-part docu-series on the West Virginia University football team from 2000-2007, was a monumental effort. We traveled all over the U.S. to get all the players we could. Shoutout to the mountaineers who know who all these legends are. 🤘. More to follow my friends.
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DP/Editor/Prod:@DavisRohrer
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#filmmaking #documentary #wvufootball #westvirginia #mountaineers

[Covering The Spread @CTSWVU]

The first home game always feels different.

And this year, something else is coming.

More interviews. More rare footage. More stories from the players, coaches and people who lived it.

COVERING THE SPREAD: A MOUNTAINEER SAGA
A multi-episode documentary series.

This is only the beginning.
@coachpatwhite @gweyeli @OwenSchmitt35 @noel_devine7 @Steve23Slaton @CoachStanchek @TheSignalCaller @JohnAntonik @PatMcAfeeShow @TonyCaridi

#WVU #HailWV #WVUFootball

[Covering The Spread @CTSWVU]

A work in progress…