MOBILE — West Virginia Mountaineer quarterback Patrick White was on hand Friday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium to watch his former team, the Daphne Trojans, compete in the spring game Friday night.

Daphne faced off against Williamson and Davidson in the spring game and head coach Glenn Vickery said he was happy with his team’s results.

"This is a chance for us to see everybody," he said. "Some kids practice better than they play and some kids play better than they practice. It's a chance for us to find that balance under the spotlight."

The Trojans lost 26 seniors and will have to replace several starters on both offense and defense.

"Every year you lose about that many and we have some holes to fill," Vickery said. "This helps us to evaluate that over the summer. We are looking for speed and power to match up with teams we are going to play this year. It was a good spring for us as far as evaluation and confidence."

White has been spending time at home this offseason and has seen the Trojans progression throughout most of spring practice.

"It's fun to be able to sit here and watch," White said. "They have a lot of talent, but they still have some work to do. I watched them this spring and it seems they are doing really well. They have great coaching, and it's Daphne football."

It wasn't that long ago when White was playing quarterback for the Trojans and Vickery was on the opposite sidelines in an epic week 10 battle as Davidson lost to Daphne in double overtime 38-37.

"We were both undefeated and ranked playing a non-region game," Vickery said. "I was coaching Davidson at the time and Patrick White came back from two injuries to beat us in that game. He was the best quarterback I had ever seen in high school football. I am not a college recruiter and obviously most of them didn't believe me, but he had all the intangibles and leadership qualities."

White threw a final drive Hail Mary that tied the game and sent the teams into overtime.

The former Trojan now watches from the sidelines as his younger brother Colby White continues the White legacy at Daphne.

"It definitely gets me motivated because I don't want to be sitting in an office for the rest of my life," White said. "It's good to see how my family is doing. Almost everyone lives in the area and all my friends do to, so I have enjoyed it."

White received one of the state's highest honors, being named Alabama's 2007 Athlete of the Year, and the quarterback said he was touched by the state support.

"It's a wonderful honor to be 15 hours away and still have the support that I have back home," White said. "To beat out Shaun Alexander and Jamarcus Russell. With Alexander already in the NFL and Jamarcus entering the NFL as a first round pick it feels good."

After head coach Mike Shula was fired at Alabama, Mountaineers head coach Rich Rodriguez was being considered for the vacant job. White has several friends and former teammates who went to Alabama and he said was that much happier he didn't have to take the good natured ribbing.

"It effected us all the same, but I would have heard it a lot more because I have a lot of friends at Alabama," White said. "All my family is from Alabama, but at the same time I just am happy nothing changed."

The decision made by Rodriguez to stay at West Virginia created a united front that White believes will continue for years to come.

"It meant a lot because we didn't have to go through any changes," he said. "We were able to pick up where we left off and keep moving. It definitely motivates us because we will be faced with adversity and it shows stability for the recruits. It lets them know he is going to be faithful to them and that he is sticking around and not going anywhere. They know they will have a coach for four years."

The Trojans may have moved forward without White, but his winning ways are still intact at Daphne where Vickery continues the tradition.

"I have had some great players, but nobody with his pure speed," Vickery said. "Pat was a great athlete and he gave everything he had. But coaching two out of three in that family has been a blessing."