MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Ronald Swaniger was not alone in his dream of playing football for West Virginia. That became apparent from his position last week in the middle of a slow-moving, single-file line that stretched for 40 yards.

It was a cloudless afternoon at Mountaineer Field, and when Swaniger finally reached the front of the line, Ryan Dorchester, the team’s coordinator of recruiting operations, flatly asked him what position he played. Swaniger, a sophomore from Pentress, W.Va., was ready with his answer.

“Anything you need,” he said.

Dorchester, who held his pen over a clipboard, stared at him.

“Running back,” Swaniger said. At West Virginia, where walk-on tryouts are an annual tradition, the latest iteration featured 83 hopefuls who had the chance to wear team-issued practice jerseys and showcase their skills — or at least their unfettered desire — inside the university’s 60,000-seat stadium.

The primary purpose was far more practical: an opportunity for the coaching staff to identify a few players who could help round out West Virginia’s scout team, a group that would serve the vital but unheralded role of impersonating the opponent at practice each week.