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Football Practice Opens at WVU |
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Written by Michael Minnich
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Saturday, 05 August 2006 |
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach John McKay was once asked what he thought of his team’s execution. His response? “I’m in favor of it.”
West Virginia head football coach Rich Rodriguez cited McKay’s famous quote to describe the first day of summer training camp, calling it a “typical opening practice.”
Rodriguez was pleased with his team’s effort and intensity. “I think the guys are working pretty hard and are in pretty good shape…it’s a starting point, and we’re go from there,” Rodriguez said, but the coach said that the execution today was “awful.” Dropped balls and incomplete passes were the two major areas of difficulty, he said.
The coach downplayed the importance of pre-season rankings, saying that it didn’t matter if his team were ranked first, seventh, or 107th, but recognized the benefit of a high ranking. “The good thing about being in the top ten or twelve is that you’re already up there to begin with; you almost have to play your way out rather than playing your way up.”
The biggest question last year for West Virginia was, who would be the starting quarterback with Rasheed Marshall graduated? The answer turned out to be Pat White, who moved out of a platoon situation with Adam Bednarik when Bednarik was injured midway through last season. But with Bednarik out for the season, 2006’s burning question is, who will sit behind White on the depth chart?
Redshirt freshmen Jarrett Brown and Nate Sowers are the two candidates, and Rodriguez identified this battle as one of the most important of this pre-season, and said the learning curve is going to be a tough one for the two signal-callers in the complex spread offense.
“Their heads are going to start to swim as we install our offense, and that’s the thing that’s really going to be tough for us as coaches, because we’ve got to put some stuff in for the veterans, but at the same time we’ve got to have those guys ready as well.”
For this reason, Rodriguez said, the installation of the offense will go a little bit slower than he would prefer, but that the two freshmen would benefit from the leadership of both Bednarik from the sidelines and White on the field.
The other question offensively rests at the tackle positions, where Travis Garrett and Garin Justice graduated. Rodriguez looks to Damien Chrissey and Jake Figner to plug those holes. He says both are in good shape, and that “they’re experienced in our system, even though they haven’t played a lot of football [at WVU]…I think they have the type of ability and temparament that we can move that along.” The biggest fear for a college coach, he said, is that every game counts; because there are no exhibitions, you don’t get to really see how a player responds to a game situation that doesn’t count.
Other news and notes:
-Rodriguez expects sophomore wide receiver Dorrell Jalloh to miss at least three or four days of practice with “a small stress fracture” in his foot, but says Jalloh will be able to do some conditioning during those days.
-Sophomore linebacker Mortty Ivy is practicing but probably won’t be 100% until next week, Rodriguez said. Ivy had knee surgery in the off-season.
-Many of the running backs and wide receivers were cramping up in post-practice conditioning, Rodriguez said, citing the amount of running that is required of those positions in the spread offense as the reason for their fatigue. “That’s going to happen because it’s a hot day and it’s the middle of the afternoon,” he said.
-Rodriguez compared the position of quarterback in his offense to a point guard in basketball that can shoot three-pointers because of the dual role of passer and runner that Pat White and his predecessor Rasheed Marshall embraced.
-Rodriguez said he briefly focused in yesterday’s team meeting on how the success of the Sugar Bowl was great, but in the past, and said that expectations won‘t be something he‘ll talk about too much with his players. “Most of the players will tell you, the Sugar Bowl’s over, last year’s over, we’re 0-0, we start over. High expectations shouldn’t be something that we worry about.”
-No freshmen immediately stood out to Rodriguez from live viewing. “They’re swimming mentally; I think they’re not quite ready physically, most of them, but I’m encouraged by their athleticism, especially some of the guys in the secondary.” He later said that it’s hard to get a read on a freshman until after the first game or even, in the case of a player like running back Steve Slaton last year, a few games into the season.
-With all the offensive linemen having shaved their heads, Rodriguez joked that it gave them more of an aerodynamic look and that it could help their 40-yard dash times.
-Rodriguez said that senior Eric Wicks could turn out to be the best safety he’s coached. “He’s very athletic; I think he has a feel and instincts for the game. I think he understands what his role is, and we’re going to have him do more this year than he’s ever done.” With the graduation of Jahmile Addae and Mike Lorello, Rodriguez expects Wicks to take more of a leadership role also.
-Senior linebacker Jay Henry was also cited as a role model on defense. “If you had to list our leaders, I’d say his name comes first” because of his intelligence, his position, and his experience, Rodriguez said. |
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West Virginia 