Long Way From Home
April 09, 2003 12:32 PM | General
April 9, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – When Rich Rodriguez took over the West Virginia job three years ago in 2000 he talked about going anywhere and everywhere to find football players.
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| Jay Henry is locked in a battle for the backup mike linebacker position. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
Just a year after uttering those words, Rodriguez made good on his promise by going to previously unfarmed Tulsa, Okla., to discover linebacker Jay Henry.
The 6-foot-2, 225-pound Henry played for one of the marquee prep programs in the state in Jenks High School. Jenks won the state class 6A title during Henry’s senior season and the program posted a 40-1 record during Henry’s three-year career. A handful of Jay’s teammates were top-rated recruits who signed with Big 12 schools.
Despite recording more than 200 tackles and almost 25 sacks during his junior and senior seasons, Henry had just a couple of Division I scholarship offers.
Henry was set to commit to hometown Tulsa when his high school coach received a call from then-West Virginia defensive coordinator Todd Graham, whom he had played with in college.
Graham convinced Henry to take a visit to West Virginia and once he saw the sprawling campus and the magnificent facilities, he made up his mind to come East.
“I had taken a visit to Tulsa the week before and it just wasn’t the same,” said Henry. “(West Virginia) is big-time Big East football.”
Henry also had an offer from Northwestern and he scored high enough on his SAT to be admitted to several Ivy League schools.
“I would have had to pay so that’s not a good deal,” he said of going Ivy League.
So Henry made West Virginia his college choice and decided to get a leg up on the rest of the freshmen by volunteering to come to Morgantown during the summer.
What he saw opened his eyes.
“I came up here last summer and I could tell a big difference in the speed of the players,” he admitted. “Now I’ve gotten used to it.”
Henry spent last season as a redshirt. The plan was for him to get a better understanding of the defensive system and get bigger.
Both objectives were accomplished.
Henry has transformed his body, gaining 12 pounds since he’s been here while dramatically reducing his body fat ratio. He now weighs close to 225 pounds and plans on adding a few more before fall camp gets underway this summer.
“Hopefully I can gain about five to seven more pounds over the summer and be able to carry it next season. I will probably drop some during the season but hopefully I’ll be able to stay around 225.”
Pounds are precious for Henry, particularly since he has moved from the lew linebacker position (left outside linebacker) to the mike linebacker spot played by 200-pound Ben Collins last year.
Henry was amazed by how well Collins played in the middle despite being outweighed by as much 100 pounds in some collisions.
“You’ve got to go in there and play tough,” he said. “Ben was able to play there at 200 pounds last year so I’m playing much bigger than that.
“I played close to the middle in high school and in the middle you can see more of the field and I feel like I can be a little more instinctive playing in the middle,” he added.
Henry is locked in a battle with Morgantown’s Alex Lake for the backup spot behind junior Adam Lehnortt. Henry’s primary objective is to get better this spring.
“I’m learning and I’m trying to get better,” he said. “I’m going to try and get on the field anyway I can whether it’s the kickoff or punt teams. Hopefully I can get into the rotation at linebacker, too.”
Henry says veterans Lehnortt and Grant Wiley have aided in his development.
“They’ve helped me with little things like coming off the ball, setting my feet and just telling me what I’ve got to do to get better,” he noted.
Once spring practice is finished and the semester is completed, Henry says he will spend about 10 days at home in Tulsa before returning for both summer sessions.
Unlike many freshmen, the distance away from home hasn’t bothered him in the least.
“It’s not tough,” he admitted. “I talk to my mom (Judy) every night. She doesn’t like it as much as I do.”
Jay says a big benefit of coming to a school the size of West Virginia University is the ability to meet people from different parts of the country.
“I go home and my friends all have the same friends and I get to meet people from New York, New Jersey and Florida, so it’s been a good experience,” he said.
Henry has struck up a friendship with Ohio safety Mike Lorello and Pennsylvania offensive guard Dan Mozes – two classmates who figure prominently in West Virginia’s plans.
Once spring practice is completed, Jay Henry hopes to be in that same category as well.
