Striving to Improve
July 25, 2003 11:53 AM | General
July 25, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – As far as junior defensive back Jahmile Addae is concerned, he has yet to play a good game.
Sure, he’s made spectacular juggling interceptions and he’s had several games where he’s produced more than 10 tackles. He’s even been recognized as the team’s defensive player of the game by the Mountaineer coaching staff against East Carolina and Syracuse.
But Addae always sifts through the positives to find that one thing he needs to do better.
“I know there were games when I did certain things better than in others but for everything that I might do good in a game I might do something bad, too,” he said. “Anytime you do anything bad in a game, whether it’s the next game or four years from now, you never want to repeat it.”
That may be the case, but West Virginia coaches will gladly take another repeat of Jahmile’s sophomore season.
The 5-foot-11, 207-pound safety finished the year with 99 tackles. He also picked off four passes, broke up 16 more and recovered a fumble. Those numbers make him one of the most productive defenders returning for 2003.
Addae realizes he’s one of the veteran players on the defense now and he’s going to do his part to help the younger players develop. However, Addae says being an extra coach on the field is vastly overrated.
“Everybody says you have to have leaders on the field and guys out there telling everybody where to go. It never happens in the game,” he admitted. “Our coaches get everybody ready before the game.”
Addae illustrates this point by recalling his first collegiate start as a true freshman against No. 1-ranked Miami in the Orange Bowl.
“When I lost my redshirt against Miami nobody told me anything about what to do on the field,” he said. “When I hear that statement about telling other guys what to do on the field, it’s so overrated that it’s funny. These young guys know what they’re supposed to do when they get on the field and that’s because of the coaching that they’ve had during the week.”
Addae does admit that he will offer a pointer or two about a tendency that he might have picked up during the week during video tape study.
“You can always tip somebody off. I can say to Lance (Frazier) before a play: ‘Hey Lance, if there’s two split it’s going to be a fade.’ It’s something everyone knows from film study. I’m not the only person who knows that. Everybody studies film and everybody does what they have to do in preparation for the game to know these types of things.
“Yeah, you can alert them but most of the time they know it already,” he added.
This spring, Addae has had to keep himself alert. Because of his size and tremendous athletic ability, defensive coaches have toyed with the idea of playing him at bandit. At this position Addae would be closer to the line of scrimmage.
“Their goal is to get the best 11 on the field,” said Addae. “Whether I play spur, bandit or nose guard it doesn’t matter. I just know that they’re going to find the best scheme and the best fit that is going to help us win games this year.”
The junior admits he does have a slight preference for free safety if only because he’s played that position the longest.
“I’ve played free safety as long as I can remember. Being closer to the ball is new to me,” he said. “I have to learn it – it’s not something that I can just pick up. The difference between the two is that I’ve been playing free safety for a long time and I haven’t been playing the other that long.”
If the coaches do decide to move Addae to bandit this fall, Addae will happily go wherever they tell him to.
“I do think that (bandit) is something that I can get used to and become good at it,” he said. “I think I would have to work and put more effort into it but I think that I can play that also. It’s just up to the coaches to see who they find and who they want to put on the field.”
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| Junior Jahmile Addae is one of the most productive players returning to this year's defense. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
Addae says nothing has been established yet in the secondary. Heading into the fall, the media guide lists Brian King, Lance Frazier and Adam Jones as the team’s top three corners. Mike Lorello and Anthony Mims are the top two safeties, and Addae as the top bandit. There is also the possibility of Leandre Washington moving into the secondary to play the bandit spot, meaning Addae would move back to his more familiar territory.
“Leandre is an athlete and that’s what the coaches are looking for,” said Addae. “They’re looking for someone at bandit who is an athlete who can play close to the ball but at the same time also put him in a two-deep shell and be able to cover.
“Things are still up in the air,” he continued. “I don’t know if everything is written in stone. I know I practiced at both bandit and at free safety during the spring.”
Addae says he was able to play both positions well last spring. Now it’s just a matter of the coaches deciding which 11 players fit best where.
“I think I did an adequate job in the spring and now it’s just that we have to fill in a lot of other positions,” he said. “We have to really get the scheme right. Do you want experience at this position or do you want experience at that position? Which one is more important? Do you want this guy here because you think he’s better off or is it going to be better for the team? So there are a lot of different things playing into what’s going on right now. I think by the time we strap it up and get ready to go for Wisconsin they’ll have it all figured out.”
Addae says Wisconsin, picked to finish third in the Big Ten, will present West Virginia with a great challenge.
“You’ve got to play a smart game, read your keys and suck it up and say let’s go at it and that’s what we’re going to be ready to do on game day,” he said.
Addae can still remember how the team felt after last year’s disappointing 34-17 loss in Madison.
“Anytime you have that sour taste in your mouth you always want to get rid of it,” he said. “These guys are good, they have a lot of good players on their team so we can’t underestimate them. We’ve just got to play our game and make sure that we don’t have any breakdowns in any quarter like we did last year.”
