Young and the Restless
August 10, 2003 03:38 PM | General
August 11, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – If you happen to be near Mountaineer Field this month and you hear somebody yelling, it’s probably defensive line coach Bill Kirelawich. And chances are pretty good that he’s yelling at redshirt freshman defensive end Warren Young.
According to the Eightmile, Ala., native, having Coach ‘Kirlav’ constantly on his back is no problem at all.
“As long as he’s yelling at me I know he cares,” Young admitted after Saturday’s morning practice. “If he stops then that’s when I’ll start worrying.”
Chances are good that the yelling isn’t going to stop any time soon.
Young, a 6-foot-2, 278-pounder, has worked his way into contention for a spot in West Virginia’s defensive line rotation. Young showed steady improvement last spring and is beginning to make a serious push for playing time this year.
“We’ve been real happy with Warren up to this point,” said defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel.
Once the spring semester was over, Young was one of the fastest Mountaineer players out of town. After a couple weeks home, Young got a telephone call from his old friend Bill Kirelawich.
“Kirlav called me and said it’s time (to return). He told me I had had enough time at the house and so I was on my way,” said Young.
That was June 16. Now two months later Young is in the best shape of his life. His weight has gone down from 287 pounds to 278 and he says his forty time has gone from five-flat to 4.7.
“(Strength Coach) Mike Barwis got me into shape,” Young admitted. “I’m in the best shape of my whole life.”
West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez agrees.
“From looking at his conditioning level now compared to what it was back in the spring, he’s done a tremendous job. He’s put himself into a position to get into the mix,” said Rodriguez.
Having the necessary talent was never the problem for Young; he possesses great feet and athletic ability for a player his size. It was just a matter of Young having his motor running full-speed all of the time.
And yet like all freshmen he still makes mistakes, but he’s at least learning now to make them going hard all of the time.
“They say if you mess up, at least mess up going full speed,” said Young.
“It’s a day-to-day process for some of the younger guys,” Casteel added. “They may have a great day and then come back and not do so well the next and that’s what happens with young players.”
Right now Young is battling veterans Fred Blueford and Ernest Hunter for playing time at defensive end. There are times, too, when Young is asked to play the nose in special defensive alignments.
“I like playing on the outside best,” he says.
Last spring when Kirelawich returned the field after spending two years as Rodriguez’ administrative assistant for academics, he asked his players to completely forget what they were taught in the past. He explained to them that there was a new teacher in school now.
“When Coach Kirlav came back it was just like kindergarten,” said Young. “We had to work our way up. Now we’re there. We know what we’ve got to do to get back on the field.”
Yet Young admits there are times when he reverts back to his old ways. When he does, that is when his old buddy Kirlav loosens up his vocal chords.
Young says he can’t repeat some of the things Kirelawich calls him. He will only admit that they usually involve some form of profanity.
“We listen to what he says, not how he says it,” laughs Young.
Young says offensive line coach Rick Trickett was the reason he came to West Virginia in the first place. Trickett used to live in Mobile and he knows the area very well when he recruited the territory as an assistant coach at both Auburn and LSU.
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| Warren Young takes a break from practice last week. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
“I had a chance to go to Auburn but West Virginia offered me way before the season started and I was a big Miami fan, honestly,” he said. “Since I wasn’t going to Miami I figured it was best to go somewhere where I could play against them. The Big East has all of the competition you’d want and I like standing out and being unique.”
Last winter Young may have had some second thoughts about West Virginia when he encountered his first snow storm. Even now he hasn’t gotten used to the cold weather.
“There’s nothing like being down south, but you’ve got to make the best with wherever you’re at,” he said.
Young says when he’s feeling homesick he often turns to his cousin Joe Hunter or the other Mobile guys now on the West Virginia roster.
“We all came up here together so it’s like we’re a big family,” he said. “We all stay together.”
Today Young is trying to stay near the top of the depth chart. So far so good, according to Casteel.
“As of right now that thing is wide open,” said Casteel. “Warren and a bunch of other guys are all fighting to get into that deal. We’re hoping a guy like Warren, who is a big, athletic guy, can do some thing to help us this year.”
This week will be an important one for younger players like Warren Young to make an impression. Soon defensive coaches will turn most of their attention toward a game plan for Wisconsin.
“We’re constantly evaluating and when we get to the point when we start settling in hopefully things will start coming to the surface in the next four or five days,” said Casteel. “Guys are going to be evaluated throughout but we want to get to where we’re starting to work the ones with the ones, twos with the twos, to get to a certain point where they can play off each other.”
Young realizes what lies ahead of him.
“I’ve got a big responsibility in front of me,” he said. “I’ve got to get going because there’s no time to waste.”
In the meantime if you’re around the stadium, be sure to keep an ear open for Bill Kirelawich because there’s a good chance he will be yelling at Warren Young. And for Young, that’s a good thing.
Briefly …
