Back on the Porch
August 20, 2003 12:25 PM | General
August 20, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – No more double secret probations for Tory Johnson. The senior tight end has been officially removed from Coach Rich Rodriguez’ dog house.
Rodriguez says Johnson is at the very least on the porch sniffing at the front door. And that is music to Johnson’s ears.
“I guess I’m back on the right track,” he laughed.
Tory Johnson’s offenses have mostly been benign: like hitting the snooze bar too many times on the alarm clock and missing a class, failing to make a conditioning score or not putting forth the extra effort Rodriguez demands of every player. Not belligerent offenses by any means, but just enough to irritate a coach who isn’t accustomed to giving players second and third chances.
Johnson realizes that.
“Coach Rod has faith in me I guess I’m on his good side so I’m going to work hard and try and stay there,” he said.
So far, so good.
Johnson is in the best shape of his life after spending the entire summer in Morgantown. Even though he packs 260 pounds on a somewhat short, 6-foot-2 frame by tight end standards, Johnson is chiseled like a solid block of granite. He graded out as one of the team’s strongest players in the linebackers-tight ends group benching 225 pounds 20 times.
Johnson said he began to see the light toward the end of last season when more plays were being called his way.
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| Tight end Tory Johnson is looking to have a big senior season. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
“I came on toward the end of last season, I had a great summer workout and then I had a great fall camp,” he said. “Like Coach Rod says I’m in the best shape of my life.”
Johnson is using all of that conditioning work to get open this fall. He caught two touchdown passes in the team’s first scrimmage of camp, and followed that up in the second scrimmage when he caught one pass from his goal line and raced 64 yards.
“The first two years in Coach Rod’s system, in a series of 90 plays the tight ends might have three plays. This year they’ve increased our role a whole lot,” said Johnson.
And most of the plays have come Johnson’s way. Talented sophomore Josh Bailey has missed most of fall camp with a shoulder injury and backup Ryan Thomas has been slowed too, meaning Johnson is getting virtually all of the reps at tight end.
“It keeps me in shape and helps me maintain my conditioning,” he said of his extra work.
Three years ago before Rodriguez’ arrival, Johnson was getting most of his work at fullback. Johnson, one of the last remaining South Florida recruits from the Don Nehlen era, came to West Virginia as a tight end. But his short frame didn’t quite fit Nehlen’s conventional I-formation offense. Johnson says he agreed to move to fullback to help the team.
Then when Rodriguez took over the program after the Music City Bowl, one of the first things he did was move Johnson back to tight end.
“It was like starting over,” said Johnson. “Tight end was my high school position and I was like a freshman all over again.”
Today, Johnson says he’s pretty comfortable with all of the things he’s asked to do in West Virginia’s no-huddle, spread offense. However, the one thing he is still trying to master is his blocking assignments.
“I’m getting better,” he said. “Coach (Herb) Hand and Coach (Rick) Trickett have been working with me. I need to work on my steps, my pad leverage and my consistency.”
Johnson admits that having 14 career catches was hardly what he had in mind when he chose WVU five years ago. Johnson says he has spent a lot of time thinking about how he can make up for that this season.
“At night I just think about being here four years and now this is my fifth and I haven’t done the things or reached the goals that I’m capable of,” he said. “I feel like I have to make up for all four of those years in my last season.”
Rich Rodriguez for one is starting to become a believer.
“The tight end position has really come on well this fall,” said the coach. “Tory has clearly had his best camp.”
Johnson is also doing well in the class room too. The snooze bar is no longer a problem and Tory is set to graduate in December with a degree in physical education.
“We’re going to have a big party when Tory gets his degree,” laughed Rodriguez. “You can count on that.”
Briefly ...
