Oh Henry!
August 05, 2003 02:33 PM | General
August 5, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Three years ago when Steve Bird joined the West Virginia coaching staff, he got into a habit of looking down at his wide receivers. He looked down at them not because they were bad, but rather because they were much shorter than he was.
Today, he looks up at them.
“It’s been a little more fun around here,” Bird admitted.
For the past two years, Bird has labored to put together a group capable of filling all four of West Virginia’s wide receiver spots. At times he may have had four pretty good ones, but numbers five, six and seven had to learn all four positions. Bird says that won’t be the case this year.
“For a while you were sitting around here struggling for depth,” said Bird. “You had to have another guy back up a few positions. We don’t have that now. Right now we’ve got a few guys who could go in there and play for you.”
Bird may also finally have an impact player in 6-foot-5, 190-pound sophomore Chris Henry.
Henry signed with West Virginia two years ago after a terrific career at Class 3A Belle Chasse High School, located in the suburbs of New Orleans. Henry caught 61 passes for 1,083 yards and 24 touchdowns as a senior to help Belle Chasse to the state championship game. Chris was named New Orleans small school offensive player of the year.
“He’s what you’re looking for when you recruit them,” said Coach Rich Rodriguez.
Even though Henry had to sit out last year to concentrate on academics, West Virginia coaches believed he was worth waiting for.
“You’ve got to love the fact that he spent a year to get eligible and he did everything he had to,” said Bird.
In many respects, Bird believes Morgantown, W.Va., is a perfect match for Chris Henry.
“In a lot of ways he’s just a country boy,” said Bird. “That is one reason why I think Morgantown is a good fit for him. He had a good relationship with Coach Magee, we’ve developed a good relationship and he’s developed a good relationship with Coach Rodriguez. I think he’s been very comfortable with that.”
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| Sophomore Chris Henry has already turned heads with his blinding speed and soft hands. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
Because Henry couldn’t practice with the team he’s had to overcome the rust caused by a year of inactivity. Bird says it showed during the first day of practice on Monday.
“He’s not in as good a shape as he knows he can be and a lot of that is being out of football for a year,” said the coach.
Once practice was over Henry struggled to get through conditioning drills. Yet Bird saw a silver lining.
“At the end of practice he didn’t feel like he had a good practice and that’s one of the things I think is going to make him a good ball player,” said Bird. “He’s not just satisfied with doing okay. He wants to be the best out there.”
One thing is for certain, Henry has the physical makeup to become a successful college player. “He may be the fastest on the team. If not then he’s one of them,” said Bird.
“People talk about a ‘game-day guy.’ I’ve seen him practice and I’ve seen him when he’s had to turn it up a notch and he might be as close to that as I’ve seen in a long time,” he added.
Henry’s speed and size will make it more difficult for defenses to jam him at the line of scrimmage. That, in turn, will force defenses to have to cover the entire field instead of just putting eight or nine players in the box to stop West Virginia’s running game.
“It’s a lot more fun after watching press-man (coverage) and then all of the sudden, one quick move and he’s gone,” said Bird. “We’re going to be better throwing the ball … I know that.”
Right now Henry is working with the second offense. Rodriguez says Chris’ biggest obstacle will be learning the offense quickly.
“If he battles through all of the things we ask the receivers to do he could be a pretty good player for us,” said Rodriguez.
Bird doesn’t think that will be a problem.
“The thing you love about him is that when he goes out there, he sits, he listens, he watches and he learns,” said Bird. “And then when he gets in there he makes a difference. I think his best days are ahead of him.
“The thing about Chris that is probably his biggest asset is that he has a great deal of desire to just go out there and dominate,” the coach also noted.
According to Bird, having Chris Henry out on the field has also made the entire receiver corps better.
“I tell you what he’s done: he’s raised the level of a couple of kids around here,” he said. “We’re holding a little better hand now.”
News and Notes
Smith is going to play this year at Indiana University of Pennsylvania for former Mountaineer coach Frank Cignetti. Although Smith no loger has eligibility at WVU, he can move down a level to Division II and play one more season.
"I'm concerned, especially when your number three is a true freshman (Adam Bednarik)," said Rodriguez. "We don't want to play Adam at quarterback this year. We want to redshirt him. Hopefully we'll be able to do that.
"He's an injury away from being the back up and two away from being the starter," thje coach added.
