WVU's Sack Man
April 14, 2004 11:12 AM | General
April 14, 2004
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University football coach Rich Rodriguez wants his defense to make opposing quarterbacks uncomfortable this year. He says too many times last year quarterbacks were able to stand in the pocket and scan the field for open receivers without fear of being hit.
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| Coach Rich Rodriguez says defensive end Joe Sykes is a player who could help provide more a pass rush for the Mountaineers this fall. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
“We didn’t get a whole lot of pressure on the quarterback and we gave up way too many passing yards,” the coach said Tuesday. “If the quarterback is going to beat us, make sure he beats us under pressure.”
West Virginia has instituted a number of blitz packages that have seemed to work during spring practice. But Rodriguez knows that having the right personnel is just as important as calling the right defense. And pass rushers aren’t a dime a dozen.
“You want guys that have some athleticism and then when they’re up against a 300-pounder they can go around them or inside them,” said Rodriguez. “Yet at the same time, they have to have enough strength that if a guy does a real good vertical set then he can bull rush him right back to the quarterback. That’s a rare combination and everyone is looking for them.”
Rodriguez may have found his lighting in a bottle in the form of junior college transfer Joe Sykes.
The 6-foot-4, 255-pound soft-spoken pass rushing specialist was one of the top junior college pass rushers in 2002 at Holmes Community College in Goodman, Miss. Sykes produced 7.5 sacks and 12 tackles for losses his sophomore season to help Holmes to a 9-2 record and the regional championship. He was rewarded for his performance by being named a second team junior college All-American.
“I took a lot of (quarterbacks) out of the game in junior college. The coaches pretty much let me do my thing,” said Sykes of his pass rushing prowess.
“(Joe) is a guy we want to look at,” said Rodriguez. “He’s behind but he’s got some of those one-on-one pass rushing skills. It’s going be through training camp before he learns what he’s doing. He has some potential there.”
Sykes delayed his enrollment to WVU by a semester while finishing up coursework for his junior college degree. He says the time off wasn’t that big of a deal.
“The day I was supposed to report in August they told me one of my classes didn’t go through so I just went back and took the class and basically stayed at home and worked out, ran, and stayed in shape,” he said.
Joe Sykes was a pass rushing prize West Virginia could afford to wait on. He blends a rare combination of size, speed and athletic ability Mountaineer defensive coaches are looking for to play in its 3-3 stack alignment.
Sykes primarily played football and basketball at Grenada High School, but he also played a little baseball and ran some track, too. That versatility led to several football scholarship offers. Sykes says he made an oral commitment to Ole Miss but was forced to go to junior college when he didn’t earn a high enough SAT score.
Sykes had the opportunity to enroll at several junior colleges but he says a Mississippi territorial junior college rule was the primary reason he wound up at Holmes.
“In junior colleges in Mississippi you have to go to the school in your district. You can’t go all around; they can protect you,” he said. “It was about an hour from my home.”
Sykes also had the option of playing basketball at Holmes but decided against it to concentrate solely on football. The decision proved a wise one. Following his sophomore season Sykes said he heard from just about every school in the Southeast.
Some of the schools Sykes says were on his list include Tennessee, Alabama, LSU, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Washington, Oregon and both Mississippi and Mississippi State.
He said the reason he didn’t re-commit to Mississippi was because the coach that was recruiting him at Ole Miss left the school to take a job with the Dallas Cowboys.
In the meantime, West Virginia’s Rick Trickett was able to convince Sykes to take a visit to Morgantown.
“On my visit Quincy Wilson was my host and we had a good time,” said Sykes. “Coach Rod and Coach Trickett were great, too. We went to Coach Rod’s house and all of the players showed me a lot of love. It was kind of like Mississippi except it’s a lot colder here. That’s been the biggest adjustment.”
Despite living in the heart of SEC country, Sykes says his family was pleased about his decision to come to West Virginia University and play Big East football.
“My mom has been real supportive and my family has been behind me,” he said. “They always come to the games and they’re going to try and come up to the games here.”
After three weeks of spring drills Sykes has worked his way into the nickel defensive package as an extra pass rusher. He started spring drills at outside linebacker but has since been moved down to defensive end. Sykes played linebacker in high school but spent his two seasons at Holmes playing end.
“At linebacker you just stand straight up and bend down. Now being down I get confused which hand to put down … left hand or right hand depending upon what side I’m on,” he said.
Sykes says having a drill instructor like Bill Kirelawich has helped him get a handle on the techniques he needs to become a complete player.
“He knows a lot,” Sykes admitted.
The junior admits he’s got a lot to get down before he’s ready to step on the field next fall. He lists his stance, his footwork and using his hands to get off blockers as the three things he needs to improve upon.
“Those are the things Coach Kirelawich talks about the most,” said Sykes.
After spending a month at home after the end of the semester, Sykes says he will be back up in June to begin summer workouts. He understands that summer workouts will be an important time for him.
“I’m going to work hard in the off season and try to get ready for the fall,” he said.
Spring Notebook: Coach Rich Rodriguez says his team got a lot of work done Tuesday despite the unseasonably cool afternoon temperatures, “We needed to hit again because we hadn’t hit in a while so it was a good practice,” he said. “We got some things done and now we’ll watch the film and see what we need to get better at …” the coach was happy to have all of his tailbacks available for practice Tuesday but he was not pleased with the fumbling that took place during inside running drills, “They were just dropping the ball and there’s no excuse for fumbling. I don’t care whether it’s wet or getting hit; that’s an absolute no-no and guys won’t play if they fumble the ball …” Rodriguez says Kay-Jay Harris is a little behind having missed a good amount of practice time, “It’s important for him to have a good week of practice because he’s still learning. He’s a fast learner but he’s still just a second-year player …” Rodriguez said the coaching staff has been using some different combinations along the offensive line, “Coach Trickett is doing some experimenting, playing (Jeff) Berk at tackle, and moving some guys around. He’s just trying to find the best combination. You can’t get a whole lot of continuity doing that,” he said. “But the good thing about that is if we do have an injury or two we’ll have some flexibility …” Rodriguez cautioned media members not to read too much into the depth chart released at the end of spring practice, “A lot of times one and two are so close that they’re really co-starters,” he said. “I think there’s way too much into that. It’s probably more for the guy who doesn’t emerge among the ones and twos: he stays at three or he doesn’t prove himself. You can read more into that. If he doesn’t get into the so-called two-deep now then it’s going to be hard for him to break into it in the fall.”
