Clear Head
April 28, 2004 02:27 PM | General
April 28, 2004
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Kevin "Boo" McLee has a pretty good idea where he’s going now. West Virginia University’s sophomore strongside linebacker admits that wasn’t always the case. “I know the defense now so I can play more instead of thinking so much about what I have to do,” he said.
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| Linebacker Boo McLee says he has a much better understanding of West Virginia's defense. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
Because West Virginia plays an unusual 3-3 stack defense used by only a handful of college programs, McLee says there is an adjustment period for all new players. Like most high school players, he came from a prep program that used a more traditional 4-3 alignment.
“It was hard,” he admitted. “It took me two years to figure it out. It’s a hard defense to learn but I think everyone knows what to do now.”
It turns out McLee was pretty good playing confused last year as a freshman. And that makes one wonder how good he can be playing with a clear head?
McLee came to West Virginia from nearby Uniontown, Pa., where he was an all-state fullback and linebacker at Uniontown High School. His uncles Billy and Reggie McLee played for the Mountaineers in the late 1970s while his father Kevin was a three-year letterman at Georgia. Boo had several college offers but he wound up following his uncles to Morgantown.
After redshirting in 2002, Boo played in all 13 games last year and recorded 46 total tackles, seven tackles for losses and three sacks as a backup middle linebacker.
This year he moves over to consensus All-American Grant Wiley’s old spot at strongside linebacker. By placing McLee on the outside, West Virginia’s defensive coaches believe he has the ability to put more heat on the passer.
He agrees, “I like coming off the edge and I like blitzing,” he said.
McLee isn’t the tallest outside linebacker, standing 6-feet-1, but he does pack 250 pounds on his powerfully built, compact frame. He is also probably the best athlete among West Virginia’s linebackers.
“Boo is going to be a real good player the next two-to-three years,” said defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel. “He knows what he needs to do, and he just goes out and does it.”
McLee says his responsibilities have changed dramatically after his switch from inside to outside linebacker.
“Now I’ve got to contain more,” he noted. “I’ve got to make sure the quarterback doesn’t get outside of me. Before I wasn’t really worried about that but now I have to worry about that because I’m coming off the end so much.”
Because West Virginia had difficulty getting to the quarterback last year recording just 17 sacks, new schemes have been devised to try and create more pressure on the passer. Some of them will involve McLee blitzing from the edge.
“They have been (blitzing) more and I think I fit into that,” he said. “We’ve got to get more pressure on the quarterback. Last year we didn’t do that and quarterbacks had too much time so now I think we’re going to bring someone every time and get him out of there and make him antsy.”
McLee says the linebacking corps made great progress during spring practice despite not having senior Adam Lehnortt in the middle. Lehnortt sat out the spring after having off season shoulder surgery in January. Stepping into Lehnortt’s place was promising redshirt freshman linebacker Marc Magro.
“We’re all young except (Scott) Gyorko,” said McLee. “But we’ve gotten used to playing with each other through the whole spring and we’ve got to come out and continue to work through the summer. Lehnortt is going to be back, too.”
McLee admits it would have been nice to have Lehnortt out on the field to develop some cohesiveness as a group.
“I don’t think having (Adam) on the sidelines put us behind but it would have been better if he did play this spring,” said McLee. “But because he’s a veteran he can come back and pick everything up pretty easily. He knows the system so I don’t think that will hurt us.”
According to McLee, helping the development of this year’s defense is the fact that all four defensive coaches are returning. That means philosophies and teaching methods remain the same and McLee says you can’t underestimate the importance of developing continuity and trust amongst players and coaches.
“You can trust what the coaches are telling you to do and you don’t have to switch as much anymore,” he admitted. “You get coaches going in and out and you’ve got to switch things up so I think having the (defensive staff) intact has made it much better for us.”
McLee is excited about the development of the defensive line that took place this spring. A strong defensive line will go a long way in determining how good the rest of the defense is going to be next year. Playing behind them, McLee gives his first-hand testimony to their progress.
“They had a great spring,” he said. “Craig Wilson, Ben Lynch, Jason Hardee, Warren Young … they all did well. I’ve got more confidence in them this year because they all know what they’re doing and now all they’ve got to do is just play. We’ve always had athletic ability and it was just about getting mentally ready to play.”
Season tickets for the 2004 Mountaineer football campaign are now on sale. They can be ordered by calling toll-free 1-800-WVU GAME or by logging on to WVUGAME.com
