Young Guns
April 05, 2004 01:40 PM | General
April 5, 2004
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University secondary coach Tony Gibson is confident he’s got more athletes to work with this spring. What he’s not so confident about is them knowing where they’re supposed to be on every play.
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| Coach Tony Gibson has been doing a lot of teaching this spring working with a young secondary. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
Gibson's trepidation comes from the fact that he's trying to work four freshmen DBs into the mix. He says it’s his job to make sure they know what they’re doing.
“They get confused a little bit but I think that’s because they’re still young and they’re getting out there for the first time in the heat of the battle,” Gibson said. “I’m sure they’re a little nervous not mess up and make mistakes because they know the guys behind them are playing well. It’s going to be real interesting down the stretch to see who puts themselves on top.”
West Virginia’s four most experienced corners are juniors Pac-Man Jones, Anthony Mims and Joe Hunter, and senior Thandi Smith. Jones has already established himself as one of the top defensive backs in the Big East while Mims, Smith and Hunter have seen spot duty, mostly on special teams.
Pushing them are four solid freshmen in Larry Williams, Vaughn Rivers, Davanzo Tate and Antonio Lewis.
Williams is a 6-foot, 175-pound product of Highland Springs High School in Highland Springs, Va., Rivers is a 5-foot-8, 165-pound athlete from Perry High School in Pittsburgh, Tate is a 5-foot-10 corner from Austintown Finch High School in Austintown, Ohio, and Lewis is a 5-foot-9, 190-pound converted prep quarterback from Stone High School in Waldorf, Md.
Williams, Rivers and Tate spent last year as redshirts while Lewis didn’t join the program until this spring as a grayshirt.
Gibson has a good idea what he’s got in Jones, Mims, Hunter and Smith. Now he’s got to figure out what his four youngest players’ strengths and weaknesses are.
“Pac-Man is competing everyday. He’s kind of picked up where he left off last year and I’ve got some young kids that are pretty impressive right now,” said Gibson. “Larry Williams, Vaughn Rivers, Davanzo Tate, Antonio Lewis … those four freshmen are doing a great job and they’re getting better everyday.”
What Gibson likes most about his freshman group is the fact that they came in as a group. The coach says this is the first time since he’s been here that he’s been able to develop a freshmen class of defensive backs.
“They’re working hard and they’re fun to be around. I’m excited about coaching a young group,” Gibson said. “I like taking those young kids and watching them grow. This is the first time since we’ve been here that I’ve had freshmen come in as a group. You start them from the ground up and build them.”
Because he’s working with such an inexperienced unit, Gibson has been forced to take things a little slower this spring.
“I was so used to having Brian (King) and Lance (Frazier) for three years,” said Gibson. “Those guys were with me the whole time and they were easy to teach. Now I have to slow down, explain and get a little more detailed.”
Consequently, Gibson says the meeting room has become just as important as the practice field.
 Jones |
 Mims |
“I have to hit the rewind button a little bit more and I find myself saying, ‘Okay guys let’s talk about this coverage again.’ But they’re great,” he said. “They ask a lot of questions and they’re all eager to learn. They come in individually one at a time trying to get an edge on the others. They’re competitive in the weight room, they’re competitive in the meeting room and they’re competitive on the practice field.”
Gibson admits the most appealing characteristic of his secondary is that all of them can run.
“I don’t know what their 40 times are but we probably have six, seven or eight guys who are as fast as we’ve had,” he admitted.
Gibson, who also coaches the safeties, believes he has three pretty good ones to work with at that position, too, in junior Jahmile Addae, freshman Vince Beamer and redshirt freshman Ridwan Malik.
“At free safety Vince Beamer has been real impressive,” he said. “Vince and Jahmile are going to battle and Ridwan Malik is doing a good job there, too. I’m pretty happy with them right now.”
Addae is the most proven commodity of the group, having spent the 2002 season as a starter and beginning the 2003 campaign in the starting lineup before missing most of the year with a shoulder injury. That injury has kept Addae out of contact work this spring and has allowed Beamer and Malik to get more reps in scrimmages.
And while Gibson is happy with the number of good, young players he has to work with in the secondary right now, he also airs a few words of caution.
“A lot of these guys haven’t even dressed for a game,” he said. “You’ve got Joe Hunter and Thandi Smith that have played on special teams and a little bit in our nickel package. Ridwan and Beamer have not played a down at free safety. At corner Lewis, Tate, Rivers and Williams have not played a down so it’s going to be interesting the rest of this spring. We’re going to see who steps up.”
Gibson says WVU’s final scrimmage before Easter weekend and the Gold-Blue Spring Game will go a long way in determining who winds up where on the depth chart.
“We’re going to see where we’re at with them after a couple of scrimmages, see how the hold up and think under pressure,” he said.
“We have to be able to get their feet wet in the heat of the battle when it’s competitive and people are in the stands and get them used to the atmosphere that they’re going to be playing in,” Gibson added. “Physically I don’t care about that right now: I want to see how they handle it when they’re competing and make sure they know what they’re doing.”
In a perfect situation Gibson would like to have several backups at all three positions ready to play.
“I would like to be able to get six corners and two free safeties ready and have another free safety on call if needed,” he said. “Right now the way they are competing I think we might have seven or eight corners. It’s a good problem to have. As long as I don’t screw them up we’ll be alright.”
Notebook: West Virginia’s practice scheduled for Monday was canceled due to the unseasonably cool temperatures. The workout will be made up on Tuesday. The Mountaineers have two more practices this week and six more workouts before the Gold-Blue Spring Game is played on Saturday, April 17.
