Surprise, Surprise
June 20, 2005 12:05 PM | General
June 20, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – If you were to take a straw poll of West Virginia’s football team and ask them which player is going to be the biggest surprise this year most would answer Jay Henry.
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| Junior Jay Henry looks to become one of the leaders of West Virginia's young defense in 2005.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
The fourth-year junior is finally getting an opportunity to shine as a starting linebacker after spending the past two seasons serving in a reserve role. Henry was Scott Gyorko’s backup at outside linebacker in 2004 and finished the season with 38 tackles, two tackles for losses and a sack. This year the 6-foot-2-inch, 230-pounder will play inside linebacker in coordinator Jeff Casteel’s 3-3 stack alignment.
“I feel like I’ve put in my work and I’m working just as hard now as I did my freshman year when I got here,” Henry said. “I knew I wasn’t going to come in here and start right away but I feel like now I know what we’re doing on defense and I feel like I can be one of the leaders.”
Even though Henry wasn’t heavily recruited coming out of Jenks (Okla.) High School, he arrived at WVU in the summer of 2002 under the impression that he might be able to play right away.
“Coach (Todd) Graham told me that they didn’t know how the linebacker situation was going to work so he told me to come in early and see what happens,” Henry said. “I came in July and stayed with Jahmile Addae and Mike Lorello. I worked out hard and was ready for camp. At the time I was upset that they redshirted me but looking back on it I wasn’t ready to play.”
That opinion was reinforced at Maryland during his third college game at WVU in 2003 when he was a late sub for All-American Grant Wiley. Henry remembers being picked up and slammed to the ground on one particular running play.
“I was like, Oh man I’ve got to get better,” he laughed. “I was definitely embarrassed. It was later in the game and I was so nervous going in to watch the film (on Monday). I was thinking: I hope Coach Casteel doesn’t get to this part.”
Casteel didn’t show that part of the film to the rest of the linebackers but he did make it a point to tell his freshman to stay underneath the blocker’s pads.
“You keep playing high like that and that is going to continue to happen,” he said.
It was Jay Henry’s reality check to major college football even though he had a pretty good understanding of what to expect anyway.
Seven of his high school teammates signed with Division I schools his senior season and several are now playing prominent roles at other schools. Tulsa tight end Garrett Mills caught 53 passes last year and is on the Mackey Award watch list. Oklahoma State linebacker Lawrence Pinson is a two-year starter and center Kurt Seifried cracked the Cowboy lineup last year. Jason Carter is an up and coming defensive back for Oklahoma and wide receiver Blaine Cooper is still playing for Army.
Jenks alumnus Rocky Calmus was an All-American at Oklahoma and is now playing for the Tennessee Titans. Henry was able to draw upon all of their experiences.
“I always had a realistic picture,” he said.
Allan Trimble’s Jenks program is the envy of Oklahoma, winning seven class 6A state titles in 13 seasons and 10 overall. Henry says his team lost just one football game his four years at Jenks and wound up beating the team they lost to in the state playoffs.
“My senior year we were No. 2 in the nation by USA Today. It’s a pretty big deal. A lot of the players don’t even live in Jenks. The Jenks district goes into the south Tulsa area and that is where a lot of the players come from,” he said.
Henry was voted the team’s MVP his senior year but wound up being one of the last players to sign with a Division I school. He wasn’t necessarily the biggest or fastest player on the field but his high school coach kept pushing Henry to college recruiters.
“I’m pretty sure Coach Trimble was a pretty big fan of me just because of the way I played. I’m a football player, which is what he always said,” said Henry. “He’s been through this many, many times. He knows how to deal with coaches and he knows what they’re looking for.”
Henry took a visit to Tulsa and also was very interested in Northwestern but the Wildcats were waiting on another linebacker. Former West Virginia assistant coach Todd Graham had lived in Oklahoma and knew the Jenks program well.
But Henry had absolutely no idea who Graham was or the school he was working for.
“Honestly I didn’t even know anything about West Virginia,” he said. “I was just looking for someplace to play. My coach called me into his office one day and said there was a guy from West Virginia and he was interested in me. So we sent some film to them and he said he wanted to wait and see me before he offered me a scholarship. He came to my school and offered me. I came up and took a visit and liked it.”
Now because of Henry, everyone in the town of Jenks (pop. 10,000) knows about WVU and the Big East Conference. And because of West Virginia, Henry says he knows a whole lot more about football.
“I feel like I know a lot but when I’m listening to the coaches I know I’ve still got a lot to learn,” Henry said. “I don’t know football the way they do -- not even close.”
Henry provides this example: “As a linebacker you have to know the bigger scheme of the defense. You have got to know what the coaches are trying to do and that’s something Coach Casteel stresses. You’ve got to know why we’re doing this and for what reasons.”
According to Henry, using your mind correctly can be just as lethal as standing 6-foot-3, weighing 250 pounds and running a 4.5.
“I think the best example is Grant,” Henry said. “He was obviously a good athlete and he knew what he was doing. He knew football and he knew what he was looking for out on the field. He was a good example for me.
“You’ve got to study teams by formation, be aware of down and distance … all that stuff. As you get older you pick up more stuff like that and the game just slows down a lot.”
Henry believes having a smart football team can overcome just about any physical deficiency it may have.
“Knowing what you’re doing is a big key. It’s not just about being able to bench press 400 pounds and running a 4.6. If you run a 4.8 and you’re quick with you’re mind you can get there a lot faster,” he said.
That’s why Henry is usually amused when he reads about the latest group of recruits and how they are going to come in and take everyone’s starting jobs.
“People get a kick out of seeing true freshmen come in and play,” Henry said. “Obviously it’s a big deal when someone does like an Adrian Peterson or someone like that. For most people it’s going to take a year or two to get ready and get going.”
Henry recalls as if it were yesterday his first team meeting as a true freshman back in 2002.
“Coach Rod will get them and he will say ‘freshmen -- you aren’t getting recruited anymore.’ All of the veterans will laugh and the freshmen will sit there and they won’t know why everyone is laughing. He says that every year.”
What Henry learned sitting out the 2002 season was that a team with a will and desire to work hard and play tough, physical football can achieve just about anything.
“I just remember watching those guys and thinking that these guys are tough,” he said. “Angel Estrada, Ben Collins and those guys hit you. I remember the BC game here we were just lighting people up. Moe Fofana knocks somebody out on the first play of the game; Angel lays out somebody on a screen. I remember that like it was yesterday and it was fun to watch.”
Henry sees a lot of similarities in this year’s team.
“We’ve got some big hitters that play hard,” he said. “I felt like last spring since I’ve been playing here it seems like everyone was running around more so than in the past.
“We could be very good and you can say that every year for every defense we’ve had,” he added. “It just depends on what type of work ethic we have, how hard we study film, and go out and practice.”
After taking 10 days off at the end of the spring semester, Henry says he’s in Morgantown “until after the bowl game.” In the meantime, he’s hard at work getting prepared for the 2005 season.
“This is the hardest summer since I’ve been here and they just keep lowering the times that we’ve got to make. It’s tough,” he said.
So is Jay Henry.
