Fitting In
August 12, 2005 02:26 PM | General
August 12, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – When Jason Gwaltney announced his decision to attend West Virginia University on ESPN News last February, in the excitement of the moment he said something to the effect that he was ready to go to Morgantown and become the Mountaineers’ starting tailback.
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| Freshman Jason Gwaltney catches a pass during practice earlier this week.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
Six months later, the running back is taking a much more reserved position.
“That’s for Coach Rod to make the decision,” he said after Friday morning’s practice. “I have no control over that. Right now I’m just working hard, absorbing all of the plays and having fun out there.”
Gwaltney has to rank among West Virginia’s most heralded football recruits ever. The North Babylon, N.Y., native’s list of accomplishments read longer than John Gotti’s rap sheet.
Gwaltney was a two-time Hansen Award winner as Long Island’s top high school football player. He broke former WVU back Amos Zereoue’s Long Island records by running for more than 7,800 career yards and scoring 135 touchdowns. An incredible 33 of those TDs covered 40 yards or more and 27 went for at least 50 yards. During his senior season alone he amassed 2,882 yards, 45 touchdowns and scored 282 points.
Long Island high school football may not be on par with Florida, California or Texas, but his production was such that he got the attention of defending national champion USC and Ohio State, two of his final three college choices.
Gwaltney was selected to play in the U.S. Army High School All-American Bowl and made the Parade All-American team. He realizes that those awards have gotten him instant recognition, but he’s more concerned about what he’s doing today instead of what happened yesterday.
“High school is over with,” he said. “This isn’t high school; it’s a whole new level and a different type of football. I’m not even worrying about the All-American stuff – that’s all out the door. If anyone is saying that to me I don’t want to even hear about it. All I want to hear about is how Jason Gwaltney has done since he stepped onto the field on August 6. This is a whole new career for me.”
All indications are that Gwaltney and fellow freshman Steve Slaton are both picking up the offense pretty well. Mountaineer coach Rich Rodriguez has said repeatedly that he's pleased with the progress both running backs are making. Gwaltney says playing in the spread is much different than anything he was accustomed to in high school.
“Sometimes when I’m running toward the hole I get a little impatient because in high school we ran wing T and my object was to get into the hole right away,” he said. “Now it’s more you wait for something to develop with the great linemen we have and they’re going to make the holes and I’ve just got to sit back and watch.
“I’m used to having 11 people right in the box loaded on one side. Now I’ve got a bunch of gaps and it’s the safety that I have to beat most of the time,” he added.
The plays itself are pretty easy to understand, says Gwaltney.
“I’m taking it in pretty good. A lot of things are common sense and there are some things that are tricky,” Gwaltney said. “Of course I’m going to make mistakes because I’m a rookie, but I’m having fun out there and I’m learning and progressing.”
Being in a progressive offense like the spread also means Gwaltney will be required to catch passes out of the backfield. Gwaltney doesn’t have any problem doing that.
“I feel like I’ve got good hands and I try not to drop a lot of passes. I try to use my athleticism and my size,” he said.
The freshman admits having helpful veterans like Jason Colson and Pernell Williams around has made the transition from high school to college much easier.
“He’s a great leader,” said Gwaltney of Colson. “He’s going to be the one who is going to help me out; he’s going to be like my mentor on the field because he’s real vocal with us. He tells us what we’re doing wrong or right; he’s like another coach on the field. I’m really learning a lot from (both of them).”
According to Gwaltney, Rich Rodriguez’ practices have been pretty challenging so far.
“It’s a lot harder than I expected, probably more so because of the no-huddle offense because everything is quick,” he said. “That’s what Coach Rod preaches -- quickness. It’s a good thing because it gets you into condition. There are a lot of teams that probably couldn’t run this style of offense that we run because they’re used to huddling up. We’re just getting after it constantly. That’s a good attack for an offense to have.”
When Gwaltney arrived at the start of the second summer session his weight was a surprising 252 pounds. He has since shed about 15 of that on his way down to his target weight of about 230.
“Right now I’m 240 and Coach Rod wants me at 235, 230,” he said. “I know I’m going to get there by the season. Coach (Mike) Barwis is a great strength coordinator and he makes sure we’re eating the right things and conditioning the right way.”
Part of the reason for Gwaltney’s added weight was the cooler climate in New York and his eagerness to bulk up before the start of camp.
“There is not a lot of heat like there is down here. It was harder for me to keep my weight down from lifting and I was gaining a lot of muscle and it was building on top. Now Coach Barwis is making sure my weight stays down,” he said.
“As long as I can move with it I’m okay. When I left for break I was 237 and I was twice as strong as I was when I got here.”
Gwaltney says being in town for the second summer session was a great benefit.
“We got used to college life a little bit and plus the fact of working out with them you earned the respect of your teammates,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing. I came in with a lot of hype and then I came in and showed them that I’m here to work hard and I’m going to do everything possible to help this team win games.”
For Gwaltney, that means doing whatever is necessary to help the team be successful.
“Whether it’s scout team, special teams or whatever: I’m going to do whatever I’ve got to do to help this team,” he said. “I’ve got to earn the respect of the players on this team. Being here instead of being home with my friends -- going to prom and stuff like that -- I’ve sacrificed all of that to be here and be a Mountaineer.”
And while Gwaltney has taken a more diplomatic approach to the winning the running back job, he won’t back down from the competition either.
“You ask any freshman in America if they want to play and if they say no then they shouldn’t be playing football,” he said.
