Making His Marc
June 10, 2006 07:02 PM | General
June 10, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Being that he’s used to adapting on the football field as West Virginia University’s backup middle linebacker it was no big deal for Marc Magro when Cheat Lake Elementary School recently called an audible on him.
 |
||
| West Virginia's Marc Magro worked behind senior Jay Henry at middle linebacker this spring.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparksphoto |
Magro thought he was supposed to go and give a motivational speech to a bunch of first and second graders. Instead, it was their parents that were waiting on him when he arrived.
“I had to change my presentation,” Magro laughed. “I’m a football player so I can adapt to different situations.”
So far Magro has made a pretty good career out of adapting. When he began high school at University High as a freshman he was a huge hockey fan admiring Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky. But he quickly switched to football when he realized that Morgantown youth hockey games didn’t quite measure up to Friday night high school football.
“I really got into football and I always remember admiring (WVU All-America linebacker) Grant Wiley,” he said.
Magro turned himself into a dominant high school linebacker who at 207 pounds was usually one of the biggest players on the football field. When he committed to WVU, he knew he was going to have to dramatically change his body to play middle linebacker and take on all those 300-pound offensive guards.
“When I first got here I put on a lot of weight and it was nice to be able to hit the big guys but my speed and agility wasn’t there,” Magro said.
An admitted workout freak, Magro was convinced he had to get big quickly in order to be able to compete. In hindsight he wishes he would have done it more gradually.
“I don’t think I had to put it on as quickly as I did,” he said.
What transpired was a muscle-bound and mechanical linebacker that had lost a lot of his natural speed and agility. Being Andre the Giant is great if you can get your hands on the other guy, but when you can’t catch him it doesn’t matter. Magro realized after his sophomore season it was time to downsize.
“When I went back and watched my highlight film from high school I was everywhere zooming back and forth. I really lost that my first two years here and I’m starting to get that back and it’s a good feeling,” he said.
By all those concerned, the junior had by far his best spring at West Virginia. His ability to take on blockers at the point of attack and also get down the line of scrimmage and chase down speedy ball carriers is making him more than just a two-down player.
“I think I just relaxed and tried to become more athletic and natural,” Magro said of his spring play. “I wasn’t always thinking what I had to do. I know my responsibilities and assignments and now I can flow with the game.”
Magro still pumps iron at a frenetic pace but he has also committed himself to becoming more flexible and agile. Now he says he’s finally getting used to his body.
“I used to have to eat so much to keep this weight on,” he said. “Now I think my body has adapted to it.”
Magro has also adapted to a West Virginia defense designed to attack … and attack. He says having a group of veteran and experienced players like Jay Henry, Boo McLee and Bobby Hathaway around him has made a world of difference.
“You can’t compare it to anything else,” Magro said. “When you’re playing around guys that don’t have experience it changes the whole feeling out there.
“If you are alongside someone who knows what’s going on, you can ask questions in the heat of the moment. You’re communicating better.”
Magro has become an outstanding communicator in his own right, taking it upon himself to spread the word of Mountaineer football throughout the state – not that it’s a great challenge anyway.
“I’m very happy to be here in my home state and play in my backyard and go to Cheat Lake School and talk to kids like that,” he said. “Running out on the field with 60,000 people screaming in my backyard is truly a great feeling.
“I get to go home to my parents,” he added. “I’m truly blessed to have all this at my fingertips.”
Because he is so well known locally, Magro takes seriously the fact that he’s become a role model.
“You’re kind of put in the light and you have to be a (positive) role model for young kids,” he said. “They’re looking up to you and you should show them how to do it.”
Magro says having well-rounded players is one of the secrets to West Virginia’s remarkable success under sixth-year coach Rich Rodriguez.
“Coach Rod always talks about the importance of conducting yourself both on and off the field,” Magro said. “On the field we flip the switch and we’re totally different people. Off the field we flip the switch off. You have to be consistent with your school work, you have to be consistent with whatever you do … working out, watching film or whatever. You have to be reliable”
Magro further illustrates his point.
“If you’re reliable your friends and coaches can come to you,” he said. “Pat White and Steve Slaton are reliable guys. If Coach Rod wants to run the ball on third or fourth down he knows he can go to them. It’s all about being reliable.”
It’s also about being adaptable. And it appears Marc Magro has those two things down pat.
Briefly:
But it will have some to sell this fall simply because Marshall was allocated 5,000 tickets for the season opener on Saturday, Sept. 2. Because of that, West Virginia will not exceed the number of season tickets sold in 1998 when it opened the season against No. 1 Ohio State.
