Ready to Roll
July 28, 2006 09:52 AM | General
July 28, 2006
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| Rich Rodriguez |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - West Virginia University football coach Rich Rodriguez covered a variety of topics on Thursday afternoon as he addressed the media during a pre-camp press conference at the Puskar Center.
Many national pundits have fueled lofty expectations for the Mountaineers heading into the 2006 season. West Virginia is predicted to finish in the top 5 in the country by almost every publication that produces preseason rankings. Rodriquez isn’t apologizing for the expectations and he doesn’t expect them to be a distraction as he prepares his team for the season opener Sept. 2 against Marshall.
“It’s not a big concern for me or for our staff because we think we know our guys. I say we think we know them because we are still a pretty young football team. I don’t think these are the type of guys that worry about high expectations. I think our guys are mature enough to handle it,” Rodriquez said.
A lot of preseason hype has also surrounded quarterback Patrick White and running back Steve Slaton. Rodriquez notes that his staff constantly uses the team approach to try and deflect some of the expectation and outside pressure heaped on individual players.
“Football is the best team sport in my opinion, because you have to rely on so many people. We will continue to take the approach that it is a team game and even though we have some guys getting individual attention, they are a part of something that is bigger than themselves,” Rodriquez said.
Rodriquez believes that the biggest concern and unknown entering every football season is always the same four-letter word: luck.
“How lucky are we going to be? If we get the wrong guys hurt at the wrong position, it certainly could affect our season. We hope it doesn’t but it could. We were lucky last year. We had a few guys hurt but guys came in and they played even better than we thought they could. There is no team in America that will win championships or win all their games without some form of luck,” Rodriquez said.
One of the things that separate good teams from great teams is overall depth throughout the roster. Rodriquez admits that depth is a concern as he prepares for his sixth season at his alma mater.
“I worry about whether we have enough depth to sustain ourselves in a 12-game season playing three or four mid-week games. We have some short Thursday-to-Saturday turnarounds this year and depth will be a key concern for us as we head into fall camp,” Rodriquez said.
The coach notes that while the talent is there as far as depth is concerned, experienced depth is what is lacking.
“We certainly do not have the experienced depth that most people would expect a top 5 team to have,” Rodriquez said.
The backup quarterback position will be one of the most intriguing battles to watch as fall camp unfolds. Rodriquez explained that in his system it is an absolute necessity to have a backup quarterback that you can win with.
“We have to have a backup that we can count on whether it be Nate Sowers or Jarrett Brown. If you run the quarterback as much as we do you hope he stays healthy but there may be a time here or there when he needs a break,” Rodriquez said.
Rodriquez explained that more than the physical aspect of the game, it is the mental side of things that will be most crucial in the development of the young quarterbacks.
“We can’t do anything to prepare them in the summer so hopefully they have been working some on their own. It will be interesting to see how far they have advanced mentally since the spring,” Rodriquez said.
With regard to player eligibility for the fall, some disappointing news came out regarding the status of junior wide receiver Brandon Barrett, one of the stars of the Gold-Blue Spring Game. It appears that Barrett will no longer be a part of the Mountaineer program.
“I’m not optimistic at all that Brandon Barrett will be in a Mountaineer uniform,” remarked Rodriquez said when asked about the status of his much maligned wide receiver.
“In fact I am pessimistic. Brandon started off summer school making an effort and doing the things he was supposed to do but he has recently fallen off. It has been unfortunate. There are two parts to being a student-athlete and you can guess which one comes first,” Rodriquez said.
Rodriquez took some time to reflect on his first five years at WVU and he believes that many of the goals he set for the program in 2001 have been accomplished.
“We have always had the goal to win the Big East since we got here but we have other goals within the program as far as the commitment, a certain attitude and a certain work ethic that the public doesn’t always see. I think we have accomplished a lot of those things and we are in a pretty good place right now,” Rodriquez said.
Rodriquez picked out Goochland, Va. native Brandon Myles as one of the best individual success stories of his time so far at WVU.
“Brandon came from a small town in Virginia as a non-qualifier and a lot of people in his hometown probably thought that he would never make it in college. They didn’t think he would make it athletically or academically. Brandon graduated this summer. He is an all-Big East performer, and a great young man that has been a credit to our program. Those are the things that really make you feel good,” Rodriquez said.
Rodriquez mentioned that his staff has noticed a bit of a recruiting lift from last year’s Sugar Bowl victory over Georgia.
“We’re seeing a lot more interest in the areas of the East and Southeast that we recruit in. I think it also helped us in terms of early commitments. A lot of guys I think jumped at the chance to commit to WVU early so they wouldn’t miss out on their chance,” Rodriquez said.
On the topic of incoming recruits qualifying, Rodriquez noted that most of the freshman have qualified and will be ready to go for camp.
“We are still waiting on a few guys that have clearinghouse issues but we have projected that they will be eligible. Other than Ryan Brinson, the rest of the guys we signed should be eligible,” Rodriquez said.
The team is very healthy heading into preseason practice and except for quarterback Adam Bednarik, who will not play this year, nobody will be held out due to injury at the start of camp.
Rodriquez has been pleasantly surprised by the swift rehabilitation of linebacker Mortty Ivy as he recovers from his ACL tear sustained during spring drills.
“Mortty has been amazing. He’s probably at 85 percent right now. We think he will probably be let go full for camp but we won’t know for sure until Dave Kearns does some testing with him next week,” Rodriquez said.
Fall camp opens Saturday, Aug. 5 and concludes Saturday, Aug. 19.
The season opener versus Marshall is set for Sept. 2 at 3:30 p.m. at Milan Puskar Stadium. The game will be televised state-wide on ESPN Regional Television.
