All He Can Be
August 16, 2006 03:51 PM | General
August 16, 2006
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Download Coach Rodriguez's Wednesday comments at MSN's new MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The first time Jeremy Sheffey really thought about being a college football player was when WVU assistant head coach Rick Trickett stopped by his house and offered him a scholarship. Before that, he was planning to be all he could be and join the Army.
“I was going to go into the military and then Coach Trickett came down to the house and offered me a scholarship,” Sheffey says.
Unlike many high school players who spend lots of money in the summertime going to camps to get noticed by college recruiters, Sheffey’s time was spent doing other things. He wasn’t consumed with being a football player.
“I didn’t even start playing until the ninth grade and I did it because we moved to Kentucky and I did it to meet people,” he said. “Four years later I got a college scholarship.”
What at first was intended to be a social vehicle has turned into an obsession for West Virginia’s 6-foot-3-inch, 290-pound senior right guard. Sheffey, a Catlettsburg, Ky., resident, enrolled in school a semester early four years ago and he believes the head start gave him a big advantage.
“These guys that are coming in now are thrown right into the game,” he said. “They haven’t even had a chance to workout and see what a college workout is like. I got to go through all of the spring drills, agility drills and actually kind of got to ease into it.”
That is until he was switched from defensive line to offensive line to play for ex-Marine Rick Trickett. Fantasy Island turned into Parris Island.
“(Defensive line) wasn’t quite as hard-core as Coach Trickett makes it,” he laughed. “I kind of get to do boot camp with him 12 months out of the year.”
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| When Jeremy Sheffey first started playing football as a ninth grader it was to make friends and meet new people.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
Sheffey can still remember his first time going in with the first team in practice and having to dodge Rick Trickett’s flying baseball cap. It came at him like a scud missile before the ball was even snapped. Then the fun really began.
“I remember that it was like color and that’s about all you see and then you get hit. It’s like, wow, what just happened?” he laughed. “As you get used to it the game slows down. When you first get in there it’s like that for everyone.
“If you’ve ever seen the movie Any Given Sunday that’s the analogy I use for what it looks like to a new player,” he said.
Sheffey remembers his first reaction being a basic one.
“My first thought was how can I come off fast enough and how can I not get hurt on this play?” he said.
Of course that was light years ago. Today, Jeremy Sheffey is one of the most competitive players on a roster full of modern day Manchurian Candidates.
There isn’t a person alive more competitive than their coach Rich Rodriguez. If Rodriguez is playing a friendly game of poker and he’s got a game-winning flush already in his hand, he’s drawing for a royal flush. A yellow traffic light means hit the gas, not slow down.
To Rodriguez it isn’t just about winning -- it’s about winning big.
“That’s the type of guys he wants around him and if you aren’t that type of guy you’ll either be that type of guy or you won’t be around here,” Sheffey says. “I truly believe this … whoever you associate yourself with you will become like them. Being associated with Coach Rodriguez and being around him all the time has made us so competitive-natured.”
So competitive, Sheffey says, that his family has begun to notice a difference in his personality.
“I go home all the time and my brother says, ‘Everything is competitive with you now. I don’t understand it. You weren’t like this when you left.’”
Sheffey shrugged and flashed a bright smile, “That’s just how we are around here.”
Sheffey and senior center Dan Mozes are the two critical components up front blocking for one of the nation’s most versatile offensive backfields made up of speed burners Steve Slaton and Patrick White, and 250-pound freight truck Owen Schmitt.
All three came to West Virginia with more questions than stars by their names, but today it’s hard to find a better trio of runners in all of college football. Sheffey says blocking for them is a cinch.
“Ever since both of them have been back there they’ve made my job easy,” he said. “You know you don’t necessarily have to get a block a perfect way because Stevie is athletic enough to get into the hole. And if I screw up a pass block I might not give up a sack because Pat can get out of there and can run for maybe 30 yards.”
When Slaton and White were featured on the cover of USA Today earlier this week, no one was more excited to read the article than Sheffey.
“Just seeing one of them on there means I’ve done my job pretty well,” he said. “Having both of them … that’s awesome. It’s fun practicing with them. They're my good buddies.”
Although this is Sheffey’s last year blocking for White, Slaton and Schmitt he says those three will remain in good hands next year with possibly the best freshmen class of offensive linemen Rodriguez has recruited at West Virginia. Sheffey believes big Jake Miller, Eric Rodemoyer, Eric Jobe and Derek Hayes are going to be a handful for opposing defensive linemen.
“They’re very athletic guys and their good kids,” he said. “They might not be ready right now, but these guys have talent; they all have good feet and they're tough guys.”
But that’s down the road. Right now, Sheffey is getting ready for a 2006 season that promises to be one of the most exciting in school history.
“We’re right on schedule,” he said. “We’ll be fine.”
