Inspiring Words
December 20, 2007 05:44 PM | General
December 20, 2007
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| Gov. Manchin | Don Nehlen |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – This week interim coach Bill Stewart has been reaching back to the past to help the West Virginia football team deal with its immediate future. Yesterday former Mountaineer coach Don Nehlen had a few words for the team after practice, and today Gov. Joe Manchin took time out of his busy schedule to provide some inspiring words to a group of young men in need of a boost.
Their soothing words left a big impression on the team.
“I saw the Governor walk in near the end of practice and I kind of figured that he was going to talk to us,” said junior wide receiver Dorrell Jalloh. “It was a very motivating speech to us telling us that we have the entire state behind us.”
Jalloh said Gov. Manchin talked about his experiences as a WVU football player having once had to go through a coaching change when Jim Carlen replaced Gene Corum in 1966.
“He said they took him to the top of the old MountainLair and they told him that there was going to be another coach,” Jalloh said. “After that time on everything went uphill from there. He said everything is going to be all right. We’re going to know what type of team we are when we’re put in the fire and right now we’ve been put in the fire. We’re going to come out of that and continue to progress.”
Having grown up in Pittsburgh and witnessing first-hand what the Steelers mean to people in the Steel City, senior Vaughn Rivers has the same impression of the meaning of Mountaineer football to West Virginians.
“I realized just how much support we have throughout the state and not just here in Morgantown. The whole state is behind us,” Rivers said. “Just because we lost our coach and things up here are looking hectic for us we’ve still got a lot of support and people are expecting us to go out there and do big things.”
Linebacker Marc Magro, a Morgantown native, found Nehlen’s and Gov. Manchin’s words inspiring.
“They really had some great words for us and if you listened they had a good message for us,” Magro said. “The team really appreciated it and I think it helped us a lot.”
Magro said Nehlen talked about the legacy of great coaches at West Virginia University.
“There have been a number of great coaches come through this University and this University is greater than one individual. There is more to it,” Magro said. “We’re here to play for ourselves and the University as a whole and don’t let Coach Rod leaving get us down too much. We have to stay focused on the task at hand. He told us how to handle things when we get down to Arizona.”
Dorrell Jalloh said Nehlen came to life when he got out onto the football field to address the players.
“You can see his mentality. He still has that coaching mentality the way he was pointing at us,” Jalloh said. “By him being there and knowing that he was the previous coach you have even more respect for him. You’re like, ‘OK he coached West Virginia and you’re going to listen.’
“It’s not everyday that you get a chance to talk to the Governor or talk to a Hall of Fame football coach. Their words were so inspirational that you want to do well, you want to stay positive, and have a good attitude,” Jalloh said.
“I think it made a lot of the players feel good about themselves,” added freshman running back Noel Devine. “Like Coach Nehlen said yesterday, coaches have left before – great coaches – and whatever happens, happens.
“It shows that we have a lot of support in West Virginia and it was comforting to us,” Devine said.
“Our players responded quite well and it was great to see our Governor here to show his support,” said Stewart. “He told them how proud he was of them as we are proud of them. He told them to stay the course and bond together.
“It was very emotional and it hit them right in the heart where it was supposed to hit,” Stewart said. “He talked about forging steel in the midst of a fire and I thought it was very, very good. As only Gov. Manchin can do, he had us ready to go.
“I just need to get him to talk to the team the night of the second instead of the 20th,” Stewart joked.
