Football: Head Coach Bill Stewart Quotes 8.13.08
August 13, 2008 08:48 PM | General
August 13, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Coach Bill Stewart quotes following Wednesday's practice:
Head Coach Bill Stewart
On Friday’s ‘dry run’:
We’re going to take off Friday, which we certainly appreciate our administration letting us do, and we’re going to take a trip to Washington, Pa. What we do is stay in a hotel and have a dry run. We take the video staff, the managers, the team, all the coaches and managers and we go through an on-the-road type of situation for future road games. What we’ll do is go up there, but before, we’ll learn how to get on the bus and where people are supposed to sit because there is an offensive bus, a defensive bus and a special team’s bus with the coaches. They need to know how to act because when we go on a road trip with West Virginia University, it’s a business trip; it isn’t a pleasure seeking joy ride. We go to get ready for our football game and it’s really cool that our administration let’s us do that. We will do that Friday night, learn how to check into a hotel, make sure the roommates are compatible, and then we will eat, have team meetings, etc. We’ll then get up the next morning, do our pre-game and then come to the stadium. It’s a dry run and it will teach them what we expect on the road. They won’t act right if you don’t teach them so we start from the ground-floor. Plus, on Friday, they have a little ‘fun time’ and all coaches are fair game. We have a routine for the freshmen, we keep it clean and we have fun. We have seniors talk and they bust on each other and then have a gong show.
On today’s practice:
Today’s practice was again pretty intense with full pads. I was pleased with the hitting today because we’re really popping out there. There were two pro scouts out at practice today and they usually will come up to me and ask, ‘how is this guy, how is that guy’, but the first thing they said to me today was ‘wow, your guys know how to practice.’ I thanked them and told them that was nice to hear. That was cool and I’ll share that with the team tonight because you never know who is watching you.
There was a lot of banging today and we had the officials here again. We started off with our victory drill, three-on-three with the ball running, and there was a lot of good blocking and tackling. They were all hustling to the ball and that is a great way to start practice.
Then we worked on field goals and Pat McAfee was in the zone. He had a nice punt and a pretty good kick off. We went fairly full speed with the officials and I told them I wanted them to call everything they see. There weren’t many penalties so that was good.
It got hot out today which was fantastic.
Yesterday afternoon we ran them hard and we ran them hard again today. We did some up-downs and if the guys can’t echo the calls when we tell them to echo the calls, when we ask them, then they will do exercises to adhere to that. So, they got after it again today.
They are all being good lads and trying hard. We had an intense scrimmage where we got in over 60 plays really quickly and we did pretty well. That was fun. With the officials, there was an off-side called on the defense and that happens. There was a fumble and we didn’t like that, however, there were some nice plays. I thought Noel ran tremendously well and Pat (White) was on his game. He was hot and had some nice plays which were nice to see. There were some really nice things today and there were also some not-so-good things that we saw but that’s what you need in camp.
We ran them hard. We took the punt team out to do some extra work and ran them, and then took the rest of the guys out and ran them. Gassers are what we call them when they run over and back across the field. After that they got on the ground and did some abs work. We strained them pretty well today and I was pleased at what the coaches did; got after them pretty good and put intensity in the air.
We’ll go double sessions again tomorrow with a light practice in the morning. We’ll do some situational drills, two minute drills, blitz drills and we’ll do a bit of kicking. Then tomorrow afternoon, we’ll go out there and bang again. We’ll hit and keep on hitting.
We gassed them Monday, Tuesday, and today and we hit in full pads. Tomorrow we’ll do another two-a-day, our last one. We’re making sure they are going to play Mountaineer football and thus far, they have. We’re very pleased with their effort. How good we’ll be, I don’t know, but it seems like we’re making minimal mistakes and flying around doing good things.
On Jock Sanders:
Jock Sanders is having a tremendous camp and I’m proud of that little guy.
On the defense:
Defensively, I saw Mortty Ivy make some big hits and I saw Pat Lazear, Zac Cooper, and Scooter Berry. They are all starting to catch our eye a lot. These guys are pass rushing and they are competing very hard.
On Brandon Hogan:
The hit of the scrimmage was No. 22, Brandon Hogan. He came up on a screen and I’ll tell you what-it was lights out. It was a big time hit and that was good to see. That got both sides fired up on both sides of the ball.
On Noel Devine:
He’s doing tremendously well; he’s never taken a play off. He just practices so hard. He has been an absolute role model and has helped our young backs. If you’re a freshman and are just yourself, the older guys are going to help you. If you strut around like a freshman and act like you’re the best thing since sliced bread, they will let you go out there on your own. I’m very pleased at how Noel has taken on his role as an upper classmen. No. 7 scored today and there were some big plays on defense.
On injuries:
We get dinged up. They are bumped, bruised, there is an elbow here, a shoulder there, an ankle there, but it’s called football and it happens-you have to press on and go.
On Will Johnson:
I was so glad to see Will Johnson out there today. We didn’t let him scrimmage or hit but he got some reps in and that was good to see. If we keep Will healthy, then he should have a big year. He is going to be a guy that can catch the ball in the backfield, he can block and he can play tight end. He’s 230 pounds and the young man has so many natural abilities.
On the freshmen:
Ryan Clarke and Tyler Urban are all doing a great job and we will not hesitate to play a freshman. Tyler Urban might be a bit more of a tight end while (Ryan) Clarke might be a bit more of a fullback. All three of them do a great job. Will (Johnson) is more versatile because he has been here a here and he’s learned the system.
On Najae Goode:
Najae Goode dislocated his finger but you can’t keep him out. He is a man who is roaming the sideline just waiting to hit people and that was nice to see. He had a couple nice plays.
On JT Thomas:
He has a slight sprain in his foot. He could probably go on Saturday but I don’t know if we’ll let him go. He got rolled on in a drill and that’s going to happen. He could play if we needed him to play but again, we have two weeks to get ready for the season. Believe me, we’re not babying him and muscle beach is not a fun place. That’s not a punishment but we want them to work so they don’t lose their conditioning.
On the increased role of the tight end in this offense:
It’s a combination of both of, like what Owen (Schmitt) could do. That being said, we’re looking for a guy who can be a fullback/tight end who can get up there and do some things for us. He needs to be able to do fullback, slot, go in motions and block.
On whether Josh Jenkins will redshirt:
We’ll know more on Saturday about Josh Jenkins and a lot of freshmen. He’s doing well. He’s in there fighting and doing a good job.
