Football: Coach Stewart Press Conference
November 23, 2009 03:16 PM | General
November 23, 2009
We’re getting ready for the “Backyard Brawl,” our annual battle with the University of Pittsburgh. I’m sure it will be a heck of a game. It’s a very intense rivalry and we go back many years.
We are known nationally as the “Backyard Brawl” and it’s great to have that type of notoriety to set this game up. We’re excited about the opportunity to play this coming Friday and we’re doing the best we can to get ready.
It will be a very physical, emotional, hard-fought game. They all usually are. If history repeats itself, this game will be like it has in the past – tough and very exciting.
On the use of trick plays and the pistol formation
I learned a long time ago that in big games, fundamentals are the key. I even saw a quote like that by (Pitt coach) Dave (Wannstedt). Both coaches are old school and both staffs are doing the same preparation.
Trick plays will not win this football game; I don’t think they would even alter the outcome. I think fundamentals are going to be the key. What you do in games like this are you tie the laces up a little bit tighter, strap the pads down a little bit tighter and you go out there and play to the best of your ability.
Part two – the pistol is still in the repertoire. I don’t know if we’ll use it. We have it. If in fact we need to do it, we certainly will.
Right now, if we think they are doing something to us, formation-wise, we’ll use it. We thought East Carolina kept doing something to us, formation-wise, over the years. That’s a compliment to Greg Hudson and their defensive staff. We used the pistol to try and eliminate that problem. It’s almost like the I-formation. That helped us.
On injuries
We met this morning, and it was probably the briefest meeting we’ve had in weeks. I was pleased.
Noel (Devine) is getting better each day.
On the recruitment battle with Pitt and the importance of Friday’s game
(Friday’s game is) Colossal. Football is always important, as is each win. But with Pitt and West Virginia – that’s an intense rivalry, and it goes to recruiting too. You just develop that rivalry, and recruiting helps intensify it.
There is a great amount of respect between the coaches and the players. It’s almost like playing your brother – you want to go out there and whip him bad.
On the recruiting job performed by offensive line coach Dave Johnson
David Johnson does a tremendous job, as do all of our coaches. Dave has a great rapport.
What it goes back to is that Dave is one of them – he was born in West Virginia, but raised up in Penn Hills, Pa. He was an All-American, a great player and coached at IUP with Frank Cignetti, Sr., for all of those years. David Johnson has a tremendous name.
When I got him on board here, I received calls and notes from some Pitt coaches. I was very impressed. They did not have to do that – Dave already had the job. A couple of them in particular were looking forward to Dave being a part of our staff and representing West Virginia. They really like him.
He has a hard row to hoe, as does every coach in recruiting, because it’s just so tough these days with the internet and with recruiting news services.
Coach (Bobby) Bowden made a statement 25 years ago saying that Pittsburgh was such a hot-bed for these coaches and high school recruits. You didn’t have to leave the Pittsburgh area to find the best athletes in the United States. It still holds true to a certain point; there just aren’t as many as there used to be, because the population has declined.
On favorite Thanksgiving memory
My brother and I were very blessed. It goes back to my Fellowsville and Benjamin, W.Va., roots. That was always family time. We were fortunate to come from a great family and to believe whole-heartedly in Thanksgiving and what it is all about. The giving back and sharing is something that will stay with you forever.
I have a lot of fond memories with my family, but there have been some great games over this time too. I would say the 2005 Pitt game here is one that stands out. I was coaching Patrick (White) at the time. It was tough on both Pitt and West Virginia. It was only seven degrees, and everyone’s lips were quivering. I will always remember how we played that night.
The low would be two years later, which is now two years ago, with the loss (13-9 to Pitt). There are a lot of memories on the football side.
On playing on Thanksgiving
My hometown used to do that for years. It was always the “Turkey Bowl” and it was always Magnolia High School vs. Sisterville High School.
It was always a big game.
On team’s practice schedule when school is not in session
We can’t change too much. We can’t get them in here and lock them down because we still have to prepare for practice. I’m having a short team meeting today, tomorrow and Wednesday. Then we’ll go over special teams, which you don’t get to do much during the season. We also go about an hour earlier. We still have show film, and they are lifting as well.
This is a great time – it’s a bonding time for the team.
On Friday being the seniors’ last home game
I don’t know how I’m going to hold up Thursday night when our seniors talk. When they look at you, and tears are coming down their faces, and they say ‘Thank you’ for recruiting me and giving me a shot when no one else did – it’s tough.
I recruited some of these guys from West Virginia. It’s special. When the seniors talk to the team, and their teammates yell ‘let it out, man’ -Thursday night is awesome. It will be a great time.
You have to savor each and every day. I tell them team that each time I talk to them after every game – treat every day as if it’s a precious jewel, because you do not know what tomorrow brings. I mean that. That’s who I am and that’s what I am. If you can’t get that out of life, then you need to stop and smell the roses.
I want this week to go slow because of the youngsters we have in this program. We have 23 remarkable young men and they deserve all of the accolades that can be bestowed on them.
On Nate Sowers’ five-year career
We were in a fight to get him, and I am so pleased that we did. I promised his mom and dad, just as I did Reed Williams’, because I recruited both at the same time, that I would treat them like my own sons. There will be tough times and discipline, but there will also be a lot of good times and love.
I’m grateful that both parents entrusted me with their sons, and we tried to do the best we could. It is going to be very emotional, for those two guys in particular.
Nate Sowers is such a great ambassador. You take those young men from West Virginia that we have – the Sowers, Williams, Zack Coopers, Jack Crows – these are wonderful young men that love the Old Gold and Blue and absolutely admire the people and work ethic and what West Virginia is and what we stand for. Nate is a great youngster – he is a guy you want. That is why he is playing. Maybe he isn’t the most talented, but he’s talented enough. He is a great football player and keeps that group together out on the field. I love what he brings to the Mountaineer faithful.
On what a win against Pitt would personally mean
It would be win number eight. Round six (of the BIG EAST schedule) would be complete. It would be a nice win over Pitt.
I don’t get too caught up, because if you do, then people will see the ups and downs and the highs and lows. I try to stay steady; I learned that from Dick Crum and from my father, the most mild-mannered man I’ve met in my life. He taught me how you are supposed to do things. I have fallen short many times.
It would be a big win.
On lockerroom atmosphere before a big rivalry game
I knew what I was saying at the Fiesta Bowl. I got embarrassed by that, but someone told me not to be embarrassed if that is who and what I am.
I say some things at some games probably more colorful than I do at other games. This is going to be one of those colorful games. This is a time in your life as a player and coach that, unless you have been there, knows what you are talking about. It is a time when you look in the players’ eyes, and you see that will, and you know they are going to give everything they have to give. At Cincinnati, I had that same look in those guys’ eyes. I knew when we went out on that field that we were going to play hard and tough.
What you have to do is try to challenge them and be yourself. Don’t be fake and something that you aren’t. Tell them what they need to do, tell them how to do it and then go tell them that you have their back and that they have your full support. If you do that, the team will play for you.
On the play of Pitt quarterback Bill Stull
Billy Stull is a great example of Proverbs 24:16 – you just have to keep rising. Every time you get knocked to your knees, you just have to get back up. We’ll get knocked on our knees in this life.
To be booed at home like Bill Stull was, it’s good to see him stay within the framework of his upbringing. For him to press onward – I can only say good things about him. He is a player. He is a good person.
I hope he doesn’t get booed at Mountaineer Stadium, except for when he walks in the door, but I also hope he doesn’t receive a lot of cheers. We want to win this football game. I’d love for him to have a nice, story-book ending in his last game (against Cincinnati).
He is a classic example of a young man that stayed the course, kept fighting and got up off the carpet. It’s also a nice story for football.
On defending Stull and the Pitt wide receivers
They have a big, tough line that is playing really well. Stull is staying within the framework of the offense that that staff has put in. Their receivers are players. Then you have their two great running backs. This offense is very good. It scored 31 points in its only loss.
This is a good football team. Last year, we held them to 19 points, and the year before that, we held them to 13 points. This has been a tough football game. They have won two by four points.
I compare them to the type of teams Dave was on. They control the ball, they throw when they have to, they run the tailback, their quarterback doesn’t make mistakes and their defense and kicking game has just been awesome as well.
They are the ninth-ranked team in the country. You aren’t in the top 10 just because people like you. They have a good football team. We are going to have us a whale of a challenge. That’s what is great about this college game.
On facing Pitt’s defensive line
What we will probably do is play like we did against teams like USF. We’ll use tight end blocking and some chips.
You can not spend a lot of time worrying about the two defensive ends. If you do that, it will take you right out of your game plan. You can’t call the game.
Our tackles – Selvish Capers and Don Barclay – are both fine football players. We will help them some with Tyler Urban and Will Johnson. We will have to call our game.
I like their linebackers; I think they are solid. I also like their secondary. Dom’s (DeCicco) a great safety. Aaron Berry is a good corner. This is a good football team. They are ninth in the country for a reason.
This is five years in the works. It’s five years of getting better each year and adding to the repertoire. To me, I see many seniors on this two-deep, and that has been five years in the making. It’s going to be a real challenge.
On scouting opponents and self-scouting during extended breaks
We do self-scouting every week. We keep a three-game repertoire on ourselves. You can only watch so much film. As a staff, we will watch practice film and see how the game plan is being implemented. We spend a lot of time, and even more so with the more practices.
On play of BIG EAST teams this season and Pitt and Cincinnati being in the top 10
I think it’s progress (by the conference). I think they get tired of us listing our accomplishments. Now these teams are winning and we have the fifth- and ninth-ranked teams. I think people are starting to see that the BIG EAST is pretty good football.
What we need to stop doing is beating each other up. All conferences do that. When you beat each other up, you get knocked up. Though, I hope we beat them up this week.
