Football: Head Coach Bill Stewart Quotes
March 31, 2009 01:46 PM | General
March 30, 2009
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University Coach Bill Stewart’s quotes following Tuesday morning’s spring practice.
Head Coach Bill Stewart
On the early morning practice:
I was shocked that I didn’t have to yell at them too bad today. We started taping today at 5:15 and I want to compliment our training staff for getting here and doing things the right way. It was an early wake up. It was a test today and I’m most appreciative of how the Mountaineers responded.
It wasn’t a heavy weight battle out there today but there were some slugs that were going on. The offense did a heck of job on third and short and it was good to see that. The defense did very well on third and eight and third and long. We did our two minute drill for the first time and it looked like the first time we did it. The defense absolutely got after those white shirts and won that overwhelmingly. We have to work on that drill and that’s why you do it in spring.
We had full pads on today, except for knees. That keeps them up because you have to learn on defense that you have to run through people, and on offense you have to learn to move your feet and stay under the guy. We’re banging and both sides did well today. This was practice number five and we’re a third of the way through. There is a lot of work to be done.
On the offense:
I saw some nice plays from our quarterback, Jarrett Brown. I also thought Coley (White) did a very good job today in the pocket. Jarrett has a great feel back there; they brought twists and blitzes and he stepped up.
Receiver-wise, Wes Lyons and Alric Arnett both continue to step up. Bradley Starks was in a white shirt today so the defense could bang him. Will Johnson is also back.
On the defense:
Defensively, I saw Scooter Berry really push the pocket and that was nice to see. Chris Neild also pushed the pocket and they are beating our offensive line up.
On the secondary:
I saw Robert Sands come on some safety blitzes and that was nice to see. He is a big guy and I really thought that was good by No. 28 today. Again, I don’t think the corners are up to snuff yet but they are getting better. Eain Smith was doing real well at safety today.
Pat Lazear is coming along and he had another good day.
On Jeffrey Braun:
He’s learning and he’s doing well for his age - not well enough to be a BIG EAST player yet, but he’s gaining. I’m pleased with him.
On the kicking game:
We’ve done the field goal and I’m proud of what Tyler Bitancurt has done. Our snaps have been better than I anticipated with Cody taking the PAT snaps, and Jeremy Kash is doing well. Scott Kozlowski has also punted the ball very well and I’m very pleased with Tyler. I didn’t like his field goals Saturday because they were really low, so we have to work on that. I’m pleased with the kicking. I wasn’t pleased with the kickoff team on Saturday, but I’m pleased with what we’re doing punt-wise. It’s really special and I hope it continues to stay as one of the nation’s elite. We’ll spend more time working on the kickoff tomorrow.
On the right guard position:
I think at this point, Braun is the front runner. Josh Jenkins is doing a real good job at left guard. I’m excited about our tight-end position and they’re all coming along.
On the early morning schedule:
The freshmen taped at 5:00, the sophomores taped at 5:15, the juniors and seniors didn’t have to tape until 5:30. I came up at 6:03 and they asked me where I’d been, because they were ready to go. That discipline translates.
We might go Monday and Tuesday morning next week because I hate to go Monday afternoon and come back Tuesday morning because of class.
For an indoor, hour and a half, intense work-out today, there were some guys that gave great efforts. There are still some young guys that don’t know how to practice but they are learning.
I’ve had buddies in the business and some here on the staff that didn’t start classes until 10:00 in the spring and they practiced from 7:00-9:30. I don’t know if we’re going to do that, but we’ll see how next Monday and Tuesday go.
There is always a method to the madness. It is class and that is first and foremost. We have food waiting for them with a big team breakfast and bonding, make them hang out. Then they’ll do pictures for the media and that will be cool. We’ll have an early study hall and then they have the afternoon and tonight to just be college students, which is good.
Discipline-wise, it was sparkling today. You have to throw a curve ball every now and then. We want to make them strain a little bit more than the average college football player and then you sell them on how hard they really do work. It’s a mind thing.
