Football: Coach Bill Stewart Quotes
April 07, 2009 12:46 PM | General
April 7, 2009
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University Coach Bill Stewart quotes following Tuesday morning’s practice.
Head Coach Bill Stewart
On today’s practice:
We went into shells today, and I only saw a couple instances where guys left their feet and tackled. They were hitting the thigh boards, but I didn’t like them leaving their feet. We take the knee pads off to keep them up so that they run through blocks and tackles. It keeps them closer when they gather and hit, they are up tight. They are learning how to practice, and this is how the pros practice. We were going full speed, you saw the intensity, and they are giving good effort.
We had a good day today, and we really worked hard on overtime. We had a very intense inside drill, 1vs.1 with the guys in a circle. Our receivers are getting tougher and our defensive backs seem to be getting tougher. You get that way because you work at it.
I thought skelley was good coming down the field. I liked that, and I was pleased about that because there were good plays by both sides. I saw Geno Crump making more good plays and Jarrett Brown has an absolute rifle. He made some nice throws today.
Our defense is tough. We are learning on the run but the overtime was really good. The offense won the first one and the defense won the second one.
Then we had our Nascar field goal drill and that is when the clock is winding down with no time at the half or at the end of the game. That’s something you have to work on, and we worked on it yesterday as an offense by ourselves, and today we went against the defense live. It worked out pretty well. There was one kick that was low and they blocked it, so I’m not pleased with that, but I’ll go and watch the film to make sure.
On tomorrow’s schedule:
We will go tomorrow in a full scale scrimmage, and we will have officials here. We’re going to spend a bit more time in meetings tomorrow, and we’ll go on the field at 3:45. The scrimmage will be situational, and we’re going to add our two-minute drill with officials. It will be a big hitting day tomorrow.
On the kicking game:
Protection wise we’ve worked on pooch-kicking, lanes, the punt game extremely well, we’ve worked on kick off. I’m still not pleased with our PAT and field goal. Nascar, like you saw today, got a little hectic so we have to get better on the kicking game.
On injuries and illnesses:
With illnesses, we’re in pretty good shape. We’ve had the common cold and the flu bug like everyone else. We’re waiting to hear the final analysis on Tyler Rader. He seems to be the only serious injury, and I’m pleased that we haven’t had a lot of injuries. I think that is because we’re practicing smart.
On the bandit position:
Bandit is the third corner and the second safety. They are usually more physical than corners and (Robert) Sands looks like he is doing a good job there. It’s all new to him, just like I have him on the punt team, but once he gets it, he really gets it. We’re throwing a lot at this young man, because I think he can do it.
On Scott Kozlowski:
I want him to be the best punter in the BIG EAST, and I think he can really have a great year punting.
On true freshmen:
A couple true freshmen came into our 6 a.m. practice and impressed me. One left at 3:30 this morning to get over here, and it was nice to see that lad. There are some spots that we think we can put some guys in there. A return man is one. I really think that we have a guy or two that can catch punts and kickoffs as well as anyone we’ve had. Now, that being said, it all goes back to potential. Potential means that it’s something they haven’t done yet so we’re looking at performance. When they get here in camp, we’ll find out how good they really are and see if they can handle the load. There will be some true freshmen playing; not many, because we have a pretty good football team right now. There are a couple return guys and a couple of skill guys that I’m looking at. It will be tough to crack into that defense. We’ll have to wait and see.
On the wide receivers:
The first move that I thought was brilliant by our offensive staff was Wes Lyons going to an outside man. He is a big man, a big target and it looks like Jarrett (Brown) is trying to find him. Today, Jarrett threw some nice balls.
Alric Arnett and Bradley Starks keep on jumping up and grabbing balls. I also keep seeing Wes catching ball after ball, which is good. Tyler Urban caught a nice ball today too, and we have the guys that we want to get the ball out there too.
We’re doing some passing, because we think we have guys that will make plays for us. I’m not going to run Jarrett Brown 100 times a game. He has an arm, and he has good wide-outs, so we need to get a short-yardage game, which we keep working on. I like what I saw today with our toughness.
The more physical style is Lonnie Galloway style. That drill today was intense, and I liked what I saw. Lonnie and Lockwood feed off each other, those two; they are like a cat and bird. It’s great for moral, for the staff, and it’s great for our players when they see coaches competing as Coach Galloway and Coach Lockwood compete. And they are young-I get tired, but they don’t. It sends a real message to the players.
On the position changes:
When you look at your guys, you ask how you can best use him and what he could possibly bring to the table. We’re having a real battle at corner right now. Eddie Davis is impressing those guys, and Brandon Hogan are all fighting for their jobs right now. I think the defensive move of Robert Sands to bandit was really sharp. It was a good move.
Again, I want to compliment our offense on moving Wes Lyons to the slot, because I think he can go inside and still play outside. That gives us dimension without changing personnel. That really frustrates defensive coordinators, because everyone wants to match-up players. We’re just trying to find ways to get our best players on the field.
On Zac Cooper:
He is doing a good job. I watch him in pass rush, and I remember Zach in the Tostitos Bowl out in Arizona when he was coming off that edge and that big 300-pound tackle couldn’t put a hand on him. There are times when Zach needs to come down and rush. There are times when he is really savvy. Like you saw today, Zach is now our starting wing on field goals like we did with Marc Magro. He has great ball skills, and he needs to work on defense.
