Football Notebook
August 13, 2009 02:48 PM | General
August 13, 2009
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia had a two-hour situational practice Thursday morning before returning to the field for a fully-padded afternoon session.
Coach Bill Stewart has been generally upbeat in the six media briefings he’s conducted so far, but he remains concerned about several areas of his team. Some of those areas of concern include:
1. Offensive and defensive line depth
2. The overall kicking game
3. Creating more turnovers
4. Third-down defense
The first big test for the Mountaineers will come this weekend when the team conducts its first scrimmage of fall camp.
Camp Notes …
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| Jarrett Brown |
“The young man has such resolve to have not left this fine institution to go somewhere else where he could have played,” said Stewart. “I sat him down a couple of years ago and said I can’t play you because I believe the guy in front of you (Pat White) is better.
“He hung in the boat, he’s paid his dues and he deserves everything that could possibly happen to him in a good manner. He’s a special young man, great character, a great citizen and I just hope it really works out well for him.”
On the other side of the ball, the coaching staff has been really pleased with the progress being made by freshmen corners Pat Miller and Brodrick Jenkins. Cornerback coach David Lockwood has said repeatedly that he has no reservations about playing freshmen if they are good enough to play.
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| Noel Devine |
“He’s really taking on a leadership role,” Rodgers said.
“He didn’t do the entire practice but he did some team stuff,” said Stewart. “The scouting he did; the two-minute drill he did and the scramble he did.”
The angular Smith has a strong throwing arm but is of much slighter build than Brown, who weighs a solid 220 pounds. A year in the weight room will help Smith immensely.
Stewart is also taking a cautious approach with left tackle Donnie Barclay, who is expected to be limited during two-a-days to give his foot more time to recover.
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| Josh Taylor |
“I talk to these guys and tell them to put their cell phones away, tell your girlfriends you’ll see them after camp. Josh Taylor listens,” said Stewart, “and that weighs very heavily in my thinking. He does exactly what he’s supposed to do when he’s told to do it and he does it in a disciplined manner.”
“When they cut the program I thought I was done,” he said. “I wasn’t sure. I sent out film and hoped for the best.”
Lider said the announcement came as a total surprise to the team.
“We had just won a bowl game,” he said. “Luckily a lot of the guys got to where they wanted to go. I’ve been trying to keep track of most of them, but they’ve gone all over the West Coast and I went the furthest east.”
“My first time as head coach we did three-a-days for the first week,” he said. “That probably wasn’t too smart. Like Bear Bryant said – and I’m not anywhere like him, let’s get that straight – he said, ‘That’s all we know as coaches’ – two-a-days and then that night kicking, so it was actually three-a-days.
“We used to beat them up in the old days. That’s all we knew. That’s just how you did it,” said Stewart. “I think we’re just wiser now.”
