Cogdell Doing Well
June 03, 2010 04:11 PM | General
(4:13 p.m.)
Damon Cogdell first realized he had a pretty special quarterback on his hands when he had to suspend Geno Smith for showing up late for practice one afternoon. Cogdell’s plan was to make Smith sit on the bench for the first half of their next football game before putting him back in at the start of the second half (more on that later).
WVU Sports Communications photo
It wasn’t that Smith wasn’t a conscientious kid – he is – but Cogdell had to make a point to his Miramar High football team that attention to detail is to be expected at all times. For years, Miramar has had terrific football players but not so terrific football teams, and Cogdell figured the program needed an attitude adjustment.
“I always tell our kids, ‘You’ve got to set the tone for the entire high school,’” Cogdell explained. “Right now our administration has made academics No. 1 and that just carries over to the football field. I remember asking one of our kids how he did in class one day and he said, ‘Coach, I did a great job in class’ and that just carries over to the football field. Or, I’ll ask a kid how he did and he says, ‘Well, Coach, I didn’t get along with my teacher today.’ Now I’m upset and practice is not as good as it should be.”
A lot of what Cogdell learned about running practices and developing football teams came from Don Nehlen at West Virginia University. Cogdell played two seasons for the Mountaineers in 1997 and 1998 after starring at Chaffey Junior College in California. Damon was headed toward what he thought was a career in the NFL until he suffered a broken hip at Syracuse in 1997 that completely changed his outlook.
Cogdell worked hard to rehab his hip, managing to return for another productive season in 1998, but he didn’t have the same mobility and speed he once did and pro football was no longer a realistic option.
“It took me a long time to realize that this is what God intended for me to do – to be a coach and mentor these young guys,” Cogdell said.
The opportunity to coach youngsters first presented itself when his high school alma mater came calling. After first serving as the team’s defensive coordinator, he is now running the show as Miramar’s head coach. Last year, Cogdell led the Patriots to a class 6A state title with 27 of his 34 senior players moving on to some level of college football.
Two of them, wide receivers Ivan McCartney and Dante Chambers, were signed by West Virginia, joining three other Miramar products – Smith, Stedman Bailey and defensive tackle Josh Taylor. Cogdell is proud of all five, including Smith, who became a starter for Miramar during his freshman year.
“He played one JV game and then we saw that he was a heck of a ballplayer,” Cogdell recalled. “We moved him up and that first year we went to the regional championship and lost to Dearfield that year. Dearfield ended up going to the state championship and lost in the championship game.
“After that, Geno just got better and better each year.”
But it was only after Smith’s first-half suspension for the smallest of infractions when Cogdell realized what he really had on his hands.
“Geno was late with two other kids so all three sat the first half of the next game,” the coach recalled. “Then he comes back and on the very first play of the third quarter he throws an 80-yard bomb to Stedman for a touchdown. I think we were only winning 7-0 at the time and we ended up winning like 40-0.”
Right then Smith showed to his coach that he could handle a little adversity.
In the short time Geno has been in Morgantown, the West Virginia coaches have marveled at his mental preparation and his attention to detail, things Cogdell says he enthusiastically promotes at Miramar.
“What I always told them is that when I was in high school I really didn’t know how to watch film,” he said. “Even when I was at West Virginia we watched it but we didn’t study it. As I got to be a defensive coordinator, and then a head coach, the more film you watch the more you appreciate it.
“That’s what I try to do with my kids – show them how to watch film – find out their tendencies and what the opposing team does and that’s what my kids do a great job of.”
His kids have done so well, in fact, that the recruiting trail for college coaches often ends in Cogdell’s office. Among the schools that have pursued Miramar kids heavily is West Virginia, which won a tough recruiting battle two years ago for Smith, a member of the Parade All-America team as one of the top high school quarterbacks in the country.
“When Geno gets used to the speed of the game, he’s going to be something special,” Cogdell predicted.
The coach is also very high on Bailey, one of the stars of West Virginia’s spring game and a rising redshirt freshman wide receiver.
“He was a steal for West Virginia,” Cogdell said. “A lot of people didn’t know about Stedman, but he’s going to be a very good player.”
The phrase “good player” is already being tossed around about McCartney, the cousin of Chad Ochocinco, and one of the top prep receivers in the country. Ivan has dreams of one day following his big cousin’s footsteps to the NFL.
“Florida and Miami were big on Ivan,” Cogdell said. “They all wanted him.”
As is the case with Cogdell’s other players, McCartney’s best trait is his willingness to work hard and improve.
“Ivan is an ideal kid,” Cogdell said. “He will be the first one at practice and the last one to leave. You can tell him something one time and he will get it done. He’s a great kid and a heckuva athlete. That’s the scary part. He’s almost 6-2, 170 pounds, and he can run like a deer.”
McCartney and Chambers will be arriving on Sunday to begin summer conditioning.
Thursday Tidbits …
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| Devon McTavish |
McTavish, who was diagnosed with the disease as a teenager, will be holding a fundraiser in his native Winchester, Va., on June 5, 2010. Money from the Take Steps Be Heard Awareness Walk will help fund research to find a cure. Devon’s goal is to raise $15,000 from the fundraiser. Winchester, Va., Mountaineer fans can learn more about Devon’s fundraiser here … http://www.dcunited.com/blog/2010/05/devons-open-letter-to-fans
West Virginia’s Facebook page, Proud to Be a Mountaineer, is approaching 65,000 friends while the Twitter site, WVUSportsBuzz, is closing in on 4,000 users. Both rank among the most active in the country.
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| Kate Glusko |
Speaking of golf, our annual athletic department golf outing organized by Assistant Athletic Director Michael Fragale and Athletic Equipment Manager Bubba Schmidt will take place next Friday afternoon at Mountaineer Golf and Country Club.
Fragale tells me this is the 16th consecutive year for the annual golf outing.
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| Jedd Gyorko |
Gyorko is out in San Francisco working out for the Giants today and earlier this week the standout shortstop had a workout with the Boston Red Sox, who have the 20th pick in the first round and two sandwich-round picks at No. 36 and No. 39.
Other first-round possibilities for Gyorko include the Tampa Bay Rays at 31 and the New York Yankees at 32.
Steve’s story on Gyorko will be online Monday morning ahead of the draft, slated to begin at 7 p.m. Monday evening in Secaucus, N.J.
Have a great weekend!
