Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
WVU’s Frazier Crushing it on the Football Field and the Golf Course
August 04, 2023 04:34 PM | Football, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Not only was Pat White one of the toughest football players in WVU history to tackle, but at times he could be among the toughest to interview as well.
There was no one who could give one-word answers to questions like Pat could. You might ask him an elaborate question about subject X, thinking you were about to unlock some great secret, and then old Pat would simply answer "yes" or "no" and then flash his handsome smile.
Your only counter was to try and follow up by asking "why?" – to which Pat would reply, "Well, because …"
No wonder he was always so difficult to bring down.
Well, West Virginia University junior center Zach Frazier isn't quite in Pat White's league when it comes to economical word usage, but he's in the same ballpark.
Just like Pat, Zach is a lot of things on the football field – great player, great teammate, great leader and smart as a whip, but a blabber mouth, he is not. Whenever he's asked to do interviews, Zach won't be doling out any long soliloquies. Occasionally, when he feels like he's said enough, he will stop mid-sentence, smile and simply nod his head.
It was sort of that way this afternoon when he was asked questions about West Virginia's two quarterbacks, Garrett Greene and Nicco Marchiol. He didn't go on much about the injury that sidelined him for spring practice, only to say that he is better. He didn't say too much when asked about West Virginia being predicted to finish last in the Big 12 this year, below newcomers Cincinnati, Houston, BYU and Central Florida, only to reply that they won't.
On getting married last May, Zach said it's "really not too different" than when he wasn't. Thinking that over a little bit more, he did add of his new bride, Stephanie Vincent, "I definitely got a good one, though."
And so, back and forth it when - long serve and rapid return … that is until Bob Hertzel brought up the subject of golf.
It appears big Zach, all 6-foot-3 inches and 311 pounds of him, took up the great game of golf a couple of years ago during COVID. Hertzel was able to pry that valuable piece of information out of Greene when the two got together to talk earlier this summer, so Hertz asked Zach about his golf game.
The big guy's eyes lit up like he was on the first tee at St. Andrews.
"Well, I have to have extended clubs and bigger grips, but I try to swing smooth; I don't try and kill it," he admitted. "We play a lot whenever we can."
"It's a totally different game than football," Hertzel replied. "About the only thing I can think of that's alike is an out-of-bounds hit, which is bad in both. What was the attraction to you?"
"I think it all started with COVID," Zach answered. "We really didn't have anything to do and that was one of the only things where you could be outside and away (from each other). I think we started golfing a lot and ever since then it's been a good, relaxing thing to do to get away a little bit."
From there, Hertzel had the floor - and the rest of us had our stories.
"Who taught you?" he asked.
"Well, I played baseball but that doesn't really help on the golf course, so probably just YouTube videos, I guess," Zach said.
Of course, me being who I am and always appreciating odd-ball, off-the-wall stuff, I had to jump in. I just couldn't resist.
"What's the best club in your bag, Zach?" I asked.
"I would say probably my wedge," he answered. "I like chipping and stuff like that."
"So, how is your putting?"
"It's good right now, actually," he admitted. "It's normally not, but it's better."
Greg Hunter, longtime Blue & Gold News editor who has since earned the privilege of asking the first question at WVU press conferences, an honor once bestowed upon the late Mickey Furfari, then got his chance.
"Who is the best golfer on the team?" Hunter asked.
That one stumped the politically correct Frazier.
"I don't know?" he answered, not wanting to offend anyone.
Hertzel, wanting to keep this going, reclaimed the conversation, although his next question was more of a statement than it was a question.
"Garrett said it was very surprising to see your touch around the greens. You don't think of a guy as big as you are who has spent your life throwing people around have abilities like that," Hertzel said. "He said that's the best part of your game."
"Well, thank you," Frazier answered to laughter.
"One other thing," Hertzel interrupted, "how far do you hit it?"
"My driver? I hit some really far, but I'd say on average I probably hit it like 250 or something," he said.
"Now I don't try and kill it," Frazier added, "but I've hit some over 300 this year. There are some guys way smaller than me who can crush the ball."
Perhaps, but those little dudes who can crush their drives on the tee also can't crush 300-pound defensive lineman the way Zach Frazier can.
Those are my words, not Zach's.
Today's Practice Notes:
* West Virginia concluded its third practice on the Steve Antoline Family Practice Field on Friday morning. Coach Neal Brown said it was a mixed bag today.
"I don't know what the overall quality of the practice was because the first day in pads is always a little sloppy on both sides, but I thought, defensively, we got in really good thud tackling position, which is something that we've emphasized," Brown said. "I thought we did a better job of disrupting blocks and getting our hands inside, but we've got to do a better job of chasing the ball.
"Offensively, I thought we had some explosive plays. I like that our receivers and our tight ends are down the field extending plays," he added. "But there were too many negative plays. We gave up some TFLs, put the ball on the ground one time today, and we've got to eliminate those types of errors."
On the plus side, safety Aubrey Burks made an interception and promising freshman James Heard Jr. caused a fumble, the second consecutive practice in which he has come up with a turnover from his Bandit position. Heard was one of West Virginia's most highly touted defensive signees last December.
Brown said the team's inability to create turnovers last season was its Achilles heel.
"This overhaul of our defense is 8½ months in the making; this isn't just something we started," he explained. "So, incorporating takeaway drills during our OTAs during the summer, their edgework that they do by themselves and treating our defensive backs and receivers the same as far as our expectations of them catching the football, it's a positive that we're seeing those things that we've worked on showing up in fall camp."
* A wide receiver who performed well this morning was redshirt freshman Jarel Williams, a 6-foot-2, 206-pounder from Saraland, Alabama. He made a long catch down the near sideline that included a nifty move to elude a tackler, and he also made a terrific one-handed grab in the end zone when he adjusted his body to come back to the football. It was the highlight play of this morning's practice.
"He had the play of the day in one-on-ones, for sure," Brown said. "The game is starting to slow down for him. He's gotten quite a bit stronger, and this is by far the highest speeds he's hit these first three practices in comparison with his first two years, and he's really dedicated himself to becoming a really good perimeter blocker.
"I just think the way the game works, if you do some of those unselfish things a lot of times what happens is you get benefited by catching the ball, and that's what happened today," Brown said.
* Junior bandit Jared Bartlett made the hit of the scrimmage when he stopped running back Justin Johnson Jr. in his tracks in the backfield.
* Former standout running back Undra Johnson was a visitor during today's practice. We spent some time reminiscing about the 1988 season and who can forget Undra's 55-yard touchdown run right before the end of the half during West Virginia's 51-30 blowout victory over Penn State on Saturday, Oct. 29, 1988.
"The play was 54," Johnson recalled. "I remember it like it was yesterday.
Speaking of 1988 West Virginia players, Grantis Bell has a son Jayden who is a freshman cornerback on the team this year.
* Sophomore running back CJ Donaldson Jr. predicted junior defensive tackle Mike Lockhart could be one of the team's surprise players this year on defense. Lockhart originally transferred from Georgia Tech and saw action in all 12 games last season, getting a season-high 39 snaps in the Texas Tech game.
"He had great effort today," Donaldson said. "On one play he was chasing the ball and it was me one-on-one with the safety and he made the tackle. His ability to continually make plays could lead to him having a big year."
Another player who has caught Donaldson's eye is 5-foot-10, 250-pound freshman running back DJ Oliver from Port Saint Joe, Florida.
"It's kind of like watching a reflection of me," Donaldson said. "I'm watching DJ and I'm like, 'Dang, DJ can really run; he's powerful and he's strong.'"
Donaldson said there was one play yesterday when the team was working on outside zone, and Oliver made a cut that had everyone on the field howling in amazement.
"When he made the cut, it was like his whole force of power going through and we were like, 'Dang, we didn't know DJ could run that fast,'" Donaldson said. "That's a hard tackle."
Perhaps now with CJ and DJ, West Virginia has two big dudes in the backfield who will be hard to tackle.
* Here is an up-to-date listing of West Virginia's preseason watch list candidates:
Austin Brinkman - Patrick Mannellly Award
Zach Frazier - Outland Trophy, Rimington Trophy and Wuerffel Trophy
Oliver Straw - Ray Guy Award
Ja'Shaun Poke - Paul Hornung Award
* Tomorrow is Fan Day on the stadium concourse beginning at 9:30 and lasting until 11 a.m. Fans will have an opportunity to meet WVU players and coaches and get their autographs before the team practices inside the stadium.
Fans are also encouraged to remain and watch practice.
"Tomorrow is really for our players, and it's a fun day," Brown said. "I always think about it through the lens of my kids. Dax is eight-years-old, and he was at practice today with one of his friends and they were on top of the world because they are getting to play catch with the Mountaineers and be around the players.
"They are going to get an opportunity to meet our players, get autographs and they are going to see what a college football team looks like practicing," he said. "It's also family day for our players so their families will be here, which is an added incentive. Tomorrow is a lighter practice more focused on fundamentals and concentrating on putting on a good performance for the fans."
There was no one who could give one-word answers to questions like Pat could. You might ask him an elaborate question about subject X, thinking you were about to unlock some great secret, and then old Pat would simply answer "yes" or "no" and then flash his handsome smile.
Your only counter was to try and follow up by asking "why?" – to which Pat would reply, "Well, because …"
No wonder he was always so difficult to bring down.
Well, West Virginia University junior center Zach Frazier isn't quite in Pat White's league when it comes to economical word usage, but he's in the same ballpark.
Just like Pat, Zach is a lot of things on the football field – great player, great teammate, great leader and smart as a whip, but a blabber mouth, he is not. Whenever he's asked to do interviews, Zach won't be doling out any long soliloquies. Occasionally, when he feels like he's said enough, he will stop mid-sentence, smile and simply nod his head.
It was sort of that way this afternoon when he was asked questions about West Virginia's two quarterbacks, Garrett Greene and Nicco Marchiol. He didn't go on much about the injury that sidelined him for spring practice, only to say that he is better. He didn't say too much when asked about West Virginia being predicted to finish last in the Big 12 this year, below newcomers Cincinnati, Houston, BYU and Central Florida, only to reply that they won't.
On getting married last May, Zach said it's "really not too different" than when he wasn't. Thinking that over a little bit more, he did add of his new bride, Stephanie Vincent, "I definitely got a good one, though."
And so, back and forth it when - long serve and rapid return … that is until Bob Hertzel brought up the subject of golf.
It appears big Zach, all 6-foot-3 inches and 311 pounds of him, took up the great game of golf a couple of years ago during COVID. Hertzel was able to pry that valuable piece of information out of Greene when the two got together to talk earlier this summer, so Hertz asked Zach about his golf game.
The big guy's eyes lit up like he was on the first tee at St. Andrews.
"Well, I have to have extended clubs and bigger grips, but I try to swing smooth; I don't try and kill it," he admitted. "We play a lot whenever we can."
"It's a totally different game than football," Hertzel replied. "About the only thing I can think of that's alike is an out-of-bounds hit, which is bad in both. What was the attraction to you?"
"I think it all started with COVID," Zach answered. "We really didn't have anything to do and that was one of the only things where you could be outside and away (from each other). I think we started golfing a lot and ever since then it's been a good, relaxing thing to do to get away a little bit."
From there, Hertzel had the floor - and the rest of us had our stories.
"Who taught you?" he asked.
"Well, I played baseball but that doesn't really help on the golf course, so probably just YouTube videos, I guess," Zach said.
Of course, me being who I am and always appreciating odd-ball, off-the-wall stuff, I had to jump in. I just couldn't resist.
"What's the best club in your bag, Zach?" I asked.
"I would say probably my wedge," he answered. "I like chipping and stuff like that."
"So, how is your putting?"
"It's good right now, actually," he admitted. "It's normally not, but it's better."
Greg Hunter, longtime Blue & Gold News editor who has since earned the privilege of asking the first question at WVU press conferences, an honor once bestowed upon the late Mickey Furfari, then got his chance.
"Who is the best golfer on the team?" Hunter asked.
That one stumped the politically correct Frazier.
"I don't know?" he answered, not wanting to offend anyone.
Hertzel, wanting to keep this going, reclaimed the conversation, although his next question was more of a statement than it was a question.
"Garrett said it was very surprising to see your touch around the greens. You don't think of a guy as big as you are who has spent your life throwing people around have abilities like that," Hertzel said. "He said that's the best part of your game."
"Well, thank you," Frazier answered to laughter.
"One other thing," Hertzel interrupted, "how far do you hit it?"
"My driver? I hit some really far, but I'd say on average I probably hit it like 250 or something," he said.
"Now I don't try and kill it," Frazier added, "but I've hit some over 300 this year. There are some guys way smaller than me who can crush the ball."
Perhaps, but those little dudes who can crush their drives on the tee also can't crush 300-pound defensive lineman the way Zach Frazier can.
Those are my words, not Zach's.
Today's Practice Notes:
* West Virginia concluded its third practice on the Steve Antoline Family Practice Field on Friday morning. Coach Neal Brown said it was a mixed bag today.
"I don't know what the overall quality of the practice was because the first day in pads is always a little sloppy on both sides, but I thought, defensively, we got in really good thud tackling position, which is something that we've emphasized," Brown said. "I thought we did a better job of disrupting blocks and getting our hands inside, but we've got to do a better job of chasing the ball.
"Offensively, I thought we had some explosive plays. I like that our receivers and our tight ends are down the field extending plays," he added. "But there were too many negative plays. We gave up some TFLs, put the ball on the ground one time today, and we've got to eliminate those types of errors."
On the plus side, safety Aubrey Burks made an interception and promising freshman James Heard Jr. caused a fumble, the second consecutive practice in which he has come up with a turnover from his Bandit position. Heard was one of West Virginia's most highly touted defensive signees last December.
Brown said the team's inability to create turnovers last season was its Achilles heel.
"This overhaul of our defense is 8½ months in the making; this isn't just something we started," he explained. "So, incorporating takeaway drills during our OTAs during the summer, their edgework that they do by themselves and treating our defensive backs and receivers the same as far as our expectations of them catching the football, it's a positive that we're seeing those things that we've worked on showing up in fall camp."
* A wide receiver who performed well this morning was redshirt freshman Jarel Williams, a 6-foot-2, 206-pounder from Saraland, Alabama. He made a long catch down the near sideline that included a nifty move to elude a tackler, and he also made a terrific one-handed grab in the end zone when he adjusted his body to come back to the football. It was the highlight play of this morning's practice.
"He had the play of the day in one-on-ones, for sure," Brown said. "The game is starting to slow down for him. He's gotten quite a bit stronger, and this is by far the highest speeds he's hit these first three practices in comparison with his first two years, and he's really dedicated himself to becoming a really good perimeter blocker.
"I just think the way the game works, if you do some of those unselfish things a lot of times what happens is you get benefited by catching the ball, and that's what happened today," Brown said.
* Junior bandit Jared Bartlett made the hit of the scrimmage when he stopped running back Justin Johnson Jr. in his tracks in the backfield.
* Former standout running back Undra Johnson was a visitor during today's practice. We spent some time reminiscing about the 1988 season and who can forget Undra's 55-yard touchdown run right before the end of the half during West Virginia's 51-30 blowout victory over Penn State on Saturday, Oct. 29, 1988.
"The play was 54," Johnson recalled. "I remember it like it was yesterday.
Speaking of 1988 West Virginia players, Grantis Bell has a son Jayden who is a freshman cornerback on the team this year.
* Sophomore running back CJ Donaldson Jr. predicted junior defensive tackle Mike Lockhart could be one of the team's surprise players this year on defense. Lockhart originally transferred from Georgia Tech and saw action in all 12 games last season, getting a season-high 39 snaps in the Texas Tech game.
"He had great effort today," Donaldson said. "On one play he was chasing the ball and it was me one-on-one with the safety and he made the tackle. His ability to continually make plays could lead to him having a big year."
Another player who has caught Donaldson's eye is 5-foot-10, 250-pound freshman running back DJ Oliver from Port Saint Joe, Florida.
"It's kind of like watching a reflection of me," Donaldson said. "I'm watching DJ and I'm like, 'Dang, DJ can really run; he's powerful and he's strong.'"
Donaldson said there was one play yesterday when the team was working on outside zone, and Oliver made a cut that had everyone on the field howling in amazement.
"When he made the cut, it was like his whole force of power going through and we were like, 'Dang, we didn't know DJ could run that fast,'" Donaldson said. "That's a hard tackle."
Perhaps now with CJ and DJ, West Virginia has two big dudes in the backfield who will be hard to tackle.
* Here is an up-to-date listing of West Virginia's preseason watch list candidates:
Austin Brinkman - Patrick Mannellly Award
Zach Frazier - Outland Trophy, Rimington Trophy and Wuerffel Trophy
Oliver Straw - Ray Guy Award
Ja'Shaun Poke - Paul Hornung Award
* Tomorrow is Fan Day on the stadium concourse beginning at 9:30 and lasting until 11 a.m. Fans will have an opportunity to meet WVU players and coaches and get their autographs before the team practices inside the stadium.
Fans are also encouraged to remain and watch practice.
"Tomorrow is really for our players, and it's a fun day," Brown said. "I always think about it through the lens of my kids. Dax is eight-years-old, and he was at practice today with one of his friends and they were on top of the world because they are getting to play catch with the Mountaineers and be around the players.
"They are going to get an opportunity to meet our players, get autographs and they are going to see what a college football team looks like practicing," he said. "It's also family day for our players so their families will be here, which is an added incentive. Tomorrow is a lighter practice more focused on fundamentals and concentrating on putting on a good performance for the fans."
Players Mentioned
BAN
/ Football
LS
/ Football
S
/ Football
RB
/ Football
OL
/ Football
QB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
DL
/ Football
QB
/ Football
P
/ Football
WR
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