Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Durojaiye Working Hard to Make An Impact For His New Team
September 19, 2023 03:23 PM | Football, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – You must give Jordan Lesley and Andrew Jackson a lot of credit. They didn't get upset and burn bridges when Middletown (Del.) High star defensive end Tomiwa Durojaiye committed to Kentucky last year.
Some coaches would have.
Decades ago, Pitt basketball coach Tim Grgurich once got so mad at Moon Township guard Joe Fryz when he signed to play at West Virginia that he never talked to him again, even years after Fryz's playing career had ended.
Grgurich held a forever grudge. In today's climate, coaches who hold forever grudges won't be coaching for too long.
Sure, Lesley was upset that he missed out on a talented defensive end prospect who had additional offers from Michigan, South Carolina, Arkansas and Missouri, but he also could understand where Durojaiye was coming from because he was once recruited, too.
"I think the biggest thing is I always try to put myself back into the kid's shoes," Lesley said. "Most of us that do this were recruited and you have your reasons, and you have your evaluation processes just like a coach does. I just respect people's decision for whatever reason it was.
"Then, you come back in on the back end and maybe it didn't work out, or it was not what they thought it was. I'm not saying that's the case with Tomi, but you just respect decisions and move on," Lesley said. "We signed Asani (Redwood) in that same class. You go for a guy and then it's your job to find the next guy."
Lesley continued.
"I can be mad at a kid for not choosing West Virginia or wherever, and if I'm left without a kid, I'm not going to go out there and play, so you better find somebody and it better be somebody that's just as good or the next best thing," he explained. "I don't take recruiting personal. I have before as a young coach, and now it's just move on to the next guy. It's your job to find the right amount of guys, especially O-line and D-line, where you're recruiting a high volume of guys. It's hard and a lot of work."
Lesley and Jackson left things on good terms with Durojaiye when he informed them that he was committing to Kentucky. They wished him well and moved on to the next guy.
Lo and behold, hit the fast forward button nine months and when things didn't go the way Durojaiye planned at Kentucky, his name popped up in the transfer portal.
It didn't take long for them to reconnect.
Durojaiye was looking for another place to play, and West Virginia is always looking for talented defensive ends with Durojaiye's size (6-feet-4, 278 pounds) and athleticism.
"In this environment in college football, if you leave it on good terms, then you probably have a good opportunity the next time, whether that's a one-time transfer or a graduate transfer," Lesley noted. "The relationship never had a break in it, and it never went sour. That's something I try not to do in recruiting."
It appeared the plan Kentucky had for Durojaiye was for him to spend a year on the scout team, learn the system and play in the permittable three games before redshirting.
All of that happened.
He appeared in the Miami, Ohio, Youngstown State and Iowa games and performed well on the scout team, but he ultimately felt a change of scenery was needed.
"When you commit to a school, you want to be there three to four years, Durojaiye admitted. "I think it was just a lot of stuff I dealt with personally, just over time, that was hard to deal with."
Still, during the year he was at Kentucky, Durojaiye gave the Wildcats everything he had.
"My goal on scout team was to try and make the offense look as bad as I possibly could," he said. "I wanted to show the coaches what I was about and leaving there really didn't have much to do with football. It was more like off the field and other things going on."
Durojaiye said his great work habits came while playing for coach Zach Blum at Middletown High.
"I think back to my high school in Middletown, it was always about practicing hard," he said. "When I got offered, and my offers started to blow up, my coaches didn't let me get complacent. They always got harder on me so that's one of the biggest things I focus on right now is not getting complacent.
"At Kentucky, just like here, we've got (NFL) scouts coming to practice, and I want them to leave asking who was that guy?" he said.
Durojaiye said being a scout team player can go one of two ways.
"You are either going to embrace it or let it bother you," he said. "You want to play as a freshman and that bothered me a little bit, but at the same time, I just embraced the role because at the end of the day you are going to get better or not. I always made sure I practiced hard because if I didn't, I would be getting worse."
When Durojaiye put his name into the transfer portal, West Virginia quickly rose to the top of his list.
"They recruited me the first time," Durojaiye said. "It's a similar scheme, so I knew what type of scheme I would be in, and I knew how I would fit in the scheme and also the opportunity to play a little bit faster. At Kentucky, we had to do a certain thing at a certain time and here we are able to play a little bit more freely. I had a relationship with coach Jackson and coach Lesley. Those guys recruited me pretty hard, so it was a pretty easy decision coming here."
West Virginia signed Durojaiye last May, but he said it took him a while to get comfortable with his new teammates and new surroundings.
"Camp started a little slow transitioning to a new team and trying to understand how we do things here," he admitted. "After the first scrimmage, it kind of clicked for me, and I showed the coaches what I can do.
"After my first game, I had a sack and a nice play where I shed a block, and the coaches liked it. The coaches give me good feedback every time they see me, and coach Jackson tells me if I keep playing well, I will play more. For me, it's just going out there and trying to put on a show every time I get an opportunity. I want to play as much as I can, so that's really my plan," he said.
In front of Durojaiye on the depth chart is junior Sean Martin, one of West Virginia's best defensive players. Still, Durojaiye has already carved out a niche on the team as Martin's backup and has already produced seven tackles and a team-high 2½ sacks through three games.
His first sack came in the Penn State game and followed that with a sack and a half two weeks ago against Duquesne. He was credited with three tackles in last Saturday's victory over Pitt.
Now, Durojaiye is eager to do more.
"It means something to him," Lesley said. "He wants to be good, and he works at it."
"It's been a good transition," Durojaiye added. "Obviously, I'd like to play a little bit more, but I've just been practicing hard and trying to keep taking care of everything I can take care of. Every time I go out, my goal is to be productive and make an impact so the coaches can feel like they can leave me out there in crucial situations. That's what I came here to do.
"My goal every time I go out there is to try and make a big play. I know what type of player I can be, and I know what type of player I want to be, so every time I go out on the field, I'm trying to make an impact and show the team what I'm about. I want to prove myself and I plan on doing that every time I get a chance to," he concluded.
West Virginia continues preparing for this Saturday's Big 12 opener against Texas Tech at Milan Puskar Stadium. Tickets remain and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com or by calling the Mountaineer Ticket Office toll-free at 1-800-WVU GAME.
Kick off is 3:30 p.m.
Some coaches would have.
Decades ago, Pitt basketball coach Tim Grgurich once got so mad at Moon Township guard Joe Fryz when he signed to play at West Virginia that he never talked to him again, even years after Fryz's playing career had ended.
Grgurich held a forever grudge. In today's climate, coaches who hold forever grudges won't be coaching for too long.
Sure, Lesley was upset that he missed out on a talented defensive end prospect who had additional offers from Michigan, South Carolina, Arkansas and Missouri, but he also could understand where Durojaiye was coming from because he was once recruited, too.
"I think the biggest thing is I always try to put myself back into the kid's shoes," Lesley said. "Most of us that do this were recruited and you have your reasons, and you have your evaluation processes just like a coach does. I just respect people's decision for whatever reason it was.
"Then, you come back in on the back end and maybe it didn't work out, or it was not what they thought it was. I'm not saying that's the case with Tomi, but you just respect decisions and move on," Lesley said. "We signed Asani (Redwood) in that same class. You go for a guy and then it's your job to find the next guy."
Lesley continued.
"I can be mad at a kid for not choosing West Virginia or wherever, and if I'm left without a kid, I'm not going to go out there and play, so you better find somebody and it better be somebody that's just as good or the next best thing," he explained. "I don't take recruiting personal. I have before as a young coach, and now it's just move on to the next guy. It's your job to find the right amount of guys, especially O-line and D-line, where you're recruiting a high volume of guys. It's hard and a lot of work."
Lesley and Jackson left things on good terms with Durojaiye when he informed them that he was committing to Kentucky. They wished him well and moved on to the next guy.
Lo and behold, hit the fast forward button nine months and when things didn't go the way Durojaiye planned at Kentucky, his name popped up in the transfer portal.
It didn't take long for them to reconnect.
Durojaiye was looking for another place to play, and West Virginia is always looking for talented defensive ends with Durojaiye's size (6-feet-4, 278 pounds) and athleticism.
"In this environment in college football, if you leave it on good terms, then you probably have a good opportunity the next time, whether that's a one-time transfer or a graduate transfer," Lesley noted. "The relationship never had a break in it, and it never went sour. That's something I try not to do in recruiting."
It appeared the plan Kentucky had for Durojaiye was for him to spend a year on the scout team, learn the system and play in the permittable three games before redshirting.
All of that happened.
He appeared in the Miami, Ohio, Youngstown State and Iowa games and performed well on the scout team, but he ultimately felt a change of scenery was needed.
"When you commit to a school, you want to be there three to four years, Durojaiye admitted. "I think it was just a lot of stuff I dealt with personally, just over time, that was hard to deal with."
Still, during the year he was at Kentucky, Durojaiye gave the Wildcats everything he had.
"My goal on scout team was to try and make the offense look as bad as I possibly could," he said. "I wanted to show the coaches what I was about and leaving there really didn't have much to do with football. It was more like off the field and other things going on."
Durojaiye said his great work habits came while playing for coach Zach Blum at Middletown High.
"I think back to my high school in Middletown, it was always about practicing hard," he said. "When I got offered, and my offers started to blow up, my coaches didn't let me get complacent. They always got harder on me so that's one of the biggest things I focus on right now is not getting complacent.
"At Kentucky, just like here, we've got (NFL) scouts coming to practice, and I want them to leave asking who was that guy?" he said.
Durojaiye said being a scout team player can go one of two ways.
"You are either going to embrace it or let it bother you," he said. "You want to play as a freshman and that bothered me a little bit, but at the same time, I just embraced the role because at the end of the day you are going to get better or not. I always made sure I practiced hard because if I didn't, I would be getting worse."
When Durojaiye put his name into the transfer portal, West Virginia quickly rose to the top of his list.
"They recruited me the first time," Durojaiye said. "It's a similar scheme, so I knew what type of scheme I would be in, and I knew how I would fit in the scheme and also the opportunity to play a little bit faster. At Kentucky, we had to do a certain thing at a certain time and here we are able to play a little bit more freely. I had a relationship with coach Jackson and coach Lesley. Those guys recruited me pretty hard, so it was a pretty easy decision coming here."
West Virginia signed Durojaiye last May, but he said it took him a while to get comfortable with his new teammates and new surroundings.
"Camp started a little slow transitioning to a new team and trying to understand how we do things here," he admitted. "After the first scrimmage, it kind of clicked for me, and I showed the coaches what I can do.
"After my first game, I had a sack and a nice play where I shed a block, and the coaches liked it. The coaches give me good feedback every time they see me, and coach Jackson tells me if I keep playing well, I will play more. For me, it's just going out there and trying to put on a show every time I get an opportunity. I want to play as much as I can, so that's really my plan," he said.
In front of Durojaiye on the depth chart is junior Sean Martin, one of West Virginia's best defensive players. Still, Durojaiye has already carved out a niche on the team as Martin's backup and has already produced seven tackles and a team-high 2½ sacks through three games.
His first sack came in the Penn State game and followed that with a sack and a half two weeks ago against Duquesne. He was credited with three tackles in last Saturday's victory over Pitt.
Now, Durojaiye is eager to do more.
"It means something to him," Lesley said. "He wants to be good, and he works at it."
"It's been a good transition," Durojaiye added. "Obviously, I'd like to play a little bit more, but I've just been practicing hard and trying to keep taking care of everything I can take care of. Every time I go out, my goal is to be productive and make an impact so the coaches can feel like they can leave me out there in crucial situations. That's what I came here to do.
"My goal every time I go out there is to try and make a big play. I know what type of player I can be, and I know what type of player I want to be, so every time I go out on the field, I'm trying to make an impact and show the team what I'm about. I want to prove myself and I plan on doing that every time I get a chance to," he concluded.
West Virginia continues preparing for this Saturday's Big 12 opener against Texas Tech at Milan Puskar Stadium. Tickets remain and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com or by calling the Mountaineer Ticket Office toll-free at 1-800-WVU GAME.
Kick off is 3:30 p.m.
Players Mentioned
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