Photo by: WVU Football/Jake Herron photo
Individual Skill Development is Important, But Actually Playing Matters More
August 02, 2025 02:00 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A clip of Houston men's basketball coach Kelvin Sampson talking about individual player development came across my X timeline the other day that was absolutely fascinating.
Sampson was discussing parents today who hire skill development coaches and pay them to help improve their son's or daughter's individual skills. He mentioned one parent recently telling him that his son got up 500 shots during one individual workout session.
"What does that do? There is nobody else on the floor," Sampson explained. "If we were playing in a one-on-zero tournament, I think they would be pretty good, but the problem is we play five-on-five. You can't learn to play basketball and make reads, make the right play, and figure out where the help is coming from (without playing games). Where should I make this pass? Or, if I'm getting double-teamed, do I pass it to the corner? Because nobody is ever guarding you. You need to be challenged. Sometimes, you need to go play against somebody and see if you can guard them.
"When you are playing one-on-zero, who are you guarding? Who is guarding you? Can you handle pressure? Spend more time playing basketball instead of working on basketball. I get this all the time, 'Coach, do you know a person who can work out my son?' I say, 'Yeah, have him run down to this street or that street and find a five-on-five game going on. Put little Jimmy in that game.'"
Go down to the park, out of the air conditioning, get into a game and then figure out how to win it to keep playing!
So, what does this have to do with West Virginia University football and what Rich Rodriguez is trying to accomplish this fall with a team that includes 72 new players?
He's having them play lots of football.
No music blaring all the time on the PA system - just football!
"I think quarterbacks are more prepared coming out of high school than ever before because the coaches are more attuned with different concepts and the seven-on-seven stuff year-round, and all that is good," he said following this morning's practice on the Steve Antoline Family Practice Field. "Quarterbacks have a lot of personal trainers that do one-on-one work, and that's all good because it keeps them working on skills, and there are so many different skills to work on, but if you really want to get ready to play football, you've got to play football.
"We do individual work in every practice, but we will do a lot more team work than individual work because of that same reason. There are 11 on one team (on the field). I'm probably more team-heavy-oriented than most coaches," he said.
Not only are the new players learning how to play in Rodriguez's system, but the new coaches are still figuring it out as well. Rodriguez mentioned some operational things that happened on the field during today's practice that he had to address.
"I'm trying to get everybody more engaged with down and distance and an awareness of the situation when we're out there," he explained. "Sometimes, when coaches are on the sidelines, they kind of let me run everything, and I don't want to run everything."
Running backs coach Larry Porter said every single aspect of the West Virginia football program begins with its Rich Rodriguez.
"Our mindset, our discipline, the way that we play and anything we do in this building starts with him," he said. "There is a standard that he expects, and he walks into this building every single morning with the same energy that we have to match. That's the floor.
"Then, I'm trying to teach our players the expectations of what that looks like. Even me as a new coach, I'm learning that as well," he admitted. "What I've come to understand is just come into this building and pour your heart on the floor every single day and eventually you will get to what he wants.
"He completely understands what it takes to win, and that's still a work in progress as we go forward," Porter added.
Porter said the objective each day is to practice the way they are going to play.
"That means when you take the field you have to be locked in from stretch until the last whistle blows. As coaches, it's our job to do that. I think (Rodriguez) said the other day, 'We have to take them to a place they can't take themselves.' For us, we have to be locked in and ready to do that as well," he said.
"I love the energy, because you know what to expect when you walk into this building every single day because our head coach has already set the tempo. The way we practice, once you get to a game, we'll end up probably doing half of that," Porter observed.
With the fluidity of team rosters these days, Porter believes coaches must be elite teachers.
"You have to have a method of teaching these young guys that they can process it and thrive because of it," he said. "Every kid is not the same, so we have to meet them where they are and then you have to pull them forward with you because there is a standard and a level of expectation that they must meet."
The only way to really accomplish that is by playing football, lots of it.
West Virginia wrapped up the first week of fall training camp Saturday morning. There are no on-field activities scheduled for Sunday, but Rodriguez indicated it will be a heavy workday for his staff evaluating the first four practices so far.
"The most important part of our day is when we're with the players," he said. "That's any time, all year round. Everything else stops when a player is around. Now on Sunday when the players aren't around as much, that will give us some time to meet and evaluate personnel."
He said some of it will involve a reboot and a reset.
"What do we want to keep in or what do we need to work on better? On offense, we have a five-day install, but we probably need seven," he said. "I don't limit what our defense does. I don't tell (defensive coordinator) Zac (Alley), 'Hey, all I want are these two coverages or these two fronts.' We don't even tell each other what we're doing, which is unique.
"Typically, you script it, and even though we script it, I don't follow the script all the time," Rodriguez said. "The offense doesn't know what the defense is doing, and the defense doesn't know what the offense is doing, and I've probably been doing that for the last five or six years."
So, they just go out and play lots of football and figure it all out together.
"I kind of like it that way because you have to adapt quicker," he concluded.
Sampson was discussing parents today who hire skill development coaches and pay them to help improve their son's or daughter's individual skills. He mentioned one parent recently telling him that his son got up 500 shots during one individual workout session.
"What does that do? There is nobody else on the floor," Sampson explained. "If we were playing in a one-on-zero tournament, I think they would be pretty good, but the problem is we play five-on-five. You can't learn to play basketball and make reads, make the right play, and figure out where the help is coming from (without playing games). Where should I make this pass? Or, if I'm getting double-teamed, do I pass it to the corner? Because nobody is ever guarding you. You need to be challenged. Sometimes, you need to go play against somebody and see if you can guard them.
"When you are playing one-on-zero, who are you guarding? Who is guarding you? Can you handle pressure? Spend more time playing basketball instead of working on basketball. I get this all the time, 'Coach, do you know a person who can work out my son?' I say, 'Yeah, have him run down to this street or that street and find a five-on-five game going on. Put little Jimmy in that game.'"
Go down to the park, out of the air conditioning, get into a game and then figure out how to win it to keep playing!
So, what does this have to do with West Virginia University football and what Rich Rodriguez is trying to accomplish this fall with a team that includes 72 new players?
He's having them play lots of football.
No music blaring all the time on the PA system - just football!
"I think quarterbacks are more prepared coming out of high school than ever before because the coaches are more attuned with different concepts and the seven-on-seven stuff year-round, and all that is good," he said following this morning's practice on the Steve Antoline Family Practice Field. "Quarterbacks have a lot of personal trainers that do one-on-one work, and that's all good because it keeps them working on skills, and there are so many different skills to work on, but if you really want to get ready to play football, you've got to play football.
"We do individual work in every practice, but we will do a lot more team work than individual work because of that same reason. There are 11 on one team (on the field). I'm probably more team-heavy-oriented than most coaches," he said.
Not only are the new players learning how to play in Rodriguez's system, but the new coaches are still figuring it out as well. Rodriguez mentioned some operational things that happened on the field during today's practice that he had to address.
"I'm trying to get everybody more engaged with down and distance and an awareness of the situation when we're out there," he explained. "Sometimes, when coaches are on the sidelines, they kind of let me run everything, and I don't want to run everything."
Running backs coach Larry Porter said every single aspect of the West Virginia football program begins with its Rich Rodriguez.
"Our mindset, our discipline, the way that we play and anything we do in this building starts with him," he said. "There is a standard that he expects, and he walks into this building every single morning with the same energy that we have to match. That's the floor.
"Then, I'm trying to teach our players the expectations of what that looks like. Even me as a new coach, I'm learning that as well," he admitted. "What I've come to understand is just come into this building and pour your heart on the floor every single day and eventually you will get to what he wants.
"He completely understands what it takes to win, and that's still a work in progress as we go forward," Porter added.
Porter said the objective each day is to practice the way they are going to play.
"That means when you take the field you have to be locked in from stretch until the last whistle blows. As coaches, it's our job to do that. I think (Rodriguez) said the other day, 'We have to take them to a place they can't take themselves.' For us, we have to be locked in and ready to do that as well," he said.
"I love the energy, because you know what to expect when you walk into this building every single day because our head coach has already set the tempo. The way we practice, once you get to a game, we'll end up probably doing half of that," Porter observed.
With the fluidity of team rosters these days, Porter believes coaches must be elite teachers.
"You have to have a method of teaching these young guys that they can process it and thrive because of it," he said. "Every kid is not the same, so we have to meet them where they are and then you have to pull them forward with you because there is a standard and a level of expectation that they must meet."
The only way to really accomplish that is by playing football, lots of it.
West Virginia wrapped up the first week of fall training camp Saturday morning. There are no on-field activities scheduled for Sunday, but Rodriguez indicated it will be a heavy workday for his staff evaluating the first four practices so far.
"The most important part of our day is when we're with the players," he said. "That's any time, all year round. Everything else stops when a player is around. Now on Sunday when the players aren't around as much, that will give us some time to meet and evaluate personnel."
He said some of it will involve a reboot and a reset.
"What do we want to keep in or what do we need to work on better? On offense, we have a five-day install, but we probably need seven," he said. "I don't limit what our defense does. I don't tell (defensive coordinator) Zac (Alley), 'Hey, all I want are these two coverages or these two fronts.' We don't even tell each other what we're doing, which is unique.
"Typically, you script it, and even though we script it, I don't follow the script all the time," Rodriguez said. "The offense doesn't know what the defense is doing, and the defense doesn't know what the offense is doing, and I've probably been doing that for the last five or six years."
So, they just go out and play lots of football and figure it all out together.
"I kind of like it that way because you have to adapt quicker," he concluded.
Rich Rodriguez | Dec. 3
Wednesday, December 03
Reid Carrico | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
Jeff Weimer | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
Rich Rodriguez | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
