August 23, 2006
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| Jay Henry | |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Coming into fall camp, Rich Rodriquez and his staff were looking to develop quality depth at several positions. However, one spot where they have nothing to worry about is at linebacker where a plethora of depth will be available this fall.
Rodriquez stated throughout camp that as many as eight or nine linebackers could see significant playing time this year. Senior Jay Henry is the projected starter at mike linebacker with junior Marc Magro backing him up. Senior Kevin “Boo” McLee will man the will linebacker spot and has been backed up through most of fall camp by true freshman J.T. Thomas. Thomas will not be redshirted this season.
Sophomore Mortty Ivy will also compete for playing time at will once he has completely recovered from his torn ACL suffered in the spring. Redshirt freshman Ovid Goulbourne will also be in the mix at the will spot. Former walk-on Bobby Hathaway will get first crack at the sam linebacker position left vacant by the graduation of Jeff Noechel. Sophomore Reed Williams and senior transfer Barry Wright are also still in contention for starting jobs there.
Wright is also an interesting third down option at linebacker. The senior from Pensacola, Fla., sat out last season as a transfer from Florida State. He is trying to make the most of his first and only season of eligibility with the Mountaineers. His play during fall camp has caught the eye of Henry.
“Barry is doing well. He is an incredible athlete. He is definitely going to help us on the blitz at linebacker, coming off the edge on third down,” Henry said.
Henry has also noticed the play of Williams and the attributes that make him an asset to the position.
“Reed is a great linebacker for us. He has great vision. He is really good in pass coverage, reading routes and knowing where to go. He is a really smart athletic kid and he gets better every day,” Henry said.
Rodriquez has stated that Williams’ greatest strength is his instinctive play on the field. The Mountaineer mentor even went so far as to compare him to Grant Wiley. Williams is humbled by the lofty praise.
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| Reed Williams | |
“That’s definitely flattering to me to be compared to someone like Grant but I just want to come in this year and make an impact and show people that Class A West Virginia players can play out here too,” Williams said.
Williams thinks that the depth at linebacker will help the unit stay fresh and that the three guys in the game will be able to give maximum effort on every snap.
“This year we have the ability to play a lot of guys which is really good for our coaches. We now have the ability to go out and play all-out all the time and when the starters get tired the second group can come in and be able to play the same way,” Williams said.
Williams was valedictorian of his 2005 Moorefield High School class so it should come as no surprise that he believes his primary strength is his ability to absorb and apply information from defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel and the other Mountaineer coaches.
“The longer you’re here, the more you learn from the coaching and the staff. Coach Casteel has taught me a lot already so I have had a chance to take those instincts and apply them to my play on the field,” Williams said.
The abundance of players with experience at linebacker has allowed the Mountaineer coaching staff to install their defensive schemes at a much faster rate than in years past when they had to slow it down for younger players.
“To me it seems like we have put in the most stuff in camp since I’ve been here. We’re more advanced. I definitely feel we are running more stuff now in camp than we were last year,” Henry said.
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| Bobby Hathaway | |
Hathaway says that being the projected starter at sam linebacker gave him a sense of urgency to perform during camp. He realizes he must continue to improve in the days leading up to the opener with Marshall on Sept. 2.
“The pressure is definitely up a little bit. You can’t be making little mental mistakes or anything like that. You’ve got to play consistent,” Hathaway said.
Hathaway, who has seen a foot infection hamper his progress during fall camp, says like Williams that he has tried to learn quickly and apply the lessons that the coaches give him. The game has now slowed down considerably for him since he arrived at WVU.
“I think mentally I feel a lot more comfortable with the defense. I work a lot now on the little things like bending the knees, bringing the hips through and all the little techniques like that. I feel like I am now a much smarter football player. I now know not only my responsibilities but the other defenders around me and that allows me to play off of them and improve the defense as a whole,” Hathaway said.
Rodriguez cautions anyone who assumes Henry, McLee and Hathaway are set in stone as the starters. His goal is to have linebackers that can play all three positions so he can always get his best three on the field at the same time.
“Linebacker is probably our deepest position. In Jay Henry and Marc Magro we have two guys that we feel are co-starters at the mike position. Jay can play all three positions. If we had a game today Magro may start at mike with Henry at sam and McLee at will,” Rodriquez said.
Regardless of who takes the field for the first snap against Marshall, Rodriquez expects all of his linebackers to perform.
“There are a lot of guys at linebacker that we are going to get in the mix. All those guys should be able to help us,” Rodriquez said.
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