Pitt Redshirt Diaries : Don Barclay

Williams, Wes Lyons and widdle Devine to see first/more Mountaineer time

Chuck Finder — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 22:10:00 GMT

Colorado should expect to see Thursday in its own Folsom Field: middle linebacker Reed Williams and receiver Wes Lyons of Woodland Hills High for the first times this season, and more of tailback Noel Devine.

Hey, Coach Bill Stewart claims he tells his Mountaineers nothing but the truth, so help him, so why would he deceive the stinking media?

Stewart today, approaching his first game as the official, signed, sealed and contract-delivered head coach of West Virginia, pronounced a few new wrinkles for the Buffaloes:

* "Reed Williams will play," Stewart said of the 2007 team-leading tackler and Fiesta Bowl defensive MVP, who had offseason surgery on both shoulders. "We had a talk yesterday, Reed, myself and the medical people. Reed Williams is going to let it go. We couldn't block him [Sunday in practice]. And I was, like, 'Wow.' He's ready to go. Brings another level of excitement to our team. Moxie, swagger. . . what's a good buzzword? He brings a presence to us.

"He's just one guy, but he's one special guy. I left it up to him. I left it up to our medical people. He felt like he should go. Be good to have old Reed out there." Williams' return also means Gateway's Mortty Ivy can return to strong-side linebacker from the middle.

* "We'll play Wes Lyons more at receiver 'cause he's earned it," Stewart continued of the junior receiver slow to recover from August arthroscopic knee surgery. "I told him that when you show me you could go two hard weeks, then we'll get you in there and we'll play you. Wes Lyons will get in there this week. He'll help us."

* The diminutive dynamo Dynamo (with Jock Sanders what Stewart calls his Mighty Mites), after 15 touches in each of the opening two games, will get the ball a lot more often somehow, someway, the coach added. (You think the Buffs read these enemy-territory blogs/sites or listen to those internet-archived news conferences? Nahhhh.) "Dagnabit," said Stewart, who last week vowed more belly-option runs. "I wish you hadn't brought that up. He needs to get the ball more. You can't just have 54 plays a game, that's first and foremost. If he can tough it 18 to 22 times out of the backfield, five to seven times on screens and that. . . . We've got to get him in the rhythm, get him in the flow. We will really try to get the ball in the little guys' hands more, yes we will."

Stewart also said that he expected to play one or more backup offensive lineman -- most likely Seneca Valley's Don Barclay, moved from left tackle and currently listed as right tackle Selvish Capers' backup. Another depth-chart change was the switch of Pat Liebig to starting defensive end, ahead of Weirton's Zac Cooper and Larry Ford, with end Julian Miller moving to backup nose tackle -- Liebig's previous spot -- behind Chris Neild.

Speaking of Stewart's new contract, announced late last week in the wake of that East Carolina loss, it should be noted that the man without an agent needed roughly eight months and nine days to formally complete the deal -- a scant 10 days shorter than the purported Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight, Rich Rodriguez's team. And the new guy didn't even have one of those wieldy buyout clauses, making him the second of the past three newly signed Mountaineers coaches to go without one. Women's basketball coach Mike Carey was the other, last February, just days after lawyers representing the university filed the lawsuit against Rodriguez over that doodad.

Reed Williams to return to full contact

Chuck Finder — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:59:00 GMT

The news from the Mountaineers tonight, before they lapsed into a week-long media blackout: The red-headed middle linebacker is back, and first-year players litter the depth chart.

Reed Williams, the team’s top tackler a year ago, was permitted by team doctors to return to tackling in practice beginning Wednesday. That will mark his first meaningful contact since the Fiesta Bowl Jan. 2, when he was named defensive MVP and soon after underwent surgery on both shoulders. “Been awhile,” said Williams, who added that doctors remained unsure whether he would be ready in time to start or play for the Mountaineers’ Aug. 30 opener with Villanova.

As for the Mountaineers’ youth infusion, 11 true freshmen and redshirt freshmen hold spots across the 58-player positional depth chart released today. Among the prime names listed: freshman Tyler Urban of Norwin High at the first split-wide tight end (as opposed to Will Johnson at fullback/tight end); ballyhooed recruit Josh Jenkins at backup right guard (behind Jake Figner); third-team quarterback Bradley Starks, a redshirt freshman, at backup Z-receiver (behind Tito Gonzales); Seneca Valley’s Don Barclay, another redshirt freshman, at backup left tackle (behind Ryan Stanchek) even though his line coach considers him in the competition for first-team right tackle; freshmen Ryan Clarke and Ricky Kovatch at backup fullback (behind Johnson); and a pair of first-year fellows at free safety, redshirt freshman Eain Smith backed by freshman Robert Sands.

Recruits Mark Rodgers and Zach Hulse – but not Terence Kerns – were listed at tailback behind Noel Devine, but sophomore Jock Sanders is expected to help with backup duties.

“We got 12, 13 guys we’re counting on,” said Doc Holliday, the associate head coach filling in for new coach Bill Stewart, who was otherwise occupied with the blessing of Mountaineer Field tonight. “To be honest with you, that’s not a good situation you want to be in. You’d like to red-shirt all your freshmen. The thing is, you try to get yourself and your program in a position where you don’t need freshmen to come in and play.”

Holliday added the Clarke, previously hampered by a hamstring injury, has missed time due to a case of pink eye. He said Clarke, once he returns, must lose about 12 pounds off his current 252. “He’s still too fat,” said Holliday, who coaches fullbacks and tight ends. “If he can get down to 240, he’ll probably be a player for us.”

Other new additions: Alric Arnett is the first team X receiver; Chris Neild and Pat Liebig are vying for starting nose tackle; and spur safety is still a competition between Boogie Allen and Sidney Glover. Though several safeties are expected to play early.

-- Chuck Finder

Camp Stew officially closes

Chuck Finder — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 10:35:00 GMT

New coach Bill Stewart today closed the two-week proceedings with a 54-play scrimmage that yielded nary a touchdown by the eighth-ranked Mountaineers.

What, the self-described Mr. Rogers worry?

For one thing, he sat out offensive dynamos Noel Devine and Jock Sanders. For another, receiver Dorrell Jalloh was absent due to an infected foot and tight end/fullback/H-back Will Johnson due to a foot sprain, while receiver-quarterback Bradley Starks and backup quarterback Jarrett Brown likewise weren’t allowed to participate because of sore hamstrings. Finally, the offense worked on the passing game more than what Stewart calls its “bread and butter.”

“If we put 5 [Patrick White] and 7 [Devine] in there and just run the belly option all day, we’ll score more than one touchdown” total in two scrimmages, said Stewart, who earlier in the week invoked Fred Rogers’ name in a soliloquy about how he can be a stern coach as well. “We’ve scored a bunch all fall. Don’t worry. We’re going to dance with the girl what brung me.”

* Of Mark Rodgers’ 39 yards on four carries in the battle for backup tailback, Stewart said, “Nice to see a couple of big runs he made. We’ve got to see that. ’Cause I know what 5 can do, what 7 can do, what 9 [Sanders] can do. That’s why we threw the ball so much. I want to see what [the other guys] can do.”

* Of the 5-foot-8 Devine and Sanders missing the scrimmage, Stewart said, “Both can play. Both are good. Both are frustrated at me [for sitting them]. That’s OK. I can take those two little munchkins. Tag-team, they could take on this old boy. They’re like two midget wrestlers, anyway -- I’d knock those guys out.” Mr. Rogers was never this feisty at 56, was he? No, neighbor, he was only kidding.

* Stewart also talked about installing a new kick-return system that is the same one he used earlier this century, when the Mountaineers topped the Big East in that category. Devine and Sanders worked on kickoffs before the scrimmage, each breaking off returns that reached kicker Pat McAfee one-on-one on the far side of the 50.

* Absent Brown and Starks, the two quarterbacks remaining yesterday were the Brothers White. With Patrick and freshman Coley leading the offense, you could’ve labeled this a White-Blue scrimmage. The younger brother shows nimble feet, but the speed of the college game continues to elude him, as Stewart noted: “It’s a little fast for Coley right now.”

* A star of the scrimmage, if you cared to name one, would’ve been backup defensive end Larry Ford, a junior-college transfer who arrived last winter and worked in spring drills. Big East officials blew their whistles as soon as a defender laid a finger on Patrick White, and in that environment Ford registered a couple of sacks Stewart said, “He’s bringing some things to us. I tell you, nobody could block him today. That cat was smoking. That cat was rolling. With Scooter [Berry], Chris Neild, Zac Cooper and Pat Liebig, Larry Ford is huge for us.” Berry worked some at nose tackle in the scrimmage, and defensive line coach Bill Kirelawich expects to experiment next week in practice with a hefty front, in Berry and Neild and Liebig, along with a speed unit, with Cooper and Ford at bookends.

* Seneca Valley’s Don Barclay looks like he'll receive a large chunk of playing time, if not start, this season thanks to new offensive line coach Dave Johnson of Penn Hills and WVU. Barclay today played a series at first-team right tackle, the position previously held by Selvish Capers, whom Barclay is pushing. Barclay, who can play both tackles and some guard, seems destined for the top reserve at minimum. And Johnson wants to play younger linemen for when seniors Ryan Stanchek and Mike Dent depart after this season, meaning Seton-LaSalle’s Gino Gradkowski could see backup guard time as well.

* Classes commence Monday, so that means the end of Camp Stew-a-days and a return to the in-season regiment of a single, late-afternoon/night practice daily. This camp-ending date one year ago brought the night that cornerback Ellis Lankster and linebacker J.T. Thomas ran into legal difficulty and got suspended two games. "Stay out of the news," Stewart said he told the players, though, if memory serves, You Know Who warned the Mountaineers the same thing last August. "We've talked to them about being mature adults, not being a weak link. They're still under curfew. They'll be under curfew until I tell them they're not under curfew, which will be sometime in January."

-- Chuck Finder

The inaugural '08 Mountaineers scrimmage

Chuck Finder — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 07:53:00 GMT

Before anyone begins heavy breathing about certain players or units in today’s first West Virginia scrimmage of the season, remember this: The suspect defense, the one replacing seven starters, mostly manhandled the vaunted offense.

In other words, it’s early yet.

Now on to the facts from today on Mountaineer Field. . . .

* The Blue Swarm, as Coach Bill Stewart calls the defense, yielded just one touchdown in 34 full plays from scrimmage. Of course, it was two-time Big East offensive player of the year and resident Heisman Trophy candidate Patrick White who gashed the first-team defense with a 45-yard romp on the first-team offense’s second series, and fourth play, amid an option keeper right. Six plays later, White covered the final six yards. And that was pretty much it for the offense.

White found a wide-open Tyler Urban, the freshman tight end from Norwin, on the unit’s very next play for a 45-yard play capped by Urban lowering his helmet and knocking down the tackling cornerback Ellis Lankster (whom Stewart later kicked off the field and to the sideline for a penchant to “talk too much”). On the ensuing plays, freshman Terence Kerns galloped 42 yards as part of his 64 yards on 10 carries overall, and sophomore Noel Devine broke off a 15-yard option sweep among his 39 yards on five carries in the true scrimmage and 50 on 11 overall (counting goal-line situations). White soon after added a 26-yard out pass to Alric Arnett to finish the true scrimmage 4 for 8 for 81 yards; he added an 18-yard pass to Jock Sanders plus a sack in the goal-line situations.

In the end, Stewart declared the first-team defense a scrimmage victor: “They got nasty. . . . Real, real nasty. It was nice to see they were banging and clanging pretty well.”

* Stewart declared the second-team offense another scrimmage victor, but it played mostly without Jarrett Brown at quarterback – this redshirt junior sat out most of the afternoon with a “slight twinge” of a hamstring. “Just precautionary,” Stewart said. Rather, starting receiver Bradley Starks, the de facto No. 3 quarterback, needed and got plenty of work at his other job. He steered the offense to its only other touchdowns of the afternoon, in goal-line situations: a 9-yard Kerns run almost untouched around left end, and a 5-yard, skinny-post pass to freshman Ryan Nehlen.

“Brad Starks is a natural,” Stewart said. “I’m hoping he can be the starting slot and the third quarterback. That’s the plan.”

* Noel Devine took some hits despite wearing a yellow protective jersey, so it’s readily apparent a backup is necessary. Zach Hulse, who fumbled upon his first carry and subsequently hit the penalty stadium steps, and Mark Rodgers each got one carry of any significance. That left the bulk of the duty to Kerns, who seemed to take a major stride forward in the competition for Devine’s backup relief. Kerns, a 6-foot-1, 239-pound recruit who needed a year and a final academic flourish at Hargrave (Va.) Military to make it to Morgantown, showed both power and some scoot ability in the first live action.

“He looks good,” said first-team linebacker J.T. Thomas. “He looks like a man, know wat I mean? He’s going to bring another element to our already powerful offense. A great change of pace for Devine. This year could be great for him.”

Stewart was reluctant to heap praise, mostly because he was hacked at Kerns for failing to hand the football to an official upon a sideline sweep in a clock situation near the scrimmage’s end. “Bonehead mistake by a freshman,” Stewart barked. “He won’t make that mistake again.” Of Kerns two first-down runs and touchdown and all, Stewart said simply, “Kerns made a few good runs.” And that was that.

* As for the freshmen, Stewart singled out Urban, backup safety Robert Sands, backup guard Josh Jenkins (“looks pretty special”) and rotund second-team fullback Ryan Clarke. Uh, maybe too rotund. “He’s packing an extra suitcase,” Stewart said, “but we’re shedding it ever so slowly. That guy’s a freight train.” Quarterback Coley White, Patrick’s brother, also pleased Stewart despite having to run for his life at times.

* The injury report, in addition to Brown: Backup receiver Wes Lyons of Woodland Hills High had arthroscopic surgery on the same right knee that required a slightly more serious procedure this time a year ago, though the medical staff expects him back within a week; his brother, Ohio State transfer and backup receiver Devin, missed for an unspecified ailment; top-two cornerback Guesly Dervil dislocated a finger and is expected to return Monday, wearing protective padding; starting left tackle Ryan Stanchek (unspecified illness) and tight end Will Johnson (left foot sprain) are expected to practice this week.

* For those seriously wondering about the depth chart. . . The offensive line was the same as late last year, with Seneca Valley’s Don Barclay replacing Stanchek beside Greg Isdaner, Mike Dent, Jake Figner and Selvish Capers. Urban replaced Johnson at tight end. Starks and Jock Sanders appear to be the top two slots, with Dorrell Jalloh, Tito Gonzales and Arnett the top receivers. The first defensive line was Chris Neild between Scooter Berry and Zac Cooper, though Pat Liebig fits in there if the NCAA grants him a sixth year of eligibility. Middle linebacker Reed Williams sat out the scrimmage – he may well miss one game or more until his surgically repaired shoulders full heal – so Pat Lazear started between Thomas and Gateway’s Mortty Ivy. Lankster and Kent Richardson were the first cornerbacks with Quinton Andrews, Boogie Allen and Eain Smith at safety.

Geez, is this a blog or a book? As written above, it’s early yet.

WVUpdate: For openers

Chuck Finder — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 21:26:00 GMT

“Day One. . . . First practice. . . ,” was how a hoarse Bill Stewart opened his first news conference, after the first day of camp Saturday on Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, W.Va. And it was a good day for him.

Forget about it being his first fall practice as a head coach in almost 12 years. Forget about it being his first official season start as the coach of his homestate university – “the American dream,” he calls it.

Rather, it was the first of many business days, with the preseason Top-10 Mountaineers ushering in yet another season brimming with expectation.

So let’s get down to business, as so much personnel has changed and continues to change:

Nose guard Pat Liebig awaits approval from the NCAA for a sixth season of eligibility, after skipping last season to return home to Florida and help his ailing father in the family business of three car dealerships. He expects to get the go-ahead Mond ay. At a spot Keilen Dykes manned to all-Big East proportions, Liebig and backup Chris Neild are joined by former Wake Forest recruit Uriah Grant to transform it into a deep, if not as starry, position.
Middle linebacker Reed Williams awaits clearance from doctors to fully tackle and play, so he may don a cautionary green practice jersey and refrain from using his surgically repaired shoulders and arms to make tackles until the Aug. 30 opener against Villanova.
All-America candidate Ryan Stanchek sat out the first practice because of illness, with Seneca Valley’s Don Barclay filling in. . . but only temporarily.
Brandon Hogan, expected to start or split time at slotback, is being tried out at cornerback. That leaves slotback to fellow sophomore Jock Sanders, redshirt freshman Bradley Starks (who will double as the No. 3 quarterback behind Patrick White and Jarrett Brown), and senior Dorrell Jalloh, who, unbeknownst to Stewart, worked at slotback in summer sessions that coaches are forbidden to watch.
Speaking of that secondary, which lost four senior starters from last season and at least two recruits who didn’t cut it (yet another recruit was added, former Virginia Tech signee D.J. Thomas of Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia), it will remain a concern for some time. However, Stewart was brightened by last year’s star defensive-back signee, junior-college transfer Ellis Lankster, who reported at the precise, lower weight that Stewart requested . . . in exchange for allowing Lankster to try to return punts and kicks this season.
Backup outside linebacker Archie Sims cleared all academic hurdles and joins John Holmes, after his offseason arrest, as welcome returnees for depth. Yet Stewart likes the look of Williams, Gateway’s Mortty Ivy and J.T. Thomas as the starting linebackers. “It’s good to see John Holmes out there flying around,” Stewart said of the senior eight credit hours shy of graduation. “He’ll be OK.”
Hair today. . . . Pat Lazear went with the honorary Owen Schmitt Mohawk; Usually beach-bleach-blond Pat McAfee of Plum went with a buzzcut. (His second field-goal try of camp? It plunked off the right upright. “But the first one went into the upper deck,” McAfee pointed out.)
In case you missed it in the Sunday story, Jason Gwaltney is back. . . for a third time. It figures to either be a third-time charm or a third strike, but Stewart approaches it carefully. He told Gwaltney, who’s so Three Years Ago that he last played college football by sharing time with then-fellow-freshman Steve Slaton, that 2008 will be a red-shirt season and he must stick to the academics. If Gwaltney passes Stewart’s approval shortly after classes start, the coach might permit him to practice – with the scout team only.
In the “Oops” category, receiver Kendall Washington is listed in the Mountaineers ' 2008 media guide, headshot and bio and everything on page 94, even though he hasn’t been with the program since May and seemingly won’t be back – particularly since he ended July in the Stark County jail in his native Ohio.