Stewart Outlines 2010 Plans
Coach Bill Stewart is preparing for his third spring as WVU Head Coach.
WVillustrated.com Photo by David Miller
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By Geoff Coyle for wvillustrated.com
March 3, 2010
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - It’s interesting how tough it is for WVU football to take a back seat to the school’s basketball team. On the day of the Backyard Brawl, Coach Stewart took all the attention by announcing his latest recruiting class. Now, just as the Mountaineers are winding down the regular season on the hardwood, focus again returns to the inner workings of the Milan Puskar Center.
Today, Stewart met with the media for a fine luncheon at the team’s Training Table, where he went over a few key points and storylines heading into next month’s spring practices.
The most newsworthy of these details were the coaching reassignments as well as where each staff member will focus their recruiting efforts. It’s fair to say after taking a look at the latter, West Virginia will be making their presence felt all up and down the east coast.
Heading the entire operation will be, as many have speculated, Chris Beatty. Beatty has proven himself as a strong recruiter in his time at WVU, and his ability to step up and lead the recruiting efforts in Doc Holliday’s absence showed Stewart all he needed to pass the duties to his running backs coach.
This brings us to the second point of discussion – the actual coaching changes. Beatty will add fullbacks to his load and take them off the hands of the newest addition to the staff, Dave McMichael. McMichael will begin his second go-around with the Mountaineers as the team’s tight ends coach and co-coordinator of the special teams.
When Stewart said a month ago that he would be changing his own coaching duties, it was clear that he had noticed the decline in many facets of the special teams game. He now relinquishes all but the punt team duties to two members of his staff: McMichael and Steve Dunlap.
McMichael has served as Connecticut’s special teams coach for the past four years, so he brings a good bit of experience to the table in that sense. His job will be to handle the “offensive” special teams, like kickoff return, field goal and extra point. On Wednesday, he expressed his pleasure at landing himself in the middle of a situation where he has plenty of capable returners to choose from.
McMichael also said that onlookers should not be surprised by a returning duo that features a combination of Noel Devine, Jock Sanders and Tavon Austin throughout the season. From the sound of it, Devine may be leaning toward an expanded role on special teams to build his resume for professional football.
Of all the rumors that have swirled about the WVU program this off-season, one that has caught the attention of many concerned parties is the status of highly touted freshman receiver Logan Heastie. His name was conspicuously left out of any discussion regarding the 2010 receivers, but his situation was not officially addressed on Wednesday.
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Jeff Mullen is getting set for an open competition for the starting quarterback position. WVI Photo/David Miller
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Each coach expressed the importance of developing not only talented athletes, but also true leaders to set examples for the younger players. Losing the likes of Jarrett Brown and Reed Williams has the coaches scrambling to find the new top dogs on either side of the ball.
“I don’t care if you have 12-0 talent, I really don’t care. If you have 6-6 leadership, that’s what your football team will probably be. This entire option of 2010, and soon to be ’11, ’12 and ’13, is going to be based on a very simple fact: Do we have the right chemistry? Do we have the right leadership? Do we have the right role models doing what you’re supposed to be doing?”
Only three offensive starters left the team this year, and two on the defensive side of the ball. That said, it should not be tough to accomplish what Stewart asks of his older players.
Some younger players who have stepped up and look to make significant impacts are the likes of cornerbacks Broderick Jenkins and Pat Miller. Miller rotated in a bit last season, but Jenkins received a redshirt. This year, with both starting corners returning, the two young stars are expected to see more action in relief of both Brandon Hogan and Keith Tandy.
On offense, Tavon Austin is listed as a starter – finally. He currently enjoys the number one spot at the Z receiver position with Bradley Starks manning the X. In talking to both Jeff Mullen and Lonnie Galloway, each said Austin is the running back of the future for this team, but this year they needed to find a place for him in the starting line-up to ensure the 11 best players were on the field at once.
A few other bullet points Stewart outlined Wednesday include the need to develop quarterbacks and punters and to force more fumbles on defense while cutting down on the big plays.
Coach Mullen expressed his excitement at getting to coach a quarterback for his entire career after having two one-and-dones in Pat White and Jarrett Brown. He did say that Coley White will likely take most, if not all, of this spring’s snaps, but he expects White to eventually move to slot receiver where he can better serve the offense.
And now, just as football took the spotlight from basketball, Ed Pastilong is taking the spotlight from all sports with a teleconference to discuss his departure from the university this coming June.
Continue to check back with wvillustrated.com as we discuss the upcoming football season in greater detail in the coming days and weeks leading up to spring practice.
