Team taking summer more seriously in 2010

Jock Sanders admits West Virginia’s goal of winning a Big East Conference Championship in 2009 was severely damaged by a lackluster summer.

The Mountaineers’ now-senior slot receiver said WVU was more interested in goofing off than improving. A year older, Sanders – one of the team’s vocal leaders – has helped change that mentality this summer.

"That was one of our weaknesses last year," Sanders said. "We went out there and kind of played around. We didn’t have a mindset to try to get better each and every day. That is something we have changed this summer.

"Each day, we go out there in full attack mode."

What has helped change that mentality, Sanders said, has been the influx of veteran leaders on this year’s team.

Besides the Mountaineers’ leading returning receiver, WVU returns its star running back Noel Devine, four offensive line starters and nine defensive starters led by senior linebacker J.T. Thomas, nose tackle Chris Neild and defensive tackle Scooter Berry.

"When it comes your time, you just have to step up to the plate," Devine said. "You have to do what you do. It’s always been in me to be a leader."

In fact, it is the most starters returning to a West Virginia football team in more than five seasons.

Sanders is looking to build team chemistry like it was in 2007 when Pat White and Steve Slaton were roaming the Mountaineers’ backfield and Sanders and Devine were just freshmen.

That was the last season WVU won the Big East Conference and went to a BCS Bowl - a 48-28 victory over Oklahoma in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl.

"I don’t really have a personal goal," Sanders said. "I’m just trying to get this team together and get us to bond like our 2007 team that went to the Fiesta Bowl.

"We are just trying to gather together, so that is my major goal."

But, in the spring, head coach Bill Stewart said the team lacked leadership. Thomas said that has changed this summer.

"We have leaders on our team," Thomas said. "I don’t want to go against Coach Stew’s word, but we have guys that are leading the charge, and now we have to get some followers."

Many on the team said this year’s offseason workouts have been the most strenuous under strength and conditioning coach Mike Joseph.

Fullback Ryan Clarke said Joseph has "turned it up a notch" in the amount of weight the team lifts and the length of the runs the team sprints and jogs.

"Preparation for this season started last winter, so we have been grinding to get all of our workouts in," Clarke said.

But, the biggest change has been the mentality from this year’s senior leaders.

"I’m a lot more focused that I was when I was a junior," Thomas said. "I know this is my last time playing as a Mountaineer, that’s the only thing I’m guaranteed. I’m taking a different approach, and I’m sure the rest of the seniors are. Everyone is realizing, ‘hey we are seniors, this is the last time we have before we get out of here.’"

Some of the younger players like running backs Shawne Alston and DaQuan Hargrett said watching those seniors work harder pushes them.

"When you see them in the weight room, and they’re working hard, it inspires you to work harder," Alston said. "We are just trying to go hard everyday because we are all reaching for the same goal of a Big East Championship, BCS bowl, national championship, whatever it may be."

Thomas, who many consider to the be the vocal defensive replacement for Reed Williams, said another 9-4 season is unacceptable.

"I’ve been on teams in the past that been less talented that have won more games," Thomas said. "So we have to find whatever it is that they had and make it work for us."

Football Notes:

West Virginia’s defensive line coach Bill Kirelawich talked highly of his unit in 2010, saying he is excited for the depth of this year’s group which he did not have in 2009.

The line returns its three starters, nose tackle Chris Neild, defensive tackle Scooter Berry and defensive end Julian Miller.

"It’s wonderful," Kirelawich said. "Last year, we had that same three guys but didn’t have anyone behind them on any consequence. We had bodies there, but inexperienced bodies."

He expects Josh Taylor, Jorge Wright, Will Clarke and others to contribute more in 2010.
 

Kirelawich expects Berry to have a breakout senior season after a subpar junior year. Berry was troubled by run-ins with the law and injuries in 2009. Kirelawich said that was mainly because Berry should’ve had surgery mid-way through the season to repair two tears in his shoulder.

"I said ‘Scooter, you can’t get operated on. You can’t give up the season, let’s hang in there a little longer,’" Kirelawich said. "So he played injured all year long … Anybody can play healthy, but at one point or another they have to play hurt."

 

Kirelawich said the two incoming freshmen defensive linemen Bruce Irvin and Trevor Demko are on campus.

Kirelawich said he doesn’t set the bar as high for freshmen, so pressure is not too hard to deal with.

Still, Irvin could make an instant impact the Mountaineers’ veteran coach said.

" Bruce is a terrific athlete," he said.