MORGANTOWN - New West Virginia football coach Bill Stewart isn't going to be pleased if his football team doesn't make all the progress it can make on the field this spring. But he will be even more disappointed if the Mountaineers don't learn to work together.
MORGANTOWN - New West Virginia football coach Bill Stewart isn't going to be pleased if his football team doesn't make all the progress it can make on the field this spring. But he will be even more disappointed if the Mountaineers don't learn to work together.
So far there don't appear to be any problems in either of those areas, but especially in the latter.
Stewart refers to it as his team's chemistry. And so far he likes what he sees, just as he liked it when he coached West Virginia to a win over Oklahoma in January's Fiesta Bowl.
"If you watch basketball and you watch a team like Davidson and it was impressive,'' Stewart said. "Chemistry. It's all about chemistry.''
And not just on the basketball floor.
"I listen to Jim Tressel talk about the Ohio State Buckeyes. I listen to Urban Meyer talk about the Florida Gators. I'm not the smartest guy and I know that. So I have to go out and seek things from other people,'' Stewart said. "They don't talk about the players, they don't talk about the plays, they don't talk about their coaches. That's all intact. And we've got pretty good plays. We've got pretty good playmakers. And we've got pretty good coaches.
"But the thing that separates us, like in that bowl game, was the chemistry. That's what our spring is all about. It's about chemistry.''
It would have been easy for this team to have lost any chemistry it had the way the 2007 season ended, with a national-championship-spoiling loss to Pitt and the departure two weeks later of coach Rich Rodriguez. But not only did the team stay together and win the Fiesta Bowl, it united with a common purpose.
And there's no reason for that not to continue now, Stewart figures.
"I keep telling these guys, 'It's your family. You're in the right place at the right time with the right people,'" Stewart said. "It's real simple: 'Right place, right time, right people in your life right now. You're with the best people you could possibly be with in the country right now, we think.' If we continue to have great chemistry, we're going to be OK. It's all about that.
"We've got good enough plays, we've got nice playbooks, we've got great players, we've got great coaches. But when you get out on that field between those lines it comes down to chemistry. That's what it's all about.''
In June, wide receiver Wes Lyons will have a familiar face around workouts. That's when his older brother, Devon, joins the team as a transfer from Ohio State. Devon Lyons, who played in 12 games at OSU as a freshman in 2004 but has missed most of the last three seasons with injuries, will be immediately eligible and has one year remaining.
So who's better, Wes or Devon?
"Of course I'm going to say me,'' Lyons said. "But he's good, too.''
By the time Devon Lyons arrives, his younger brother should be in a position to help him with all of the new schemes and terminology he'll have to learn. Right now, though, even Wes is learning it because the offense has changed somewhat with new offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen.
"I'm learning pretty quick, I think,'' Lyons said. "It's really not that different except in the terminology and some of what we do before the snap.''
Lonnie Galloway said West Virginia's wide receivers have their work cut out for them this spring because not only are they learning new things, they are also dealing with an aggressive WVU defense.
"We're seeing some of the toughest looks on defense right now that we'll see any time all year,'' said Galloway, the new wide receivers coach. "They're giving us looks that make you think as an offensive player.''
To contact staff writer Dave Hickman use e-mail or call 348-1734.
MORGANTOWN - New West Virginia football coach Bill Stewart isn't going to be pleased if his football team doesn't make all the progress it can make on the field this spring. But he will be even more disappointed if the Mountaineers don't learn to work together.
So far there don't appear to be any problems in either of those areas, but especially in the latter.
Stewart refers to it as his team's chemistry. And so far he likes what he sees, just as he liked it when he coached West Virginia to a win over Oklahoma in January's Fiesta Bowl.
"If you watch basketball and you watch a team like Davidson and it was impressive,'' Stewart said. "Chemistry. It's all about chemistry.''
And not just on the basketball floor.
"I listen to Jim Tressel talk about the Ohio State Buckeyes. I listen to Urban Meyer talk about the Florida Gators. I'm not the smartest guy and I know that. So I have to go out and seek things from other people,'' Stewart said. "They don't talk about the players, they don't talk about the plays, they don't talk about their coaches. That's all intact. And we've got pretty good plays. We've got pretty good playmakers. And we've got pretty good coaches.
"But the thing that separates us, like in that bowl game, was the chemistry. That's what our spring is all about. It's about chemistry.''
It would have been easy for this team to have lost any chemistry it had the way the 2007 season ended, with a national-championship-spoiling loss to Pitt and the departure two weeks later of coach Rich Rodriguez. But not only did the team stay together and win the Fiesta Bowl, it united with a common purpose.
And there's no reason for that not to continue now, Stewart figures.
"I keep telling these guys, 'It's your family. You're in the right place at the right time with the right people,'" Stewart said. "It's real simple: 'Right place, right time, right people in your life right now. You're with the best people you could possibly be with in the country right now, we think.' If we continue to have great chemistry, we're going to be OK. It's all about that.
"We've got good enough plays, we've got nice playbooks, we've got great players, we've got great coaches. But when you get out on that field between those lines it comes down to chemistry. That's what it's all about.''
In June, wide receiver Wes Lyons will have a familiar face around workouts. That's when his older brother, Devon, joins the team as a transfer from Ohio State. Devon Lyons, who played in 12 games at OSU as a freshman in 2004 but has missed most of the last three seasons with injuries, will be immediately eligible and has one year remaining.
So who's better, Wes or Devon?
"Of course I'm going to say me,'' Lyons said. "But he's good, too.''
By the time Devon Lyons arrives, his younger brother should be in a position to help him with all of the new schemes and terminology he'll have to learn. Right now, though, even Wes is learning it because the offense has changed somewhat with new offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen.
"I'm learning pretty quick, I think,'' Lyons said. "It's really not that different except in the terminology and some of what we do before the snap.''
Lonnie Galloway said West Virginia's wide receivers have their work cut out for them this spring because not only are they learning new things, they are also dealing with an aggressive WVU defense.
"We're seeing some of the toughest looks on defense right now that we'll see any time all year,'' said Galloway, the new wide receivers coach. "They're giving us looks that make you think as an offensive player.''
To contact staff writer Dave Hickman use e-mail or call 348-1734.
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