MORGANTOWN - There will be no shortage of Division I-A talent on the field Saturday when West Virginia opens the season against Liberty, and it won't all be on the Mountaineers' sideline.
MORGANTOWN - There will be no shortage of Division I-A talent on the field Saturday when West Virginia opens the season against Liberty, and it won't all be on the Mountaineers' sideline.
Liberty will arrive with eight transfers from what is now referred to as the Football Bowl Subdivision, seven of them from Bowl Championship Series-level schools. The number will include four Liberty starters - including quarterback Tommy Beecher - and at least two or three others who figure to play.
"We've got some guys on our roster who have run out of those locker rooms and onto those fields and have played in those games before,'' said Liberty's fourth-year coach, Danny Rocco. "They do know what the expectations are and I think that helps your program.''
In fact, the ability to recruit transfers was one of the reasons Rocco took the job at the private Christian school in Lynchburg, Va. In the past 31/2 years, Rocco - a longtime assistant on both the college and pro levels who was most recently associate head coach at Virginia - estimates he has brought in 24 transfers from FBS schools to his Football Championship Subdivision program, all with the blessing of school administrators.
Just because the school is willing to take transfers, though, doesn't mean they will flock there in droves. But Rocco, who had a previous relationship with many of those eventual transfers because he recruited them while at Liberty or even at Virginia, is determined to sell his program.
"One of the things that is very real is these kids won't come to your program if you don't have a legitimate vision and facilities and there isn't a commitment being made from the highest end,'' Rocco said. "They've been to the top of the mountain. They're leaving the SEC and the ACC. They're leaving the kinds of programs that kids all want to play in and dream about. So if they come into my program and sense that this is kind of small time or there's something about it that doesn't quite feel right - 'I already did the high school thing; I don't want to do that again' - those kids won't come here.''
Besides Beecher (he was South Carolina's starter in the 2008 opener), Liberty will have starters on Saturday who originally went to Virginia Tech (defensive end Daryl Robertson) and Alabama (guard Alex Stadler). Wide receiver Freddie Brown was a teammate of Beecher's at South Carolina.
Listed as backups on the depth chart are receiver Ervin Garner (Virginia Tech), linebacker Marques Jenkins (Mississippi) and cornerback Ron Hobby (Pitt). And Paul Young (New Mexico State) is listed as a backup kicker.
Of those eight transfers, all but the two former Gamecocks went to high school in Virginia or suburban Washington.
MORGANTOWN - There will be no shortage of Division I-A talent on the field Saturday when West Virginia opens the season against Liberty, and it won't all be on the Mountaineers' sideline.
Liberty will arrive with eight transfers from what is now referred to as the Football Bowl Subdivision, seven of them from Bowl Championship Series-level schools. The number will include four Liberty starters - including quarterback Tommy Beecher - and at least two or three others who figure to play.
"We've got some guys on our roster who have run out of those locker rooms and onto those fields and have played in those games before,'' said Liberty's fourth-year coach, Danny Rocco. "They do know what the expectations are and I think that helps your program.''
In fact, the ability to recruit transfers was one of the reasons Rocco took the job at the private Christian school in Lynchburg, Va. In the past 31/2 years, Rocco - a longtime assistant on both the college and pro levels who was most recently associate head coach at Virginia - estimates he has brought in 24 transfers from FBS schools to his Football Championship Subdivision program, all with the blessing of school administrators.
Just because the school is willing to take transfers, though, doesn't mean they will flock there in droves. But Rocco, who had a previous relationship with many of those eventual transfers because he recruited them while at Liberty or even at Virginia, is determined to sell his program.
"One of the things that is very real is these kids won't come to your program if you don't have a legitimate vision and facilities and there isn't a commitment being made from the highest end,'' Rocco said. "They've been to the top of the mountain. They're leaving the SEC and the ACC. They're leaving the kinds of programs that kids all want to play in and dream about. So if they come into my program and sense that this is kind of small time or there's something about it that doesn't quite feel right - 'I already did the high school thing; I don't want to do that again' - those kids won't come here.''
Besides Beecher (he was South Carolina's starter in the 2008 opener), Liberty will have starters on Saturday who originally went to Virginia Tech (defensive end Daryl Robertson) and Alabama (guard Alex Stadler). Wide receiver Freddie Brown was a teammate of Beecher's at South Carolina.
Listed as backups on the depth chart are receiver Ervin Garner (Virginia Tech), linebacker Marques Jenkins (Mississippi) and cornerback Ron Hobby (Pitt). And Paul Young (New Mexico State) is listed as a backup kicker.
Of those eight transfers, all but the two former Gamecocks went to high school in Virginia or suburban Washington.
"I've yet to bring anybody in here to take the place of a senior in my program,'' Rocco said. "All the transfers that have come in here and ended up starting, I've yet to have to sit a senior on the bench. And I'm pleased with that. I think the kids that have come up through the ranks here have developed in a great way and have been committed to the program. And I want those kids to always have that opportunity.''
Rocco doesn't simply go out trying to stockpile former FBS players, but he's not shy about addressing needs. After losing a three-year starter at quarterback, his best option on his roster was sophomore Mike Brown, who played wide receiver last season.
"Each year, we don't go looking for large amounts, but we try to fill some specific needs. And I thought for the '09 season I wanted some more reassurance at quarterback,'' Rocco said. "Michael Brown is the quarterback for the future and could have been the quarterback this year. But I thought one buffer year would be a really good thing. And I think that's something Tommy is going to bring us.''
Rocco is quick to credit the Liberty administration, including Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr., with providing the commitment to the program.
"They've just taken things to the next level,'' Rocco said. "And I think in time we'll be in a position to recruit head-to-head with a number of FBS schools.''
So, in preparing for a game with an FBS opponent like West Virginia, does Rocco draw on the experience of those transfers to perhaps let the rest of his players know that everyone on both sidelines put their pants on the same way?
"I've done a lot of different things in relation to preparing for West Virginia, but I've yet to really do that,'' Rocco said. "But I'm sure that's something I'm sure I will communicate.''
Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.
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