Stew gets some balls on Prom night

Tajh Boyd simply piled on the Mountaineer nation after he decommitted from WVU on Sunday night. In doing so, Mr. Boyd let it be known that our recent offensive woes were a catalyst for his decommitment. Now before I go too far here, I'm going to talk about how the recruiting system works in college football. I'm not a recruiting expert or a football genius but I do follow it and, as my title would suggest, I find it to be much like asking for a date to the prom.

Recruiting is a year around process in today's world. You work on college seniors until the first Wednesday in February and then you can sign them to an official contract. However, up until then there are many promises that are handed out on both sides. Playing time, playcalling, and escalades are all promised in the form of unwritten contracts that we refer to as verbals. Well, back in March Tajh gave us a verbal. Now remember this isn't a commitment this is just saying I want to play here and I will sign there in a year. So in March he commits and then a standout wide receiver (Logan Heastie) commits as well. Well, we all have been 18 before and we know that 7 months is a great deal of time, and now everyone has their panties in a knot because this boy changed his mine.

At first I was pissed about the whole thing, but now I'm not so much. First of all, he has openly stated that the NFL is his goal. That's fine if that is your goal, but anyone that has paid much attention to the draft for the last 20 years knows that if you are good enough the NFL will find you. Josh Booty played for USC in a pro-style system that every team in the NFL runs. He was barely drafted last year. The Baltimore Ravens have a rookie QB starting that played at Delaware (and was originally signed by Pitt). Delaware is a division IAA team that couldn't beat USC on any day.

I can understand his disdain with the offense. We don't throw much or score much this year. The whole NFL thing is total BS though as I stated before. The thing that really gets me is that we gave Tajh a commitment. Sure we promised playing time, we promised a change in the offense and most importantly to him we promised to not recruit another QB. Now this is especially important since we currently have The great one at QB as a senior, Jarret Brown as a Junior, Bradley Starks, and Coley White. The later two will have to start in 2010 if we don't get another. Boyd had it all made to be the next starter at WVU, and we even honored his agreement by not recruiting another QB. He has yet to play a down, sign a contract, or put on a uniform but he has royally screwed us in the recruiting process. It show a serious lack of heart and a will that can be broken quicker than a French boxers jaw. Just think about Pat White and how he started. Third on the depth chart, not even listed as QB but as an athlete, comes in to a game 2nd and 20 and he picks it up. He scored 17 unanswered in 10 minutes and converted 2 4th downs (one a 4th and 10). That's heart, that's resilience and that is why we have won 3 new years day bowls in a row. Pat White decommited from LSU to come to us to play QB showing that he had the heart to spur the National Champs and prove to the country that they were wrong, and I have a good feeling that Tajh Boyd decommited from us because he does not posses the same traits. These are the same traits that pick up the tough 3rd down in the Georgia Dome when the Bulldogs have all the momentum and 90$ of the crowd, the traits that make you go on when your all American running back has had the worst game in his career and you are about to lose. It shows your will to win a bowl game you never should have ever had to play in Jacksonville, and last but not least, Pat White's performance in the Fiesta Bowl last year was something extraordinary. Nobody would have ever faulted him for giving up and going pro but he wanted it for his pride and for everyone that loves WVU.

The next QB will never be as good as Pat or have as much heart. This I know. However, when we talk about team toughness, attitude, and other mental aspects that are so important in football I have to believe that a boy high school boy playing QB, that is more concerned with pro bowls than sugar bowls would be a detrimental and dramatic drop off than the man and the champion we have grown to love for the last 4 seasons.

So what...the first girl we asked to prom didn't like us because we don't drive the right car. We have had better anyway and she has prove too high maintenance. BC sucks anyways.....