HUNTINGTON - He faces the same uphill climb of nearly all freshmen at the position, but Clint Van Horn is gunning to restore the pride of Woodrow Wilson High to Marshall's offensive line.
"Clint, he's a 'yes sir, no sir' [type]," Wade said. "He had one of the best offseasons since I've been here, as far as O-line. He's a worker. He's going to have to help us, and he knows that.
"It's new for him, and it's kind of new for everybody, because kind of we're changing offense a little bit. We've got some things we've got to iron out this summer, with some footwork and all that. But that's what summer's for."
Son of a minister who owns a construction company, Van Horn is majoring in political science, minoring in criminal justice with plans to pursue another minor in business. He's topping a 3.0 grade-point average - "My dad wouldn't have it any other way," he said.
At 6-foot-5, Van Horn won't have to add to his 310-pound frame in a pure weight sense. He may even lose a little weight, and certainly wants to get stronger.
But the big thing, as Wade indicated, is what's under that weight. Many an offensive lineman has stumbled over his own two feet, figuratively and literally.
"The main thing I need to work on is my feet," Van Horn said. "If you don't have good footwork at this level, you can't play. The [footwork] exposes strength - if you don't have feet, you can't use your strength. I need to work on my feet before I can do anything else on the field."
An occasional tip from fellow Flying Eagle Legursky can't hurt.
"A couple of times over Facebook, and when he comes by workouts," Van Horn said. "He's giving me a little information, things I can do to get better. He's been there, been through here. He's on the field for a very prestigious NFL team, so anytime I get a chance to talk to him, I take advantage of it."
BRIEFLY: It wouldn't be spring football at MU without a lightning delay, and the team went back in the Shewey Building for about 50 minutes to wait out a thunderstorm. "You have only 15 practices, you can't afford to lose one," Herd coach Doc Holliday said. "I thought I screwed this thing up, because I could have gone tomorrow and I thought today was going to be a better day." ... Holliday said Lovell was back in town, but won't return to practice until Friday. Other notable absences included safety D.J. Hunter (finger). ... Donald Brown, reinstated to the program and trying to work his way back into the safety rotation, had a big hit late in the day, but it wasn't as violent as the lick running back Martin Ward put on him earlier. Ward, leading the backs in absence of Tron Martinez and Travon Van, ran with extra purpose, it seemed. ... Jermaine Holmes, now the first-team middle linebacker, is starting to show his sideline-to-sideline ability in 11-on-11 play. He played between Devin Arrington and Billy Mitchell on Wednesday.
Reach Doug Smock at 304-348-5130 or dougsm...@wvgazette.com, or follow him at twitter.com/dougsmock.
HUNTINGTON - He faces the same uphill climb of nearly all freshmen at the position, but Clint Van Horn is gunning to restore the pride of Woodrow Wilson High to Marshall's offensive line.
The Flying Eagles, as most know, produced Marshall and Pittsburgh Steelers center Doug Legursky. Van Horn, a freshman who redshirted last fall, can attest to Legursky's brawny legacy.
"Anytime I was in the paper, anytime anybody talked to me, they always had Legursky's name in there," Van Horn said Wednesday after practice. "I appreciate that, because I haven't reached where he's at now. I'm nowhere close.
"He put in a lot of work, and I'm doing my best to get where I need to be."
As crowded as Marshall's offensive line room is - for once - Van Horn is not getting cheated out of reps. He is getting consistent work at right guard, even on the first unit some days.
In the Herd's fifth spring practice Wednesday, he worked on the second unit with left tackle Gage Niemayer, left guard Grady Kerr, center Chris Jasperse and right tackle Trevor Mendelson. The first unit was generally Jordan Jeffries, Alex Schooler, Channing Smith or James Allen, Sebastien Johannson and Corey Tenney.
Don't read anything into those lineups. Guard John Bruhin has been held out of contact, guard Josh Lovell missed his second practice for personal reasons, Garrett Scott sat out with an injury, etc. Besides that, there has been a little competition.
And Van Horn is eager to join the fray. Before going on scholarship this semester, he joined the Marshall program last fall and redshirted. For a player whose other offers came from FCS schools, a season on the scout team was nearly automatic.
Which means this spring, in many ways, is the beginning of his college career.
"[They] don't get coached. As coaches, we would say we want to coach the ones who get redshirted, but it's hard sometimes," said Geep Wade, new coach of the centers and guards. "When it's Tuesday and you're playing Houston that week, you're worried about things and trying to get guys ready to play, so that's hard.
"So they come in here their first year, get a couple of reps in summer. Then they decide to redshirt a kid, and that kid goes to the scout team, so he doesn't get the fundamental work, so he's starting all over again. That's the way it is everywhere in the country."
Wade, who came to Marshall after two seasons at Tennessee-Chattanooga, is very impressed with Van Horn and his work ethic.
"Clint, he's a 'yes sir, no sir' [type]," Wade said. "He had one of the best offseasons since I've been here, as far as O-line. He's a worker. He's going to have to help us, and he knows that.
"It's new for him, and it's kind of new for everybody, because kind of we're changing offense a little bit. We've got some things we've got to iron out this summer, with some footwork and all that. But that's what summer's for."
Son of a minister who owns a construction company, Van Horn is majoring in political science, minoring in criminal justice with plans to pursue another minor in business. He's topping a 3.0 grade-point average - "My dad wouldn't have it any other way," he said.
At 6-foot-5, Van Horn won't have to add to his 310-pound frame in a pure weight sense. He may even lose a little weight, and certainly wants to get stronger.
But the big thing, as Wade indicated, is what's under that weight. Many an offensive lineman has stumbled over his own two feet, figuratively and literally.
"The main thing I need to work on is my feet," Van Horn said. "If you don't have good footwork at this level, you can't play. The [footwork] exposes strength - if you don't have feet, you can't use your strength. I need to work on my feet before I can do anything else on the field."
An occasional tip from fellow Flying Eagle Legursky can't hurt.
"A couple of times over Facebook, and when he comes by workouts," Van Horn said. "He's giving me a little information, things I can do to get better. He's been there, been through here. He's on the field for a very prestigious NFL team, so anytime I get a chance to talk to him, I take advantage of it."
BRIEFLY: It wouldn't be spring football at MU without a lightning delay, and the team went back in the Shewey Building for about 50 minutes to wait out a thunderstorm. "You have only 15 practices, you can't afford to lose one," Herd coach Doc Holliday said. "I thought I screwed this thing up, because I could have gone tomorrow and I thought today was going to be a better day." ... Holliday said Lovell was back in town, but won't return to practice until Friday. Other notable absences included safety D.J. Hunter (finger). ... Donald Brown, reinstated to the program and trying to work his way back into the safety rotation, had a big hit late in the day, but it wasn't as violent as the lick running back Martin Ward put on him earlier. Ward, leading the backs in absence of Tron Martinez and Travon Van, ran with extra purpose, it seemed. ... Jermaine Holmes, now the first-team middle linebacker, is starting to show his sideline-to-sideline ability in 11-on-11 play. He played between Devin Arrington and Billy Mitchell on Wednesday.Reach Doug Smock at 304-348-5130 or dougsm...@wvgazette.com, or follow him at twitter.com/dougsmock.
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