Three new assistants enter first spring with WVU

DAILY MAIL SPORTSWRITER

MORGANTOWN - The West Virginia Mountaineers' spring practice willbe a hands-on learning experience ... and not just for the players.

The Mountaineers start their seventh season under WVU Coach RichRodriguez at 4 p.m. today.

It also marks the debut of three new assistant coaches - offensiveline coach Greg Frey, quarterbacks coach Rod Smith and wide receiverscoach Tony Dews.

Frey and Smith came to Morgantown from Big East Conference rivalSouth Florida, one of only two teams to beat WVU last season duringan 11-2 campaign that ended with a 38-35 Gator Bowl win over GeorgiaTech.

Dews' previous stop was Nevada-Las Vegas, better known as UNLV.

"There's a little bit of a learning curve there (for the first-year assistants)," said Rodriguez, a former WVU defensive back whoowns a 50-24 record at his alma mater. "The new guys will learnpretty quickly.

"Even though they have been in a similar system, it's not the sameterminology. I don't think it's that big of a deal. Those guys areprofessionals. They'll learn what they're doing and we'll getaccomplished what we want to get accomplished."

Frey replaced Rick Trickett, who became the associate head coachand offensive line coach under former WVU Coach Bobby Bowden atFlorida State.

Smith took the spot of Herb Hand, who became the co-offensivecoordinator and offensive line coach under former WVU DefensiveCoordinator Todd Graham at Tulsa.

Dews filled the void left by Butch Jones, who became the headcoach at Central Michigan.

Incidentally, Smith and Dews are two of Rodriguez's three formergraduate assistants on the Mountaineers' staff. The other issecondary coach and recruiting coordinator Tony Gibson.

"It's pretty neat that they're able to come back in the rolesthey're in now," Rodriguez said.

Smith also was an All-America quarterback for Rodriguez atGlenville State.

Rodriguez didn't complete his staff until Wednesday, when heannounced Dews' hiring.

"I took my time a little bit with the receiver position because Iwas gone for a week on a Nike trip," Rodriguez said. "I wanted tomake sure I got the right fit ... not only position-wise butrecruiting-wise.

"I didn't want to rush into it. There were a lot of greatcandidates out there. It wasn't like I was staying up at nightworried about it.

"I had an idea in mind what I wanted to do. I just wanted to makesure I got it done before spring practice. I kind of waited until thelast minute, but I got it done."

As a result, Dews has to play catch-up more than Frey and Smith,who were hired at the end of January.

"He's going to get a little help from me with the wide receiversduring the transition period," Rodriguez said.

Four of the Mountaineers' 15 sessions are scheduled for this week,with practices today, Wednesday and Friday, and a scrimmage Saturday.

All practices and scrimmages are closed to the public except forthe annual Blue-Gold Game, which will conclude spring practice April7 at 12:30 p.m. at Mountaineer Field.

Contact sportswriter Jacob Messer at jacobmesser@dailymail.com or348-1712.