Pete Rose died Monday, bringing grief to baseball fans in general and Cincinnati Reds fans in particular.
HARRISBURG, Pa. Ƶ The publicƵs pocketbooks have been hit hard by the skyrocketing cost of eggs in the last few months. Prices have doubled and…
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (Ƶ News) Ƶ Ƶ you walk into West Virginia defensive line coach Andrew JacksonƵs meeting room in the completely rebuilt Puskar Center at Mountaineer Field, you see on the wall a tribute to players who made defense a tradition on the schoolƵs football program.
Among the display is a picture of the recently departed Darius Stills and his father, Gary, and another of John Thornton, another all-time great defender.
Both Gary Stills and John Thornton went on to long, distinguished NFL players after having played as teammates who tormented Big East offenses from 1996 to 1998.
Now they have legacies at ƵU in son Dante Stills, who is DariusƵ year-younger brother and who figures to dominate on defense this year, and Jalen Thornton, who is becoming a big factor off the second unit on ƵUƵs defensive line this year.
ƵDante walks in my meeting room and sees a picture of his brother and his dad and JalenƵs dad has a picture on the wall. You donƵt need any more motivation than that,Ƶ Jackson said. ƵIƵve been talking to Jalen and Dante and asking them what it was like watching your dad running out there on an NFL team or when your dad brought you through the building here. ThatƵs when those guys perk up.
ƵCollege football is about that hometown connection or feeling the tradition. It lives in my meeting room.Ƶ
It is a big thing to a young college football player following in the footsteps of his dad, but it also can become intimidating if it is presented to him of having to live up to the NFL caliber of play they established.
Andrew Jackson, ƵUƵs new defensive line coach, understands this.
ƵI tell them they have to be their own person and carry on the tradition of being a great Mountaineer rather than walking in the same footsteps as their fathers,Ƶ Jackson said. ƵThe tradition goes through your family. ItƵs more like something to rally around, rather than to be exactly like their fathers.Ƶ
If they could live up to the standards established by their fathers, it would certainly be welcomed as each was among the best ever at their position for ƵU.
Thornton, a defensive tackle who would go to star for the Tennessee Titans and Cincinnati Bengals during a 10-year NFL career, 162 tackles and 15 sacks in four years at ƵU while Stills, who became a long-time special teams star for Kansas City in the NFL, Stills totaling 159 tackles and 26 sacks while spending three years in Morgantown and playing in just 27 games.
Ƶ teammates they were part of teams that went 8-4, 8-5 and 9-4, losing a bowl game each of three years but by just 15 points combined, just 5 a game.
The 1998 team, Coach Nehlen says, was one of the best he ever coached, feeling it could have been a No. 1 team but he regretted scheduling No. 1 Ohio State for the opener as it produced a 31-17 defeat that took a lot of the air out of the season.
ItƵs hard to disagree with NehlenƵs assessment of the team, though, as Amoz Zereoue rushed for just shy of 1,470 yards, quarterback Marc Bulger threw for 3,600 yards with receivers David Saunders catching 77 passes for 882 yards and eight TD and Shawn Foreman 63 for 948 yards and another 8 TDs.
Dante Stills accomplishments at ƵU are well known and he vows to make his final season his best while Jalen Thornton went through a redshirt year, as did his father, and last year played in 10 games as a back up. But now he is on the second defensive line behind what is one of the best starting units in the country and expected to make big contributions.
ƵFor Jalen, itƵs just a matter of being confident in his abilities. I always tell him, your confidence in yourself has to be higher than what I think of you,Ƶ Jackson said, making a big point that most players should follow. You play to please yourself, not your fans, not your followers, for no one expects more of themselves than you.
ƵI think the world of him, but heƵs in a great mental space and now he has to just go out there and just do it.Ƶ
The younger Thornton is the kind of player Coach Neal Brown always has in mind when recruiting, not only a football player who fits his program but a solid student and person who is community minded.
Thornton attended Indian Hills High School, Indian Hills being an affluent suburb of Cincinnati. It is where John Thornton retired and became a player agent following his career with the Bengals.
Back in 2018, JalenƵs senior year, Thornton receiver a phone call from the principal at the school, Jeff Damadeo, something that can strike some fear into a parent.
Any fear soon dissipated when Thornton heard Damadeo say ƵThank you for sending your son here.Ƶ
On the day Jalen Thornton committed to ƵU, he spoke about the legacy he was following as he came to his fatherƵs school
ƵI think any legacy kid for any school would take that personally,Ƶ he said when making the announcement. ƵWhat my dad has done at ƵU I donƵt rule out. I donƵt that for granted and I would love to add on to it, but at the same time IƵm trying to make my own legacy and prove to everyone who I am.Ƶ
That is exactly the way it should be.
It is time for he and Dante Stills to produce their own legacies at ƵU, just as they spoke about on one of JalenƵs official visits two years back.
ƵWe were talking about that. Dante was my host and we were talking about how great our dads were,Ƶ he said at the time. ƵItƵs funny how we get to do the exact same thing IƵm trying to be really good and all but they were top notch Ƶ great players.
ƵIt would be great for us to be at that exact same level We actually get to see whatƵs to happen now. Maybe weƵll get to make a comparison in a couple of years to see who the better class was.Ƶ
This year will go a long way toward that.
HUNTINGTON - In the 1999 MAC Championship, Marshall quarterback Chad Pennington gave Thundering Herd fans one last defining moment of greatness as he left Joan C. Edwards Stadium after bringing Marshall back from a 23-0 deficit for a 34-30 win.