Post by WVUfanPHILLY on Aug 30, 2007 0:55:37 GMT -5
By Todd J. Krise, The Daily Athenaeum
August 27, 2007
(CSTV U-WIRE) MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- The drive from Ann Arbor, Mich., to Morgantown, W.Va., is just over five hours.
But for Ryan Mundy, the path from the Great Lakes to the rolling hills of West Virginia has been much longer.
"It was actually a long journey, and a journey I thought I'd never take, but the Lord works in mysterious ways," said Mundy, a transfer from Michigan. "I'm definitely glad to be here."
The road home, however, is just a few yards away.
Mundy, a Pittsburgh native, was a standout player at Woodland Hills High School, where he earned accolades such as USA Today Prep All-America and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Quad-A Player of the Year.
From there, he signed his letter of intent to play football for Lloyd Carr and the Michigan Wolverines, despite being heavily recruited by WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez and secondary coach Tony Gibson.
Mundy wound up starting 18 of 35 career games, collecting 86 career tackles and three interceptions.
After earning a sports management degree, he ran into a roadblock. Michigan didn't offer the master's program Mundy was looking for, steering him into the direction of the No. 3-ranked West Virginia University Mountaineers.
The NCAA rule Mundy used allowed graduating seniors with eligibility remaining the opportunity to transfer to another school to complete their career.
"I was actually thinking about going into the NFL draft," he said. "But I was like, 'well I have another year and I could take advantage of that rule, so why not do that?'
"They did away with that rule so no one can do that. Just in the nick of time. I actually just got the word the day before my graduation from Michigan, so that was a pretty sweet weekend when I found out."
Mundy joins a deep Mountaineer secondary that is looking to improve after a forgettable 2006 defensive campaign, where it allowed 243 yards per game through the air.
"He's doing real well," cornerback Vaughn Rivers said. "He's back there making plays and starting to get comfortable. The one thing he has to do is fit into the program and feel comfortable, and then you can make plays as you do anywhere else."
As expected, Mundy has had to compare Michigan to West Virginia and West Virginia to Michigan.
"Well there's a lot of yelling down here," Mundy said of WVU. "It's good yelling. You know, every coach is different and every coach yells, pretty much. Every coach is different in how they want to get their point across.
"The main thing is, and this is more for the young guys to learn, is not necessarily to hear the yelling, but hear the message in the yelling. He's trying to get a message across to you, and once you get older I think that it's easier to get that message as opposed to being younger."
That's why Mundy's experience is allowing him to fit in at West Virginia.
"I played four years in Michigan, a lot of games and a lot of big ballgames -- three Rose Bowls," he said. "So I can lean on those good and bad experiences to help me, and it's definitely making me a better player right now."
August 27, 2007
(CSTV U-WIRE) MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- The drive from Ann Arbor, Mich., to Morgantown, W.Va., is just over five hours.
But for Ryan Mundy, the path from the Great Lakes to the rolling hills of West Virginia has been much longer.
"It was actually a long journey, and a journey I thought I'd never take, but the Lord works in mysterious ways," said Mundy, a transfer from Michigan. "I'm definitely glad to be here."
The road home, however, is just a few yards away.
Mundy, a Pittsburgh native, was a standout player at Woodland Hills High School, where he earned accolades such as USA Today Prep All-America and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Quad-A Player of the Year.
From there, he signed his letter of intent to play football for Lloyd Carr and the Michigan Wolverines, despite being heavily recruited by WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez and secondary coach Tony Gibson.
Mundy wound up starting 18 of 35 career games, collecting 86 career tackles and three interceptions.
After earning a sports management degree, he ran into a roadblock. Michigan didn't offer the master's program Mundy was looking for, steering him into the direction of the No. 3-ranked West Virginia University Mountaineers.
The NCAA rule Mundy used allowed graduating seniors with eligibility remaining the opportunity to transfer to another school to complete their career.
"I was actually thinking about going into the NFL draft," he said. "But I was like, 'well I have another year and I could take advantage of that rule, so why not do that?'
"They did away with that rule so no one can do that. Just in the nick of time. I actually just got the word the day before my graduation from Michigan, so that was a pretty sweet weekend when I found out."
Mundy joins a deep Mountaineer secondary that is looking to improve after a forgettable 2006 defensive campaign, where it allowed 243 yards per game through the air.
"He's doing real well," cornerback Vaughn Rivers said. "He's back there making plays and starting to get comfortable. The one thing he has to do is fit into the program and feel comfortable, and then you can make plays as you do anywhere else."
As expected, Mundy has had to compare Michigan to West Virginia and West Virginia to Michigan.
"Well there's a lot of yelling down here," Mundy said of WVU. "It's good yelling. You know, every coach is different and every coach yells, pretty much. Every coach is different in how they want to get their point across.
"The main thing is, and this is more for the young guys to learn, is not necessarily to hear the yelling, but hear the message in the yelling. He's trying to get a message across to you, and once you get older I think that it's easier to get that message as opposed to being younger."
That's why Mundy's experience is allowing him to fit in at West Virginia.
"I played four years in Michigan, a lot of games and a lot of big ballgames -- three Rose Bowls," he said. "So I can lean on those good and bad experiences to help me, and it's definitely making me a better player right now."
