No Doc Holliday, no problem. The former West Virginia recruiting coordinator, along with former graduate assistant JaJuan Seider, were the Mountaineers two prolific recruiters in the Sunshine State before departing for Marshall, in December.
The WVU staff has realigned its recruiting efforts in Florida and by all early indications, the coaches have their bases well-covered in pursuing the hotbed of high-caliber talent that is consistently produced there. In the 2010 class, the Mountaineers signed three Floridians -- safety Travis Bell, along with wide receivers Dante Chambers and Ivan McCartney -- which tied the state of Virginia with the most players represented from a state, in the class.
For 2011, WVU head coach Bill Stewart, along with assistants Lonnie Galloway and Bill Kirelawich, are already showing up on the trail in Florida, vying for position with a host of highly skilled junior prospects. Among those is Delray Beach wide receiver Herve Coby -- a fleet-footed pass catcher for American Heritage-Boca-Delray, who helped his school claim the class 2A state championship last year.
As a junior, Coby, 6-foot-1, 173-pounds, collected 26 receptions that went for 436 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also played some at the safety position and recorded a pair of defensive touchdowns.
Currently, Coby holds written scholarship offers from WVU, FIU and Buffalo. Marshall, Illinois, Duke, Vanderbilt and NC State are also recruiting Coby, but have yet to give him written offers.
“Right now I’m just looking for the schools that fit me and I want to go somewhere like a spread offense or a school that passes the ball a lot,” said Coby, who runs a hand timed 4.48 40-yard dash.
It appears WVU has an early lead in landing Coby based on the team’s offensive philosophy. “They’re up there with me right now,” Coby said. “I’ll say with my offers they’ve got an advantage because they pass the ball a lot. I’m not going to put anybody on the top or put anybody on the bottom yet.”
Holliday first offered Coby for WVU last September, which is the first month juniors can field written offers from colleges. Since then, Stewart and Galloway have picked up where Holliday left off.
“Coach Stewart sent me letters and him and coach Galloway were by before signing day when they were still trying to get D [Darius Millines],” Coby said of his former teammate Millines, who was committed to WVU for months before decommitting in January and signing with Illinois. “Coach Stewart, when I got a chance to talk to him, he was like, I’m a good target, I’m fast and he likes the way I use my hands, my feet and the positing on the ball. The thing he was impressed on was my speed. He kept saying that throughout our conversation.”
Galloway explained to Coby some specific aspects of how the Mountaineers receivers are integrated within the spread offense. Coby liked what he was hearing.
“It just sounds good. It sounded like something I wanted to be a part of,” he said.
And based on their early interactions, Galloway is building a positive relationship with Coby, which is the same reception nearly all recruits speak of about the Mountaineers receivers coach.
“He’s just cool,” Coby said. “He’s kind of like a father figure. When I talked to him, he just wanted to get to know me. He knew I was talented, so he didn’t say: 'How are you on the field'? He was just trying to get to know me on a personal level.”
Coby admitted he still has much to learn about the WVU offense, but he knows enough to see how his skills as a receiver would make him a fitting addition to the spread passing attack.
“I don’t know a lot about them, but from what I saw, they just do what it takes to win and they put the ball in the air when they need to,” he said.
Earning early playing time is often a chief concern among recruits. Coby is considering this area of his recruitment, but is realistic about the prospect of seeing the field as a true freshman. “I wouldn’t say I want to start my freshman year because it’s a limited amount of D-I schools that you can do that at, but I want to go somewhere that I at least see some playing time my freshman year.”
He already knows Bell, another Floridian turned Mountaineer. “I played with Travis Bell and he was cool. When Darius was committed to them, me, him and Travis kind of talked a little bit,” said Coby. “They would give me pointers and they were basically tying to recruit me.”
Coby has taken unofficial visits to Florida and has plans to trip to Wake Forest, Ohio State, Cincinnati, Florida State and Miami (Fla.).
He is hoping to figure out a way to attend summer camp at WVU so he can familiarize himself more with the program and tour the campus. Coby has family living in Richmond, Va. and says he’s got an uncle living in West Virginia.
“I’m trying to convince my mom to let me go up there for camp. I got family that lives in Virginia,” said Coby. “I’m trying to persuade her while we’re up there on vacation to let me just slide to the camp and see the campus.”