WVU’s Gallagher already turning heads as freshman receiver
MORGANTOWN, W.Va — From the moment Rodney Gallagher, a two-sport phenom from just across the West Virginia/Pennsylvania border at Laurel Highlands High School, announced he would attend West Virginia, there was a loud buzz in the air.
This was maybe the best catch of Neal Brown’s freshmen class, a talented athlete who had been eager to play for the Mountaineers for a long time.
But the situation was this: WVU was at a turning point in the school’s athletic history, fighting for respect in a new-look Big 12 Conference in which it was picked last.
Gallagher looked as though he might be a project, not immediate help, considering that he is young at 18, trying a new position as he moves from quarterback to wide receiver, and only a part-time football player, having been an accomplished basketball player.
True, with a receiving corps of unknown quality, there was an opening for him to make a quick contribution, but could he do it?
It is beginning to look like he can.
“Rodney is ahead of what I thought he was going to be for a guy who hasn’t played the position in a long time,” wide receiver coach Bilal Marshall said as he met with the media on Wednesday. “He is starting to really understand the position. He has a knack of how to get in and out of breaks. I knew he was quick. I knew he was twitchy. He catches the ball really well.”
All of that might have been expected from such an athlete, but he also brought a couple of other dimensions that you might not see from others in similar situations.
“Surprisingly, he’s been a capable blocker for a guy who is not as big as the others because he’s only 18 years old,” Marshall said. “He’s not afraid to put his face in it. What I mean by that is if a linebacker or a nickel or Sam is running down his face, he’s going to put his face right in there. He won’t turn his head.”
He accepts perhaps the toughest sell to wide receivers, that you have to be willing to block to go with running routes.
“He’s a lot tougher than I thought he would be, to be honest. He was a highly touted basketball player,” Marshall said. “He’s a tough kid, a hard-nosed kid.”
Fast, athletic and tough … that would be more than enough to fill the bill.
But there’s more, the kind of intangible that makes a player special.
“He has charisma.” Marshall said.
Charisma is hard to define. Michael Jordan had it and it won championships and sold basketball shoes. Tiger Woods had it and it won championships and it sold golf clubs and shoes. Charles Barkley has it and he sells Subway sandwiches and Capitol Credit cards.
“He really is a lovely kid and it kind of shows in his play,” Marshall said of Gallagher. “He likes to have fun, He’s free. That’s something you really can’t coach, how to be free. You just got it. I’m excited to watch him continue to grow.”
Still, it’s been a project for talented kids in high school who breeze through it all on athleticism. You can’t do that when you get to Power 5 football. You need to know what you are doing and why.
“The biggest challenge is learning how to get in and out of routes,” Marshall explained. “From a quarterback aspect, you’re just out there running. You’ve got the ball in your hands. But at receiver you have to understand how to get in and out of routes and understand how to leverage the defender; all the intricacies of playing receiver.
“It’s a big adjustment, but it’s easier if you are a true quarterback moving to receiver because you understand the grand scheme of the offense and the grand scheme of the defense. You can line up in multiple positions and do multiple things. That’s kind of what he brings.”
Having been a quarterback, he sees the game differently than someone who was a wide receiver throughout high school.
“It provides a holistic view of the offense, not just what you have to do but what everyone around you is doing,” Marshall said. “That’s something you try to teach all the receivers. There are times when I even talk about what the O-line is doing so they can understand the launch point of the quarterback.
“I want them to know where the ball is coming from, not just ‘Hey, you got a post ball here or an out route.’ I want them to know where it is coming from and where it will be completed.”
Everyone expects Gallagher to blossom, but the big question is if he can bloom quickly enough.