Isdaner Says Offensive Line Progressing Well
Greg Isdaner thinks West Virginia University’s offensive football line this fall should be the best he has played on.
“With all five starters back and some new guys having gotten more work this spring, I certainly would hope we will be better as a unit than we were last year,”
said the third-year starting left guard.
“Everybody is a year older and a year stronger and more physical. So we’re all progressing. Hopefully, this will be the best year for the offensive line that we’ve had in awhile.”
Isdaner, a 6-4, 315-pound junior from Gladwyne, Pa., sat out spring practice to rehab after off-season shoulder surgery. But he said the shoulder is doing very well, allowing him to participate in summer workouts.
He also noted that regular center Mike Dent is getting along fine. Dent’s shoulder operation was a little later than Isdaner’s and he missed spring drills, too
“We’re getting healthy,”
Isdaner said reassuringly. “We should be able to go by August. I think we’re all coming along pretty well.”
Isdaner said there isn’t much difference between workouts under the direction of Mike Joseph than they were under Mike Barwis, now head of the strength and conditioning for football at the University of Michigan.
“There’s a little more diversification in the weight room now,”
he noted. “We’re doing some stuff that’s a little different. But it’s pretty much the same basic fundamentals in reguard to speed."
“I don’t think anyone could be tougher than Mike Barwis. But Mike Joseph is doing a great job with us. I feel like we’re definitely progressing as a team. The summer is going very well so far.”
Isdaner believes the intensity is picking up. He’s looking forward to getting back on the field when preseason practice gets under way in about eight weeks.
“Last year when I missed spring practice, I sorta knew it was a step back,”
he recalled. “But this year I was ready, after a week off, to start getting cranked up again. I’m hoping to have a really good year (in 2008).”
He was one of the leaders up front last season as WVU posted a third straight 11-win record and third bowl victory in a row. He earned All-America status in both 2006 and 2007 and made the All-Big East first team last season.
The coaching staff honored him with the Ideal Mountaineer award and he was named to ESPN.com’s All-Bowl Team. Isdaner was credited wih 57 knockdowns in 2007, including nine against Louisville.
