Friday, February 16, 2007
Burchette primed for NFL Combine
Randy King
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As one of four Virginia Tech players invited to the NFL Combine, which starts next week in Indianapolis, defensive end Noland Burchette has spent the past month in Orlando, Fla.
A vacation? A trip to Disney World? Not hardly.
"Naw, man, I've been working!" said the 6-foot-2, 263-pound Burchette, speaking via phone Wednesday night.
In what's basically become standard procedure for many college players with pro aspirations, Burchette has been getting specialized training in preparation for the NFL cattle call. In hopes of enhancing his combine stock, Burchette has been one of a bevy of top college players working with noted training guru Tom Shaw.
Shaw, 46, a former strength and conditioning coach for the New England Patriots and the New Orleans Saints, runs a camp based at Walt Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Shaw was one of the forerunners of former coaches and trainers who now run specialized workout programs for players prepping for the combine.
Burchette said the "Tom Show Performance Enhancement" program has worked wonders and has him feeling very confident about his prospects at the all-important combine workouts.
Shaw's training philosophy is simple. Just call it "SPARQ" ...as in speed, power, agility, reaction and quickness.
"Shaw basically just gets you right, really," Burchette said. "He teaches every individual one-on-one and tells you where you need to be better at. He doesn't just send you all out there and everybody's doing the same thing. Certain people have to get better at certain things, so he watches you individually first, and then sees what aspects you have to be better at in every drill.
"He watches you drill ... like you might be better at starting and turning and things like that ... and he breaks everything down. It's just cool. He's somebody who's cool to work with. He knows the game, he knows what's going on, he knows what the teams are looking for."
Burchette said he's increased his quickness and speed in Shaw's two-a-day workouts that run every day of the week but Sunday.
"I mean I was fast, but with [Shaw] just tweaking stuff here and there I've gotten a lot faster," Burchette said. "This is all based on what you're going to face in Indianapolis. And I'm looking forward to going out there. I can't wait to get there, really. I'm ready to show a lot of people that I can bounce back from my broken arm."
Burchette was referring to his left arm, which was broken early in the second quarter of Tech's 31-24 loss to Georgia in the Dec. 30 Chick-Fil-A Bowl. The Richmond native broke the same arm last April in Tech's spring practice workouts.
"I had a plate put in the arm after the first break and this time it broke like a straight-line fracture right where the plate ended at," Burchette noted. "But I had surgery on the Tuesday [Jan. 2] following the bowl game and it's basically 100 percent healed. I've been benching on it and stuff.
"I'm just ready to show people what I can do because I was never the person in the spotlight. I was never the person that people were saying like, 'All right, he was in the paper today so let me check this guy' ... you know, the guy like everybody is talking about.
"Yeah, I'm ready for the combine. I've been in the mirror getting everything right ... lookin' good, man! I'm ready for the Wonderlic [test], too. I can handle that ... common sense stuff, you know."
Burchette will be joined at the combine by fellow Hokies Aaron Rouse (safety), David Clowney (wide receiver) and Brandon Frye (offensive tackle).
Burchette, one of the most well-spoken, plus sometimes most outspoken, players on the Tech squad this season, didn't spare any words when fielding some questions about the Hokies' second-half meltdown against Georgia and the prospects for next season's team in Blacksburg,
Burchette, who played the rest of the second quarter in the bowl game until X-rays at halftime revealed the break, said he's thought many times since how his presence on the field may have helped prevent a second-half collapse that saw the Hokies squander a seemingly insurmountable 21-3 halftime lead.
"I'm not going to say it was the whole key of what happened to how we fell apart, but I think me just being on the field would have helped," said Burchette, one of the most consistent performers on Tech's No. 1-ranked defense.
"I do a lot of communicating with everybody on that field because I can recognize stuff. I know [linebackers] Xavier Adibi and Vince Hall relied on me and Chris Ellis [end] telling them run or pass just by us reading the stance [of offensive linemen]. I think them not knowing those little things about what to anticipate or expect kind of hurt them a little bit."
Burchette said he begged the training staff and coaches to let him continue to play in the second half.
"I told the coaches, 'Man, just give me some medicine and pad me up,' " Burchette said. "I wanted to give the defense a motivational spark. But they wouldn't let me do it."
Burchette didn't mince words when it came to his opinion on Tech's quarterback situation for this fall in the wake of Sean Glennon's turnover-filled performance against Georgia.
"Oh, yeah, you know me ... I'm going to always tell you what I feel," he said. "I feel like they should have been playing Ike Whitaker a long time ago, and, at least, giving Cory Holt a shot.
"I feel like they kind of gave Sean Glennon a couple too many chances. I mean there were a couple of games that Coach [Frank] Beamer would say something ... like after the Boston College [loss], talking about how we're going to have to make some changes because we're going to have to get the ball out of there faster and stuff like that.
"And you play Ike Whitaker the following week a couple of series [against Southern Miss] ... he takes them down there for a touchdown, throws a key block that helped us score a touchdown. Then the following week, I mean, he's done. So you don't give him a shot, but you tell him you're going to give him a shot. I feel like that's something that people need to work on.
"I still keep in contact with the guys up there. They say Ike has come back strong [from alcohol rehabilitation in December] and is working hard. I feel like if he can keep up there's no reason he shouldn't be starting [this] year."
OK ... the man does speak his mind.
How good can the 2007 Hokies be?
"I feel like with the experience they've got coming in on defense and the young people they had on offense who will have that game experience this year, it can only get better," Burchette said. "As long as they have an offense that can control the ball and not turn it over, I feel like they'll be able to compete with anybody because t's going to be hard to score on them.
"Hey, I've already told a couple of the LSU guys who are down here that their guys better be ready when the Hokies roll in there come September."
And where will Burchette be? Working, of course, in the NFL.
"Yeah, yeah ... I'm going to be there," he said. "I'm going to be there on Sundays. You'll see me."
