To be perfectly clear, West Virginia University's athletic department is not designing a Web site to promote Patrick White's candidacy for the Heisman Trophy.
Oh, there is a Web site and it will be entirely devoted to the senior quarterback from Daphne, Ala. However, the official mission, as defined by Assistant Athletic Director for Communications Michael Fragale, is "a tasteful way let you know what Pat White is up to each week."
Of course, the updates and the information will largely shape the minds of voters for several awards White figures to be in line for this season, none bigger than the Heisman Trophy, but the Web site will make no mention of the prize.
Not even in the still unknown site address.
"The goal of the Web site is to say, 'Hey, this is Patrick White. He plays at West Virginia and he is one of the best players in the country,'"
Fragale said. "Hopefully people can come and learn something about Patrick every week and have fun while they do it."
"If they want to see what he did last week or what his stats are this season, they can do that. If they want to look at that great run against South Florida in 2005 - and remember, that game wasn't on TV - they can do that. If they want to see what he did to lead us back from an 18-point deficit in the Gator Bowl in 11 plays, some of those plays are going to be on there."
The publicity is a departure from recent practices at WVU, which went along with former Coach Rich Rodriguez's philosophy that the team's success would breed individual success. It worked just fine as individual awards in different and unprecedented varieties found their way to campus.
Yet shortly after the Mountaineers won the Fiesta Bowl, Fragale, Director of Football Communications Mike Montoro and Director of New Media John Antonik discussed a vehicle to promote White.
"We said, 'Let's celebrate him and all the wonderful things he's done for WVU,'"
Antonik said.
They agreed the time had come and they proceeded with their plans once given the blessing by White and Coach Bill Stewart.
"He's our Tommy Frazier, our Peyton Manning,"
Antonik said. "If you think about it, in the history of our school there's really nobody close to him in terms of winning and statistics. When you look at what he's already done and what he stands to do in terms of history this season, this was the right time to finally go down this route."
In many ways, it's the perfect wave for WVU. White needs 115 yards to become the school's all-time leader in total yards and 784 yards to become the NCAA's all-time leading rusher among quarterbacks.
The two-time defending Big East Player of the year, White was already named to Playboy's preseason All-America team and will soon join a list of others. In addition to the Heisman Trophy, White is a sure candidate for every other available prize at his position.
The Web site, designed in partnership with Blaine Turner Advertising, will debut next month. It will feature all of White's statistics, many of which will be broken down extensively, plus video clips of his time with WVU and even before when he was in high school and midget leagues.
White will contribute personal information, like lists of favorite players or favorite songs, and add an interactive element as he answers letters submitted to the site.
"You don't have to do much promoting because most of it is already out there and he has a lot of things on the horizon,"
Montoro said. "Everything you need to know about Pat White is already out there. If he keeps breaking records and keeps his name out there, it's only going to grow. It's a matter of him doing it on the field and a matter of us keeping up to date with it. Our end of it is pretty easy."
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RESERVE QUARTERBACK Charlie Russell has left the team. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound redshirt freshman was an All-State player at Morgantown High and helped the Mohigans win 38 of 41 games and a pair of Class AAA state titles. He passed for better than 2,800 yards and 35 touchdowns in two seasons as a starter.
Russell originally chose WVU over offers from Marshall and Kentucky and interest from Nebraska, Penn State, Connecticut and Georgia Tech.
