Out of the frying pan and into the fire

A few years ago, racing down the field toward the end zone with his teammates cheering him… A few years ago, racing down the field toward the end zone with his teammates cheering him on, LeSean McCoy realized they weren’t cheering for him, but yelling for him to turn back.

“All I remember is I got the ball and for some reason I ran to the other end zone,” McCoy recounts sheepishly. “Everyone was yelling ‘No!’ and I was like ‘No? I scored!’ Then I saw guys coming to tackle me, so I ran around to my end zone and scored.”

McCoy hasn’t had any major mishaps since then, and he’s not likely to anytime soon.

In Saturday’s game against Grambling State, McCoy ran for 107 yards on 19 carries and had three touchdowns in the first 11 minutes.

Fellow running back LaRod Stephens-Howling started in Saturday’s game, but left with bruised ribs sustained from a vicious tackle.

Both players were highly touted during summer training, but McCoy says all the hype about them being bitter rivals is unfounded.

“That’s one of my good friends on the team if not one of my best friends,” McCoy said. “He’s such a good guy, he’s so smart. Even in this off-the-field stuff he’s a good guy. We joke all the time.

“He’s been here for three years – he knows the system. I’m here to help him and also help my team. I’m pretty cool with the situation. I look at it as I’m on his team. The good thing is I know I will play.”

After McCoy’s breakout performance against Grambling State, Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt acknowledged the talented young freshman as a standout tailback.

“I’m ready for [McCoy] to be our featured tailback, and I think LeSean is ready for that,” Wannstedt said after Saturday’s game.

A freshman recruit from Milford Academy, McCoy had previously played at Bishop McDevitt high school in Harrisburg, but he suffered a devastating ankle injury his senior year.

He had run for 859 yards with 10 touchdowns on 83 carries that year, but remembers only approximate numbers in regards to his records.

“I ran for what, 6,000 or 7,000 yards?” he said. “It sucks I got hurt my senior year.”

In fact, McCoy finished ninth on Pennsylvania’s all-time leading rushing list with 6,640 yards and 75 touchdowns. Scout.com also rated him the nation’s No. 7 running back.

McCoy said the coaches were a huge factor of getting him to play at Pitt and that Wannstedt is truly “a player’s coach.”

“I’ve been to so many places in the country,” McCoy said. “I’ve been to USC, I’ve been to Miami. There was something special about Pitt.”

McCoy wears the jersey number 25 and says it’s because of Reggie Bush.

“When I went to visit USC, I met Reggie Bush,” McCoy said. “He was my host, and he’s a cool player, and I just liked the way he carried himself. I thought if I want to be a great football player, I want to carry myself like him. He’s a great people person. He’s a good guy, you know?”

Another player McCoy admires is his brother LeRon, who plays for the Arizona Cardinals. McCoy credits him for getting him interested in football in the first place and said it’s pretty cool to watch his big brother on TV.

“[When we were young] I’d see him playing with his friends and everything, and I thought I want to do that,” McCoy said.

But his earliest memory is playing Pee Wees.

“I was a safety,” he said incredulously. “I was about 5 years old. I was just standing there chewing on my mouth piece, not on the line, not anything, just out there.”

A communications major, McCoy would like to be a sports analyst someday.

“I kind of like dealing with sports, and some of my favorite players are sports analysts now,” he said.

McCoy, who was surprised by the incredible show of support the fans gave him when his name was announced during pre-game, *TL said playing in his first college game was “a great experience.”

“I’ve never seen so many fans,” he said. “I was a little nervous.”

Another other college first is simply living day-to-day life and learning how to manage his busy schedule.

“You’re not at home where you’ve got your mom telling you what to do and all that,” he said. “You’ve got class. You’ve got practice. You’ve got to eat. You’ve got tutoring.” And he’s got an incredible season waiting for him.