100th Post: Interview with Dorrell Jalloh

WHAT HIATUS!?!? I was busy tracking down somethin’ special for HailWV.com’s 100^th post. I’m one of those “milestone” types. Anyway, this isn’t going to be a “countdown to kickoff” type of thing, or an exposé on the Dance Team. What I have is way better.

I recently had the opportunity to interview with former WVU Wide Receiver Dorrell Jalloh. Jalloh is going to be featured on Spike TV’s “Pros vs. Joes.” He’s on the team of “Joes” going up against “Pros” like Michael Vick and Isaac Bruce. The interview takes place after the jump…

First thing I asked Jalloh was simply, “what are you up to these days?” He said he played in the CFL (Canadian Football League) for the Montreal Alouettes with fellow Mountaineer Avon Cobourne. He said anytime he did something good on the field, Cobourne would yell, “West Virginia on the field!” Mountaineer Nation has extended into Canada. When asked about his time in the CFL, Jalloh said that everything up in Montreal was different—from the food, culture and language, “I was trying to understand what everyone was saying—they spoke French up there.” Also, being away from friends and family was part of his CFL experience.

As of today, Jalloh is not playing professional football anywhere. Right now, he is in Pittsburgh working for Youth Enrichment Services in Pittsburgh, PA; working with kids. He’s also modeling for a local Pittsburgh talent agency, as well as training for a bodybuilding competition on October 2, 2010. Also, he finished up his Masters Degree in Sports Management at WVU.

He said he plans to visit Morgantown sometime in the near future; he just has his obligations in Pittsburgh. He said he really wants to be in Morgantown for the Cincinnati game this season, because his former positional coach (WR coach), Butch Jones, is now the Head Coach of Cincinnati, and that the Bearcats know a thing or two about the Mountaineers.

When asked about his time in Morgantown, he said some of his favorite moments were just the camaraderie he had with his teammates—such as being with them in the locker room and plane rides. Jalloh also enjoyed the night games—that was a different atmosphere in Morgantown for night games. Those were the moments that stuck out for him.

As far as the two highlight videos on YouTube (which I posted at the end of this entry) of him catching a pass from Pat White against Auburn in 2008; as well as catching the key 2-point conversion in that 3OT game against Rutgers in 2006, he said he couldn’t describe those feelings in words other than, “crazy things that happened!” When I asked him about the cold weather for that Rutgers game, he said that because of the turf on Mountaineer Field made up of recycled tires into rubber pellets, that rubber hardens as it gets cold. So, I believe the fans shouldn’t take bundling up for granted for the cold games.

In deviating from WVU football and his professional career, I asked him about his favorite NFL team, the Dallas Cowboys and how he thought they’d do this year. He hesitated for a second, then said, “I think they will do OK, to be honest. If they keep on working hard, they’ll be alright.”

Going back to WVU, HailWV.com asked him a question from one of our readers. Jeremy from Martinsburg posed the following question to Dorrell Jalloh: What were the differences between the team under Rich Rodriguez vs. Bill Stewart?

He laughed and asked if we were trying to get him into trouble; I assured him that nothing like that was going on, and I assured him the question focused more on coaching styles, and how practices were ran. He said Coach Rod was tougher on everyone, and would work them until their bones hurt. He also said that Coach Rod had the WRs blocking during drills. As far as Stewart goes, Jalloh said that he was more focused on getting his WRs the ball, and knowing that they were veterans, wanted to come up with a game plan to get him and other WRs the ball. He said while Stewart and Rodriguez had obvious coaching differences, he said the one thing he saw in both of them was they wanted to win. There was no quit in either coach.

Editor’s note: As much as I rag on Bill Stewart, I’m starting to develop more and more respect for the guy, and this interview increased that respect.

I finally got to the heart of this interview and asked him about his recent time on Pros vs. Joes. He said that he was chosen for the show because they (SpikeTV) wanted players that already had experience, but haven’t had a chance to show their talents, potential, charisma, the whole package. He said, “it was a great feeling and opportunity; they are true professionals who do everything with class and professionalism, who do things the right way.”

As far as actually being out on the playing surface against the “Pros”, Jalloh approached it with a “need” mentality: “I need to be out here… I need to be signed right now. Keeping up with them, the same knowledge. What do I need to do to put myself in the right situation?” Jalloh even received some advice from one of the pros; “Issac Bruce told me to be patient, wait for your time.”

Finally, he does have future plans to resume his pro football career; “I believe I will make it in the NFL; I’ll just be patient and keep working. I will weigh my options.”

Be sure to catch Dorrell Jalloh on Spike TV’s “Pros vs. Joes”, tonight at 10pm ET on SpikeTV.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter @hailwv.

Jalloh 2pt conversion catch vs. Rutgers in 3OT, 2006

Jalloh TD reception vs. Auburn in 2008