I like Geno's attitude coming into the season...

West Virginia's Geno Smith putting in hard work during the offseason

Quote:The offseason is typically a time for football players to take a little time off from the game of football, relax a little and squeeze in some work to prepare themselves for the season. West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith didn't get the memo on doing the first two things this summer though, preferring to put maximum effort into working out this year to make the leap from very good to great signal-caller in 2012.

"Media day is approaching so I have to get ready for that," Smith conceded. "But it's good to be out here and get some work in before."

'Out here' is referring to the Elite 11, a competition pitting 25 of the top high school quarterbacks from the class of 2013 against each other at a Southern California camp. Last week Smith spent several days at the Manning Passing Academy in Louisiana picking up tips from NFL and college coaches -- as well as the Manning brothers, of course -- and he is returning the favor for five days at the Elite 11 as one of six college counselors tutoring the next wave of college stars. It's a familiar setting for the Mountaineers' star player as he passed through the doors of the camp when he was a rising senior in high school.

"It's cool, I was one of the guys out here in 2008 and now I'm a counselor," Smith said. "It's pretty much the same thing for me because I'm trying to get work in, only now I'm doing a little bit more coaching."

"I learned so much here, pretty much everything I do now, from footwork to drills that I work on when I got back home. Just being a diligent film guy too. All of the things (the coaches) talk about, I listened to and it paid off."

Florida State's EJ Manuel, Georgia's Aaron Murray, USC's Matt Barkley, N.C. State's Mike Glennon and SMU's Garrett Gilbert are also filling the role of mentors to recruits just as Smith is. For the West Virginia quarterback, hanging out with the kids that were once in his shoes is a chance to let them in on the secret to doing well not only at the Elite 11 but as a field general in college.

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