This summer big brother is more than just a reality show in the West Virginia football program.

That’s because inside the Puskar Center head coach Neal Brown has implemented a new plan designed to help freshmen and newcomers acclimate to Morgantown. The program is aptly named big brother and pairs experienced players on the football team with newcomers based on their position or personality.

The goal is simple in that it’s designed to create interactions between players on the team and help those adjusting to being a football player at West Virginia feel more comfortable in their new surroundings.

The program was put in place around three weeks ago and players are assigned activities in order to spend time and get to know their little brothers such as eating dinner together or playing video games.

“It’s gave a way for these young guys to be where they need to be faster and ultimately spread their wings,” senior defensive end Reese Donahue said.

Donahue, who will enter his fourth year this coming season, was paired with freshman defensive end Jalen Thornton and has looked at the appointment as an honor. The in-state native recalls how difficult it was to adjust to college football and he didn’t have to travel far to do so and had been to campus dozens of times over the course of his life as a fan of the program.

“You’re in a new environment. It’s hard enough to move, it’s hard enough to get acclimated to this program let alone be a playmaker or someone you can rely on in the fall,” he said.

Redshirt junior T.J. Simmons has been paired with freshman wide receiver Winston Wright and has already found that he shares many of the same interests. The two watched the NBA Finals at Simmons’ house and has embraced serving as a mentor as Wright tries to find his way.

“We sit down and talk with them and have that line of communication. We are basically an older guy to look up to and talk to and somebody you’re comfortable with and can get advice from,” he said.

JoVanni Stewart, a senior safety, doesn’t have a little brother on the team but still has embraced the role of mentoring others that have come to him since arriving on campus. The interactions between the older and younger players on the roster help to make the newcomers feel like they’re a part of the team from the starting instead of trying to feel things out over time.

Only now a sophomore WILL linebacker Josh Chandler recalls when he arrived as a freshman last season and how much he had to learn on his own. That’s why he makes his interactions with his little brother Tykee Smith, a projected spear on the roster, matter.

“I just help guide him through different things and maybe some things I didn’t get initially coming in. I just give him advice to better prepare him than I was,” he said.

The goal is to bring the football team together, something that Brown has been trying to do with many of his activities and competition aspects since his arrival as the head coach.

“Coach Brown always says that close teams win football games and we’re going to be in a lot of close games so we have to find a way to be where we want to be,” Chandler said.

Still a young player himself, Chandler believes that the experience also has helped not only him but the other players on the team gain an understanding for the newcomers on the roster. In the past many of the freshmen often worked out with themselves and didn’t become part of the bigger unit until fall camp.

That hasn’t been the case this year by design.

“It’s cool to be around them,” Chandler said.

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