Brown explains West Virginia defensive coaching changes
West Virginia head coach Neal Brown knew he wanted to make some changes on defense.
In the off-season, safeties coach Dontae Wright took the co-defensive coordinator role at Troy and when assembling what the group of assistants would look like this coming fall Brown elected to switch things up and not directly replace the outgoing spot.
The first of those changes involved removing defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley from his role of coaching the outside linebackers and allowing him to oversee the entire defense. It was a move that Brown felt was in the best interest of the unit as it would allow Lesley to bounce between the positions.
“I want him to be more involved with each of the groups and I think that will help him from a relationship standpoint,” the sixth-year head coach said.
The only new assistant came in the form of Victor Cabral who came to West Virginia after coaching for Appalachian State. He steps into the role vacated by Lesley at outside linebackers, and it was a key hire for Brown as he wanted to address that spot with an experienced assistant.
Cabral is just that as he has coached in the style of defense that the Mountaineers are using and has been productive during his time at previous stops.
A former defensive lineman, Cabral has coached the position for 15 years and his unit at his latest stop Appalachian State displayed considerable growth from the previous year with 86 tackles for loss and 35 sacks both ranking in the top half of the Sun Belt Conference.
“His units have been really productive, especially rushing the passer and I think that’s something we’ve got to get better at. Overall, our TFL and sack numbers have been pretty good, but we need to win more in one-on-one situations,” Brown said.
But with the addition of Cabral that meant that West Virginia would not have a coach directly assigned to the safeties as Wright was before. That too was by design as Brown wanted the unit to be together at all times in order to hear the same language and be on the same page.
The plan is to move those spots around between various positions and secondary coach ShaDon Brown is completely comfortable in that role. It also helps that Lesley will be able to bounce around when needed and the Mountaineers have both qualified graduate assistants and analysts in Jevaughn Codlin and Tre Bell to assist there we needed.
“ I thought it was important for that group to meet together,” Brown said.
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