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Published Oct 10, 2020
Brown's philosophy pays off for West Virginia football
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Keenan Cummings  •  WVSports
Managing Editor
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@rivalskeenan

Neal Brown’s personal philosophy was on display for all to see against Baylor.

The head coach has always avoided going away from his young players when mistakes occur and never was that more apparent than with what unfolded with redshirt sophomore Bryce Ford-Wheaton.

The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder, was coming off an impressive game against Oklahoma State winning against man coverage repeatedly although the Mountaineers weren’t able to get him the ball. However, against the Bears, Ford-Wheaton had a drop, a personal foul penalty and an unexplainable miscue on special teams where he ran into the returner and the ball was recovered by Baylor.

Still in one of the biggest spots of the game it was Ford-Wheaton that came up big.

In overtime, West Virginia was facing a 1st and goal from the 6-yard line when Jarret Doege floated a ball into the arms of Ford-Wheaton who came down with it for a touchdown.

“Today wasn’t his best day but I’ll say again growth. A year ago, I wouldn’t have been able to find him. He’d have been over on the bench or on the sideline somewhere, today he’s in the huddle,” Brown said. “He had the play on the punt, on our punt return I can’t really explain but it happened. He overcame that too and made a difficult catch in the end zone.”

Brown has always been careful with how he handles young players and compares it to a rookie pitcher that has just been called up to the majors. Just because he might get hit a little bit, that doesn’t mean that you’re going to pull him and allow him to work out some of those kinks.

It’s a balancing act of sorts and Brown believes you have to approach the situation with caution.

“We talk about faith; we talk about trust. And having faith in one another and having trust and I think you’ve got to be really careful,” he said.

Granted if those players aren’t getting it done, eventually you have to make decisions to get somebody that will, but Brown understands the impact that can have on a younger player’s psyche.

“For a young player once that trust or belief goes away it’s really hard for them to overcome,” he said. “I always want to be a coach that our players understand I’m going to have their back and I believe in them.”

It’s a strategy that paid off in the case of Ford-Wheaton and is key in his development considering he is far from a finished product.

Don’t want to take my word for it? Take his.

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That is exactly what Brown wants to see.

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