Neal Beal held his radio show on Saturday ahead of his team hitting the road to face Cincinnati this weekend.
Brown spoke on the health of his team, a defensive coordinator change, and what to expect from the Bearcats this weekend.
Injuries
There was not much change from Monday's press conference for Brown on the injury front, but he did get into detail on specific guys, including quarterback Garrett Greene.
Greene, who missed WVU's game two weeks ago against Arizona, was said to be doubtful on Monday, according to Brown. On Thursday, Brown said Greene is still doubtful but gave some insight on his status, including that he will make the trip this weekend.
"Still doubtful, there’s a chance, but I would say he’s doubtful," Brown said.
Elsewhere on the injury front, Jaden Bray is out this week, but Brown said he hopes he's back for Baylor or UCF.
On defense, Aubrey Burks is out, and they're still trying to figure out if he'll be back this season. Ayden Garnes is also out this week, and Brown said it's to be determined if it will be for the remainder of the season.
Defensive Coordinator Change
Last week the Mountaineers made a change on the coaching staff, moving on from Jordan Lesley and promoting Jeff Koonz to the defensive coordinator position.
"He took over in a really difficult time back in 2020 when Vic had that situation going down," Brown said. "He took over, he was ready, we had a top 10 defense in the country in 2020."
Brown added part of the reason for making the decision was the inconsistencies on the defensive side of the ball and wanting to create more turnovers.
"This year we’ve just been inconsistent. It got to the point we knew we were going to have to make a change at the end of the year," Brown said.
As far as Koonz goes, Brown said he has a lot of experience and is excited for his transition to this position.
"He’s coached both safeties and linebackers during his career and he’s called defense so I thought it was kind of a natural step for him," Brown said.
Cincinnati Game
The next opponent on the schedule for the Mountaineers in Cincinnati.
The Bearcats are the closest geographical team to WVU in the Big 12, and they are 5-3 on the season.
One player on Cincinnati Brown is familiar with is Jared Bartlett, who played in 50 games for West Virginia before transferring to UC this past season.
"Jared was here, and Jared wanted to play linebacker, and he played kind of the edge for us… he’s playing a mike linebacker position for them, and he wanted to play standing up," Brown said. "His departure here, he was very clear on why. He was here for five years, he’s got a degree from here, he’s got really good connections from here."
Brown also talked about Nicco Marchiol probably getting the start for the Mountaineers and what he's going to have to do to be successful.
"I think it starts with understanding the structure of the defense and how they get to their looks… we’ve got to keep it simple for him," Brown said.
Finally, Brown said the game will be won or lost in the small areas, especially if it's close late.
"Ball security, turnover margin, who can score points when there’s a turnover, and then who can score touchdowns in the red zone," Brown said of what matters the most this weekend.
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