Changes coming in all three phases under Brown

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A new era for the West Virginia football program with Neal Brown now at the helm will bring some changes to the team’s offensive and defensive schemes as well as special teams.

So what exactly is going to change?

Starting with the offense, some overlap and similarities from Brown’s style to previous head coach Dana Holgorsen’s can be expected.

Brown has an air-raid style background having served as the offensive coordinator at Kentucky from 2013-2014 and also playing for the program during the late 1990's under then-Wildcats head coach, Hal Mumme, who was one of the founders of the air-raid offense.

“On the football side, offensively, you all know my background. That’s why I am here,” Brown said during Thursday’s introductory press conference. “We’re not changing that. We’ll be a fast-paced, attacking offense. We’re going to get playmakers in space and put points on the board.”

In the past, West Virginia has shown the ability to adapt offensively to different styles of quarterbacks with Geno Smith, Clint Trickett and Will Grier primarily serving as pocket passers and Skyler Howard serving as a dual threat.

The one thing, though, that remained the same during the Holgorsen era is West Virginia was never afraid to air it out.

To go along with this, Brown of course likes to air the ball down the field and create explosive plays, but he has never been married to one offensive system according to Troy play-by-play announcer, Barry McKnight, who explains Brown’s offensive background below.

“We’re a get-it-done offense, by any means necessary to win the game,” Brown said.

Although the run game and offensive line have been inconsistent at times, the Mountaineers have demonstrated an ability to run the ball effectively over the years. Brown is also looking to do just that with West Virginia as well as create big plays which the Mountaineers have been no strangers to.

This past season alone, West Virginia averaged 14.49 yards per pass which ranked 14th in the country. The Mountaineers also ranked eighth in the country in total offense, averaging just over 512 yards per contest.

“We’re going to shots down the field, create explosive plays,” Brown said. “We’re also going to be very physical up front, we’re going to run the football.”

Overall, there will be some similarities between Brown’s style and West Virginia’s from the past as mentioned earlier, but the Kentucky native is bound to change some things up to keep defenses guessing.

“I don’t think they’ll be identical in any way,” Brown said comparing his offense at Troy to West Virginia’s. “We’ve added some options elements to what we’re doing in the run game just to make us harder to defend. But I do think, especially in some pass concepts, there will be some crossover.”

What’s coming defensively?

Well, Brown confirmed during Thursday’s presser that his defensive coordinator at Troy, Vic Koenning, will be joining him in Morgantown, replacing Tony Gibson.

“On defense, we’ll be aggressive, playing fundamentally-sound football with one goal of getting the ball back. We want our players reacting, not thinking,” Brown said. ”Vic has a history of putting together some of the top, attacking defenses in the country.”

It’s unclear what scheme(s) West Virginia will specifically run defensively, but it could be anything from a 3-4 to a 4-2-5--schemes Troy’s defense have run under Koenning.

The special teams phase is also an important emphasis for Brown as described by McKnight below. West Virginia, who’s generally inconsistent in this area, took step forward in the special teams department last season led by kicker Evan Staley who went 16-for-20 on field goals and 59-of-60 on extra points.

Brown led Troy to a No. 1 ranking in special teams efficiency this past season, according to ESPN.

“On special teams, we will be opportunistic,” Brown said. “I view them as offensive opportunities.”

These changes shouldn’t come as any surprise since this is typical of most new coaching staffs at a school. More shifts and changes are certain to occur once Brown assembles the rest of the coaching staff and the players are fully evaluated.

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