Genuine approach matters with West Virginia football

West Virginia has placed a priority on family when it comes to the football program.

That starts with recruiting and extends well after the prospects arrive on campus to start their college careers. It’s something that has become a fabric of the DNA of what the Mountaineers coaching staff is made of and is essential in their approach to building a football team.

It was apparent during the summer official visits as the coaches made sure to integrate themselves and their families in every aspect of those trips. That also included a BBQ at head coach Neal Brown’s house and plenty of time to get to know each other outside the lines on the field with plenty of activities and events.

A genuine family atmosphere was one of the most commonly uttered phrases during the course of those trips as players were highly impressed with the top to bottom approach to make them feel welcomed. It’s been one of the critical building blocks of remaking the program in Brown’s image.

But the good news is that it doesn’t end there.

That is the same approach that the coaches take when it comes to their players currently on the roster as evident by the summer get-togethers with each position group and various team activities.

“Most times you do that in recruiting and people just think that’s just a recruiting tactic. But you get here and then do it again and you’re like ‘wow, this isn’t a thing just to get us here this is really who they are’,” co-offensive coordinator Chad Scott said.

Scott bases his entire coaching style off that approach and tries to forge bonds that transcend those that a position coach has with his players. It isn’t just recruiting talk to him, instead it’s part of the process.

“I sustain it. It takes a village to raise these guys, it’s going to not just me, but academics and all the personnel we have here and even the parents even now,” he said. “There might be days where they call me and might say such and such is going on I need you to grab him and put your arm around him.”

Family is a key element in Brown’s program and that is evident by how each player has the ability to put a picture of their own family on a wall inside the Puskar Center and all of the activities designed to build bonds between the other players and the coaches.

It’s a growth that is encouraged inside the walls of the football facilities and it transcends simply being on the same page off the field. It also has benefits on it, too.

“If you know those guys outside of the game you’ll fight that much harder for that guy next to you on the football field when it matters most,” Scott said. “Same with us, if we know those guys and their families as well as we do off the football field, those guys will give a whole lot more to us and know that we’re not coaching them personally. We’re coaching an action and they’ll respond to it better.”

And the reasons for that are obvious.

“They realize coach has taken time to get to know me and my family, so he cares about me beyond the game. It’s genuine to us,” Scott said.

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