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Neal Brown isn’t opposed to alternative ways to build his roster.

That was on display with his first recruit at West Virginia when he dipped into the graduate transfer market to pull Austin Kendall from conference opponent Oklahoma. As if graduate transfers aren’t outside the box enough, Brown nabbed a quarterback from inside his own league. But as with most things when it comes to the 35th head coach of the Mountaineers it isn’t just about the end result.

It’s about the journey on how you get there.

“I knew (Kendall), knew him personally, I knew his family, and I think there has to be a relationship with those transfers. You just don’t take them because they are available,” Brown chimed in.

Junior college recruiting and the transfer market were staples of the previous coaching staff in Morgantown and while they weren’t as big of a factor under Brown at Troy that doesn’t mean they won’t be as he transitions to his new surroundings.

When it comes to junior college prospects, Brown unsurprisingly takes a different approach to that as well. Instead of using it as a quick stop gap with little connections when a need arises either in the early or late periods, there is a long game at play there, too.

“You treat it like high-school recruiting, where you get to know them over the course of a year,” he said.

That involves tracking prospects in high school and then following them to their stops at junior colleges so you already have a built in understanding of their situation and why they’re there. It’s a formula that worked well at Troy and while he admittedly has to figure out the landscape in Morgantown that is tentatively the plan when it comes to targeting those prospects in the future.

“You have to have a longer relationship than a couple weeks,” he said.

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West Virginia has already taken advantage of one change to the rules governing visits, could another one be in play in the coming months?

That was the question I proposed to Brown after the Mountaineers utilized the new legislation which permitted them to bring back prospects for an additional official visit after a head coaching change. It served as a key component in how the program closed down the stretch with a dozen players that either signed or would eventually sign with West Virginia taking advantage of it.

That allowed those players to get back on campus and build relationships with the new coaches.

But what about another change to the visit rules? Beginning in 2018, college programs now have the option to bring juniors on official visits in the spring. It was something that the old coaching staff passed on in the first year but could it be something that Brown plans to utilize in their approach?

“It’s probably too early to tell, honestly,” he said. “We don’t have a feel for them just yet.”

Could that change? Absolutely as Brown admits that once he is able to get used to his new surroundings and how things work in the spring and summer he will be more equipped to make a determination.

But for now it’s more of a reserved approach.

“Until I get a good feel for everything that’s here in Morgantown,” he said.

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Brown was a walk-on himself at the University of Kentucky so he understands the importance of that group when it comes to developing a football team. There is a sense of passion, pride and just something special when those players come from within state borders.

Adding to that is the success that West Virginia has had with walk-ons over the years, so don’t expect any changes on how that area is approached in the future. It remains an important part of the puzzle.

“That’s a legacy we want to continue for sure,” he said.

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