Neal's deal: Five key items from West Virginia football
WVSports.com looks at the weekly press conference from West Virginia head coach Neal Brown and determines the five most interesting topics of discussion.
We examine what was said as well as what it means for the football team both this week and moving ahead as the Mountaineers navigate the 2021 schedule.
Next up is a bye week with West Virginia at 2-4 and the head coach dove into some key topics not only for this week but the rest of the season.
1—Bye week is for improvement. West Virginia isn’t anywhere close to where head coach Neal Brown believed they would be entering the season as the Mountaineers sit at 2-4 entering the bye week. Brown broke the ice by simply saying this isn’t a funeral, the football program has lost a couple games. This team is physically and emotionally spent after three consecutive losses, two in the wanning moments of the fourth quarter and the coaches have a plan in place for this week.
The team was given off two-days following the 45-20 loss to Baylor and now the work will begin on how to address the issues that have been plaguing this group. There is clear frustration for everybody in the building and Brown understands the frustration from the fan base as well. He said that he’s always looked at it as an entertainment business and when a team isn’t performing that opens the doors for fans to complain just as they would at a movie or with bad service at a restaurant. He believes that is fair but while it is entertainment, it’s the livelihood for everybody in the football facilities.
The job is now to get it fixed and not to be reactionary while doing it. Bye weeks are used to reflect on what has gone well and what hasn’t from both an individual and team aspect in each phase of the game. Then the coaching staff must find ways to repair it and readjust moving forward.
There is a sense of doom and gloom right now with the program, but Brown believes that he can’t approach it that way with six games still remaining. It’s easy to lead when things go well, but when they don’t you have to rely on the leadership from the coaches and the players to help address those issues. This team has lost some close games but also played poorly and the focus is now on playing better football moving forward and using this bye week to get the most out of what’s left in the year.
The coaching staff must find ways to put the team in a better position and get the most out of their players moving forward. That requires attention to detail, practice and listening on how to develop the best plan not only to prepare for TCU but the other five games on the slate.
2—Brown trusts in the plan. When Brown took the job he admitted that he knew it wasn’t going to be a quick turnaround. That’s not going to fire up anybody in the fan base, but it also doesn’t excuse the fact that this team hasn’t been able to close games in the fourth quarter and played poorly at Baylor. He expected his team to take care of business in some of those 50-50 opportunities and ultimately that hasn’t happened, and the Mountaineers find themselves at 2-4 on the season.
But what’s important is even with the current start, Brown has confidence in the direction of the program and the fact West Virginia will have success in the future. There are things that are non-negotiable from a program and schematic standpoint in each phase of the game, and he isn’t expecting to use the bye week to create massive overhauls on that front.
But that doesn’t mean there won’t be adjustments. The head coach hasn’t lost faith in his team, or his staff and the quest now is to reflect on what has happened to correct it. The coaches must find ways to continue to build on the positives while identifying what needs fixed and how to hide the deficiencies.
West Virginia can’t continue to do some of the things that haven’t worked and that’s what this week is for when it comes to building a plan moving forward. Does that mean giving younger players more of an opportunity to be successful or simply readjusting the set plan?
Everything is on the table, but the basic beliefs and tenants of the program aren’t changing because Brown isn’t hitting the panic button with his team.
3—Transfers key, but not only means. There is no question that at season’s end West Virginia is going to have to use the transfer portal to address some key concerns on the roster. Among those are at linebacker, offensive line and in the secondary. And while it is a certainty that the coaching staff is going to be aggressive in filling out those positions it won’t be the only means of building the program.
Brown believes that from a developmental standpoint, West Virginia must continue to hit on high level high school prospects for a number of reasons. One, while there are misses in both categories, the high school prospects allows you to develop kids over time instead of missing on a one-year or two-year option. That means you shouldn’t expect the Mountaineers to make a wholesale change and take 15 transfers this off-season instead of the typical amount of 5-7.
The head coach has a plan for how he wants to build the program and ultimately he will be responsible for the results good or bad, but to get to where he wants to go a mix of both is necessary.
4—Updates on players. Brown provided several updates on players across the roster starting with the fact that Tennessee defensive line transfer Darel Middleton is no longer with the program. Expected to play a larger role as the season continued, Middleton instead only played a total of 19 snaps across three contests with the Mountaineers. On the subject of safety Kerry Martin, who did not make the trip to Baylor, Brown said that he had been sick and only suited up for practice Monday while missing the remainder of the week providing an answer to that question.
In terms of the developmental players, Brown believes that many of them are making progress but some of them are still likely a year away from being able to contribute to the team in a meaningful fashion.
Freshman quarterback Will “Goose” Crowder has shown positive signs, especially in the leadership department where he already might be one of the best on the entire roster. He also has gained weight and the game has started to slow down for him which has led to two positive Monday night football scrimmages in a row. At the running back position, Justin Johnson played against Baylor and has shown the ability to rip off some nice runs but must continue to improve in his pass protection. The other running back Jaylen Anderson has battled an illness and just started practicing after arriving late.
Along the offensive line, left tackle Ja’Quay Hubbard is likely the closest to helping this season with his effort but he continues to build his strength after cutting a lot of weight last year to get in shape. The coaches also are optimistic on the early development of Tomas Rimac, who is starting to learn how to really pass protect after playing in a predominantly run-based scheme at the high school level. He is likely a year away from contributing.
Both of the young tight ends in Victor Wikstrom and Treylan Davis look like the ones that West Virginia has squared off against in the Big 12 as far as blockers and being able to catch the ball.
On the defensive side, lineman Hammond Russell has done a good job on scout team while several defensive backs could in line for time moving forward such as Saint McLeod and Aubrey Burks. Davis Mallinger, a former high school wide receiver, also is somebody that plays fast and is likely going to get more time on special teams for the time being given his speed.
5—Recruiting. Bye weeks often mean a shift to recruiting and that is no different here as well. Of course, the team is the primary focus, but the off week allows coaches to hit the road and start to build for the future as well. The coaches were on the road Monday and are expected to do the same Thursday, Friday and Saturday in order to attend games and see players in person.
One other interesting aspect is the fact that given new legislation, West Virginia will be able to sign 32 players in this class as teams are able to recoup 7 scholarships from players that have exited the program via the transfer portal. Brown is still figuring out the details on how it will work, but the measure is going to provide some immediate relief when it comes to filling out the roster.
Because of that new rule, Brown believes that West Virginia is going to be able to take several more positions than they would have been able to such as an additional high school defensive lineman, a high school and transfer defensive back, another linebacker and likely two more wide receivers.
The Mountaineers currently sit with 17 commitments in the 2022 class, but things should continue to move on that front as the season and off-season continue to progress.
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