South Florida has long served as a recruiting pipeline to the West Virginia football program over the years and under head coach Neal Brown that isn’t changing anytime soon.

The Mountaineers have placed a strong emphasis in the talent-rich area led by tight ends coach Travis Trickett who has mined the area for talent for most of his career. That’s nothing new when it comes to the program as South Florida has long served as a critical pipeline, but there has been a renewed focus.

“We have a long history of players from that area in Dade and Broward, even outside of that. They have been big time contributors long before I was here,” Brown said on the Larry Bluestein show.

Over the past two classes, the Mountaineers were able to land Plantation (Fla.) cornerback Daryl Porter and Miami (Fla.) Northwestern outside linebacker Ja’Corey Hammett and are in the mix for a long number of other players in this cycle.

Among players that the program have targeted are Miami (Fla.) Central linebacker Wesley Bissainthe, Plantation (Fla.) American Heritage cornerback Jacolby Spells, Opa Locka (Fla.) Monsignor Pace linebacker Mehki Mason and a host of others. Several of those players have already scheduled official visits to see the West Virginia football program once the recruiting dead period is lifted.

“We’ll be a presence there for a long time,” he said.

One of the things that have helped West Virginia put an emphasis on the area outside of the talent is the fact that the Mountaineers have something different to offer. Given the fact that the majority of the Big 12 teams recruit their roster in the Southwest, it allows West Virginia to square off against teams from the ACC and SEC in Florida to provide something a little different.

“It’s a different brand of football, it’s different. I think it sets us apart,” Brown said. “I think anytime in recruiting that you can differentiate yourself from people you’re going against it’s a positive.”

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