West Virginia is like other college football programs in the sense that recruiting visitors haven’t been on campus since March 12 making technology more important than ever before.

In lieu of in-person visits to campus, coaches and recruiting personnel have instead invested their effort into creating more effective virtual trips see what their program has to offer. That has been no different at West Virginia, as the attention has been diverted into making the virtual offerings an effective peek into what the Mountaineers program is all about on all levels.

The virtual visit, which has several different components, ranges from a virtual tour of the campus and the various facilities to meeting with all of the involved parties as prospects would do on a traditional stop in to see a college program on an unofficial or official visit.

That means touring the weight room, facilities and other offerings to get an idea of what the Mountaineers can bring on that front. Then, as several prospects have posted to social media, it entails getting to know all the various aspects that the program has to offer through a series of meetings.

That means discussions with head coach Neal Brown to get a general idea of the program and then moves to associate athletic director of external affairs Coleman Barnes to get an idea on the Fifth Quarter Program used to help develop the whole student athlete as well as the branding and facilities aspect of things in Morgantown.

On-campus recruiting coordinator Katie Guisto is in charge of the campus tour, while things then transition into the academic portion of things with Brittney O’Dell. Finally, depending on the player things will conclude with a meeting with the coach of their respective position room.

It is as thorough of an introduction to the West Virginia football program as those involved can give without the benefit of being able to actually show the players while they’re physically on campus.

With the dead period extended at least through the month of August, this has become the new normal when it comes to introducing potential recruits to what West Virginia has to offer as a program. There isn’t really another alternative at this time, so that means becoming more efficient with the practice.

That is exactly what West Virginia has been able to do through trial and error as the Mountaineers have already hosted a number of these tours in recent weeks with top prospects. It is a way to get players thinking about West Virginia without actually being able to get them on campus.

“We’re getting better and better at these virtual tours and how we’re taking Morgantown, our university and our facilities as well as everything we’re doing in our program to student athletes,” Brown said.

These virtual visits have taken even more importance of late given the fact that Brown has admittedly backed off of his policy which required prospects to visit prior to accepting a commitment. It simply isn’t feasible with the dead period raging on and no real end in sight. That makes become more effective and efficient on this front critical in a highly competitive recruiting landscape.

“You can’t come up to country roads West Virginia so we’re trying to take country roads to you and that’s what we’re trying to do,” Brown said.

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