West Virginia, Brown sees similar dynamic to last season heading into 2024
West Virginia head coach Neal Brown knew his team was being overlooked last season when the Mountaineers were picked dead last in the Big 12 Conference preseason poll.
Now, a year later West Virginia isn’t slotted last in the league, but Brown sees many similarities with his team being undervalued once again. The Mountaineers were picked seventh by the league’s media this off-season in the 16-team configuration of the Big 12 but still seems low to those in the program.
“I think there’s a similar dynamic that works with this team, too,” he said.
West Virginia rallied around the No. 14 last season and this year is coming off a 9-4 campaign with a strong close to the year including a win in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl while returning a lot of production.
“I look at most of these preseason top 25’s and we’re not in it, with a team that finished strong last year that returns a lot of production and has one of the most dynamic players in college football in Garrett Greene,” Brown said. “We were the number one power four rushing offense in the country last year and we’re picked seventh in the league.”
The sixth-year head coach made it a point to say that several of his players are being overlooked such as Greene at the quarterback spot and offensive lineman Wyatt Milum.
“And I could go on and on,” he said.
West Virginia returns six of their top eight offensive linemen from a season ago although one of those departures is massive in starting center Zach Frazier. Still, the experience up front is something that the offense can lean on especially with the return of the top two rushers in Jahiem White and CJ Donaldson.
The Mountaineers also return tight end Kole Taylor who led the team in receptions and the bulk of the production at the wide receiver position which he expects to take a significant leap.
“Excited about that group and what our potential is on offense,” he said.
Defensively, the Mountaineers returned the bulk of the defensive line group which was highly productive in all statistical categories while the linebackers will have another year of experience under their belt. The secondary was the biggest question mark on the roster, but Brown likes what his team did in the portal there.
“So, looking forward to getting that group complete and working with them in all camp,” he said.
West Virginia also returns all of their specialists across the board from last year, giving the program a lot of experience at key spots all over the field in the same schemes and systems.
It isn’t quite the level that West Virginia was largely dismissed prior to last season, but Brown believes that his football team still has plenty to prove despite the strong campaign in 2023.
“Lot returning from a group that won nine games and finished off with a big win against North Carolina in Charlotte,” he said.
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