In order to build a team, it takes working on one position room at a time.
And that takes both time and intention to build those position rooms especially if it involves remaking them and trying to change the cohesion at various spots.
It’s a challenge that head coach Neal Brown has learned during his time atop the West Virginia program and those efforts are starting to pay off.
“If you start thinking about your whole team it’s really hard so what you have to do from a recruiting perspective is you’ve got to get the room right. Each individual room you have to get right,” Brown said.
West Virginia made a commitment to do so on both the offensive and defensive lines with the Mountaineers electing to take the developmental path by bringing in mostly high school prospects. That takes time but the coaches had to be intentional with those players being brought in as well as being selective with the few transfers that have been added to the mix.
The Mountaineers are now in the process of doing the same to the wide receiver room after the coaching staff wanted to change the dynamics of that group after an underperforming bowl game against Minnesota at the end of the 2021 campaign.
The coaches have essentially remade the room with new faces and a mix of both young players that have developed in the program along with a few transfers that have been brought in to supplement. Most importantly, the dynamics of that room have shifted with players understanding their roles.
“It wasn’t a great room. The camaraderie wasn’t great, the chemistry wasn’t great so it’s been a process to get that room where they work, they’ve got a really good attitude, there’s good energy and they’re good teammates,” Brown said.
Things still aren’t complete there yet, but Brown is very encouraged with the direction that West Virginia has made both in that room and in others during his time atop the program.
Adding players is a difficult task as coaches must weigh how that will affect the overall position room and if there is a bad attitude they won’t take chances unless the group is in a good place.
“The overall quality of the room will take over,” Brown said.
Personnel-wise, West Virginia also believes that the linebacker spot is where they want it but are still working on addressing the defensive back position. The Mountaineers added five new high school prospects there but still are looking at some transfer additions to round things out even further.
It certainly isn’t as easy as it sounds, but Brown is encouraged by the direction that his team is taking not only with the personnel but the culture of the team, too.
“You have to be intentional. We have to get the rooms right,” Brown said.
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