West Virginia focuses on transparency with pressures of the portal
West Virginia head coach Neal Brown believes in transparency with his players.
And all parties involved understand that the spring transfer portal window has opened which means that decisions will need to be made across the board.
“We don’t avoid it. The portal is open. It’s not like everybody is walking around here saying I hope they don’t figure out the portal is open, right? They know it,” Brown said.
With the portal open to undergraduate players until April 30, players on the roster will have individual choices and with those come a variety of factors and pressures to consider.
For some NIL opportunities will be a driving factor, while others deal with people in their inner circle or outside of it offering advice on how players should handle the process.
There is no cookie cutter example that can be applied to every situation.
“There’s this comparison component that wasn’t there when I was playing which doesn’t seem too long ago,” Brown said.
While there are a lot of benefits to being a Power Four athlete, there are pressures as well and Brown understands that as the new college football landscape has taken shape in the past few years.
“Money is a factor. The experience you’re having is a factor and I think your individual situation is a factor. They’ve got to think about those things,” he said.
Brown has made it clear to his team that he wants everybody who practiced and has been in the team meetings to remain with the program when spring concludes but understands the decisions at hand.
And as part of that, the coaching staff has to keep a watchful eye on what could come next. The Mountaineers are likely to remain active when it comes to bringing in additional players both in the secondary where the Mountaineers need more depth and on the defensive line, although that second position could be determined based on how players progress back from injury.
There could be other spots as well depending on what unfolds.
It’s a non-stop balancing act in the realm of roster management in today’s game of college football but the Mountaineers are hoping that transparency plays a key role in retention and recruitment.
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