West Virginia football counting on maturity and trust

By design West Virginia is operating under the personnel limits with fall camp underway.

The Mountaineers currently have around 100 players practicing, ten under what is allowed for camp. The goal is that if things continue to go well, that number will expand especially with school starting and that total increasing to 125.

That is important because there is the possibility that the program could lose players as well for a variety of reasons.

“I told our players it’s a right to be on the football team. It’s a right and you can lose that right,” West Virginia head coach Neal Brown said. “Now, the trust within teammate to teammate is so important.”

That is especially true with students returning to campus and the dangers that can bring related to the spread of COVID-19. That eliminates the bubble like environment that has been created with football at the center and forces players to be responsible for their own actions.

“Anytime they choose to do something then they are bringing that back to their team,” Brown said. “So if it gets to the point where we have guys that are repeat offenders or can’t follow the protocols then they can’t be part of this.”

Ultimately, while Brown can and has discussed coronavirus related issues with his team by showing them articles and more, the players have to police themselves. That is difficult for some, especially because you are technically asking for mature decisions out of some players that aren’t at the point in their life to make those choices. That’s where others can help.

Some of that can happen through leadership from older players on the team to showcase the importance of following the guidelines but in the end the players have to follow the protocols.

“We got a large number of our guys that want to play and if there’s people on our football team that are interfering then they are reporting,” he said. “I think that’s positive.”

Being able to avoid some of the situations that arise from students returning to campus is a challenge, but it’s one that must be navigated and is critical for football.

“Is it going to be 100-percent? No. Are we going to have some issues? Absolutely. That’s dealing with this age group but we’ve got some ways to monitor it the best we can,” he said.

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