West Virginia football looking to expand, increase presence in recruiting
In today’s college football recruiting, more and more coaches are traveling to the DMV.
No, not the one you may be thinking of.
This DMV stands for the Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia areas, some of the many places that the West Virginia coaching staff is looking to grow the program’s presence in.
In the 2020 class, the Mountaineers have gained signatures from two prospects in the DMV area in Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha offensive lineman Jordan White and Gaithersburg (Md.) Watkins Mill cornerback David Okoli.
This class is from all over the place with 10 different states and three total countries represented, but the DMV area is one the coaching staff will prioritize when it comes to establishing more connections and relationships.
“The DMV, that’s one of the top, our most fertile recruiting grounds in the entire country and we gotta have a stronger presence in there,” head coach Neal Brown said. “I thought for going in there with in the short amount of time, I thought we did a pretty good job. I’m really excited about the guys we brought out of there.”
The DMV is one of the areas within the six-hour radius that the staff took from Morgantown that needs to be the program’s primary recruiting areas.
Along with establishing a better presence in the DMV, West Virginia is looking to do the same in New Jersey, Ohio and Western Pennsylvania--all of which are within that six-hour radius the staff established.
These three areas have produced West Virginia stars such as tackle Colton McKivitz, linebackers David Long and Al-Rasheed Benton and skill players like Tavon Austin, Wendell Smallwood and among others in recent years.
West Virginia plucked two prospects from the state of New Jersey in tight end Charles Finley and offensive lineman Chris Mayo, marking the first time the program had done so since 2015. This state that has produced numerous playmakers for the Mountaineers in years past with guys like running backs Craig Taylor and Eugene Napoleon hailing from the ‘Garden State’.
Both were on the 1988 West Virginia team that played for a National Championship.
“I think I’ve told this story by coach (Don) Nehlen, he’s talking about his ‘88 team and he’s talking about how many kids were from New Jersey,” Brown said. “I’ve got an appreciation for the players in that state. We have a large student body representation from New Jersey, so I think it’s a good fit in that regard as well, so that’s an area we want to be heavier in.”
There are secondary areas down south the coaches have already established relationships in such as Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. Six of the program’s 18 signees hail from these states.
But the staff’s main priority will continue to be to keep the best in-state prospects home. West Virginia was able to do just that by gaining the signatures of Fairmont offensive lineman Zach Frazier and Bluefield defensive end Sean Martin.
This staff did miss on some top targets in this 2020 class from the areas mentioned above such as Williamstown (N.J.) defensive end Aaron Lewis, Camden (N.J.) linebacker Tirek Austin-Cave, Elyria (Oh.) Elyria Catholic offensive lineman Branson Taylor and Pittsburgh (Pa.) Central Catholic defensive end A.J. Beatty.
Things are still a work in progress in the areas within the six-hour radius after year one under Brown in recruiting, but over time, the West Virginia coaching and recruiting staff will look to increase their presence so that they’re not waiting in line behind other schools in areas like the DMV down the road.
“We’re making some inroads,” Brown said. “But sometimes those in-rows and those relationships take time.”
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