West Virginia football head coach Neal Brown took the podium earlier this afternoon to talk about his team entering the 2024 season.
Brown began the press conference with an opening statement. “Thank you all for being here. proud to represent our university in the state of West Virginia. Excited to be a part of the new Big 12.” He then introduced the four players in attendance, being Sean Martin, Aubrey Burks, Garrett Greene, and Wyatt Milan. “Glad that they’re here representing our team. They’re about the right things.”
He then continued, sharing his excitement about the upcoming season with his team. “We returned one of the most dynamic play makers in the country and Garrett Greene, returned an offensive line that were extremely proud of, also have a tight end that led us in receiving in Kole Taylor, and then a really good one-two punch at running back in Jahiem White and CJ Donaldson, and then a young receiving crew that we think is going to make a huge jump… excited about that group and what our potential is on offense.”
Brown then gave some praise to the defensive side of the ball. “Defensively, we return most of our defensive line that was highly productive in Sacks and TFLs and playing the run. A young linebacker group that we feel like is going to be much improved and then secondary is kind of the question mark for us, and we went out and addressed that in the portal, and so(we’re) looking forward to getting that group complete and working with them in fall camp.”
“A lot returning from a group that won nine games and finished off with a big win against North Carolina in Charlotte,” Brown continued, now turning his attention towards the beginning stretch of the 2024 season. “We’ve got a challenging schedule open up with Penn State, and we’ll have our hands full, but we’re really looking forward to that contest.” Brown then opened up the floor for questions.
Brown was first asked if it was easier to develop the character or the identity of his team going into the season. Brown opted to speak from a program perspective: “I think the character piece is, a lot of that happens through recruiting and making sure you have processes and systems in place to make sure that you’re bringing in the right type of individual and people with character and then you try to develop that character once they’re on campus, the identity piece for us is something that we really spent a lot of time on, really over the last 19 months of who we need to be to be successful in West Virginia. We felt like we found that, and our team is bought into it and more importantly, our leadership of our team is.”
“We’re going to be a tough unit that’s really disciplined, that plays smart football, and we do those things with an underdog mentality with a chip on our shoulder.”
The next question fielded to Brown was about wide receiver Jaden Bray, an addition to West Virginia after he transferred from Oklahoma State over the off-season. When asked what Bray can bring to a developing wide receiver core, Brown gave one of his newest weapons high praise. “Jaden, well… he scored a touchdown against us last year, so we once he went the portal we couldn’t beat him so we felt like we needed to get him on our team. But Jaden is really talented and I thought he was slowed by injuries last year.”
“He had a couple really big games. He’s a tremendous human being, first of all. So he’s been a great addition to our locker room. Type of character he has, how he was raised. Those are all real positives. And he’s long. He can jump and he can run, and so now for us, it’s about getting that production from a week-in week-out perspective, but I’m excited to coach him. He’s been a joy since he got (here) in January and I think he’s sitting on really not just one, but two quality high production years.”
The next question for Brown was about the “chip on your shoulder” mentality the team carried last year after being selected at #14 in the Big 12 Preseason Poll. When asked how his team responded to the criticism and fueled their success, Brown made it clear that the team rallied around it. “I sat up here a year ago and we were picked 14th and I said we wouldn’t be there and our team proved me right. I said that a year ago because I knew what we had on both fronts; to win in college football, you’ve got to be really talented at skill positions and you got to have some difference makers there, but you got to win the trenches, and you’ve got to win on your offense and defensive line. I knew that we had those type of guys and they were experienced and they had been productive.”
While confirming his team’s rallying cry, Brown looked even higher for more inspiration. “Now it’s similar, you know, we’re sitting here, we’re coming off 9-4. I look at most of these Preseason Top 25s, we’re not in it. With a team that finished strong last year that returns a lot of production that has one of the most dynamic players in all of college football in Garrett Greene. We were the number one Power Four rushing offense in the country last year, and we’re picked seventh in the league. And, we’re not in most of these Preseason Top 25s, so I think there’s a similar dynamic that works with this team, too.”
Brown continued with his answer, believing many of his players are undervalued. “You know, Garrett Greene. He’s not getting talked about as much as some others and his production speaks for itself. Wyatt Milum, we feel like he’s as good or better than any offense lineman in the country, and he’s our starting left tackle. And I could go on and on.”
Brown’s next question was about West Virginia’s Week 2 opponent, Albany. The Great Danes are coming off an FCS Semi-Finals appearance last season and are a strong FCS opponent. Brown was asked what it takes to mentally prepare a roster for a game like that. Brown’s response began by stating he has a “great amount of respect” for Albany. Brown faced Albany while coaching at Sacred Heart University, his first full-time head coaching job. “They’ve really grown. And yeah, national semifinalists last year. So we should have scheduled a little better, honestly with our FCS opponent.”
“Once that Penn State game’s final, you got to move on and you move on to Albany, and then you get ready to play.”
Brown’s next question was about the ramifications that the Week 1 game against Penn State holds. He was asked about how important it is for the Big 12 Conference if West Virginia or anyone else can record a victory against a team like the Nittany Lions. Brown embraced the importance in his response. “I think the Penn State game is huge for us. That’s a regional rivalry… that’s not a rivalry that’s gone in West Virginia’s favor very often. And so that’s a great opportunity for us.”
“But it’s not just a big game for West Virginia. It’s a big game for our league. It’s an opportunity for our league in this new Big 12, without a couple of schools that have been a part of the Big 12 for a long time in that first weekend on a marquee stage to show what kind of football that we play in this league. Whether it’s West Virginia or any other program in the Big 12 gets those kind of marquee wins, our brand will continue to grow.”
Brown continued, mentioning how the Big 12 needs to “make some noise” in the college football playoffs. He also agreed with Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark’s opinion, saying that the Big 12 is the most competitive league in college football. “I would say we’re the deepest football league in the entire country… but we’ve got to have more wins in the playoff once we get in.”
The penultimate question given to Brown was about how he would split carries between Garrett Greene, Jahiem White, and CJ Donaldson in the backfield. “I think offensive football is about getting your best players to football, any way possible, right? And so we have Jahiem White coming back who I thinks dynamic. He finished the year off really strong, and he’s only going to be a sophomore, and so I think he’s ready to take the next step and he’ll be a premier player.”
“CJ Donaldson was kind of beat up last year, he’s a big powerful running back. I really think he’ll go back and… remind our fan base and college football fans across the country what he showed as a freshman in the type of potential he has. And then Garrett Greene’s an elite runner. We also have some receivers who get involved with (running) too, Rodney Gallagher, who we used quite a bit last year… so there’s going to be those be enough touches to go around, but that’s part of the game plan. You got to figure out how to get your best people to ball and get them in a situation in space where they can make plays.”
The final question Brown answered dealt with the changing landscape of college football with NIL in effect. Specifically, Brown was asked how he has used NIL to strengthen relationships with his players, along with getting the community to invest in players more. Brown responded by wishing it was as simple as “just a local concept”. “I think you got to think big picture on this, and from an NIL standpoint, from a head coaching perspective, it’s money in and money out. And we’re tasked with a lot of the money coming in… I’ve grown in that realm of how to do it and how to be productive in it.”
He then mentioned how he tries to figure out what donors and supports of the program want to help with what. “There’s some that are really interested in NIL. There’s some that are really interested in in facilities, and you got to figure out which people to go to… there’s definitely a fundraising piece to the NIL that I don’t know if anybody’s arrived at it, but we feel like were in a better rhythm.”
Moving onto the players, Brown noted the importance of relationships. “Everything you do in life’s about relationships. And what we talk about is if you can if you can garner those relationships, you can build those relationships, then it’s only going to increase your value while you’re at West Virginia and beyond.”
Brown concluded with one final remark about how the media feels about West Virginia’s football team entering the 2024 season. “Thank you all, again appreciate y’all being here and… y’all must think a little bit better of us this year, we had a few more questions so I appreciate that.”
