Brown: 'There's a Formula to Win Big Here'

Through two-plus years, Neal Brown holds a 13-13 record as the head football coach at West Virginia. Sure, it doesn't seem like much progress is being made but the record doesn't tell the whole story.

Brown inherited a depleted roster that lost over 90% of its offensive production to the NFL or graduation. He took over a quarterback room that had Jack Allison and Trey Lowe - both quarterbacks have since transferred to a lower level. Not only did the quarterback room not have a reliable starter but the previous coaching staff completely whiffed on every QB recruit in the 2019 class. You could even say that once December rolled around, the Holgorsen regime failed to make any progress with some of their top targets.

In an attempt to put a band-aid over the quarterback room, Brown went out and brought in Austin Kendall from Oklahoma and Jarret Doege from Bowling Green. Kendall won the starting job in 2019 but failed to progress throughout the season. Doege took over as the starter at the tail end of the year, going 2-1 in three starts. Since then, Doege is 8-6 as the Mountaineers' QB1.

This offseason, Neal Brown and the rest of the offensive coaching staff praised Doege for being "the team's most improved player" but we have yet to see those strides carry over into game action. With Doege struggling, Brown has turned to a two-quarterback system featuring Doege and redshirt freshman Garrett Greene.

If you look at both of West Virginia's losses this season, you see the same thing - critical mistakes in critical moments and a lack of 2nd half scoring. Jordan Lesley, for the 2nd straight year, has the Mountaineers playing defense at an elite level. Holding Oklahoma to just 16 points says a lot. If you're able to do that, you should win. The fact of the matter is, WVU had too many self-inflicted wounds late in the fourth quarter offensively, which ultimately lost the game. You couldn't have asked the defense to do more than what they did. They played lights out. If the offense doesn't turn the ball over vs Maryland, they win. If the offense doesn't have a false start with 2nd and goal at the 1 and doesn't have back-to-back miscues with the snap vs Oklahoma, they win. This team has yet to lose a game due to the other team just simply being better. They've handed away two games and should be 4-0.

The reality is, West Virginia just isn't there yet, but they're close.

The offensive line is still extremely young, there are several young backs behind Leddie Brown that are still developing, and the two young quarterbacks (Garrett Greene & Will Crowder) are making strides but aren't quite ready. Once the offense catches up to where the defense is, West Virginia will be a player in the Big 12 for years to come.

Neal Brown said in his weekly Tuesday press conference that he and his coaching staff know exactly what it takes to have success in Morgantown and take this program to the top.

"I think there's a formula to win big here and that's to play great defense," Brown said. "I think that fits us. We've got to get more explosive on offense, we've got to continue to make strides on defense and we've got to get deeper on defense. But I think we're developing a standard that we're going to play defense at a high level. There have been people that try to outscore everybody. Not here, I'm just talking about in our league in general. I think that's a tough formula when you're playing the Oklahoma's of the world. We felt like if we could establish great defense, play great special teams, and be really efficient on offense, and recruit some difference makers, that's the formula."

The good news is help is on the way for WVU. Currently, West Virginia is set to bring in the highest-rated recruiting class in program history headlined by QB Nicco Marchiol, RB Justin Williams, WR Kevin Thomas, LB Travious Lathan, and CB Jacolby Spells. Not to mention, the coaching staff feels really good about the guys that came in the 2021 class like OT Wyatt Milum, RB Justin Johnson Jr., WR Kaden Prather, and a few others.

Will WVU take a big step in 2022? Probably not. 2023 is the year that will tell a lot about this coaching staff. Next year, Brown will almost certainly be ushering in a new starting quarterback unless Jarret Doege decides to take his extra year of eligibility. The battle will be between redshirt sophomore Garrett Greene, redshirt freshman Will Crowder, and true freshman Nicco Marchiol. This is the first time in years that WVU has had three extremely talented young quarterbacks on the roster all at once. All Neal Brown needs is for one of those three guys to flourish so they have something to build around offensively for 3-4 years. If he gets that, lookout. You know the defense is going to be near the top of the league statistically on a yearly basis. Getting stellar play from the quarterback position on top of solid future recruiting classes will give West Virginia a chance to be in the national conversation more often. Remember, the College Football Playoff is expected to expand to 12 teams at some point in the future.

I'm not here to say that Neal Brown is the next Dabo Swinney and make West Virginia. a powerhouse, but hey, who knows what will happen? It's not like Clemson was considered this national power a decade ago. In fact, from 1991-2010, Clemson was typically a 7-8 win football program that occasionally won nine games and had a few losing seasons. Then, out of nowhere, Dabo came along and completely reshaped the program.

Can Neal Brown's formula to win big at WVU pan out? Only time will tell.

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