Dead Period has Caused Significant Gaps in Mountaineers Recruiting

College football programs around the country have adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic and one of the biggest challenges is recruiting. In a world of social distancing, campus visits and home visits are on hold and as a result, there has been a significant increase in facetime and Zoom calls, but there are intangibles on and off the field that are missed.

The West Virginia coaching staff solidified all 16 of their commits on the first day of the early signing period. Now, there are six spots available for the 2021 class, but with the lack of in-person visits and the quality of the recruits that signed, head coach Neal Brown and his staff felt that reaching for kids they were unsure of was unnecessary.

“The one thing that we’re really missing is we’re really able to make a significant difference and gain momentum on guys when they come on campus because a lot of times what they see is better than what they expect, and then they are able to feel whether at a home football game or a home basketball game the real presence of our fanbase,” said Brown. “And so, when you take out the ability to come here and experience our fan base, that was something that was detrimental to our class as far as being able to touch some guys that maybe hadn’t been here before.”

The West Virginia coaching staff unable to travel to high school games across the country due to NCAA’s recruiting dead period and give a live evaluation is something that can be viewed on video, but it’s all the areas of football the camera doesn’t capture that the staff misses.

“The one-piece that you’re missing on the evaluation is nontangible, I guess is the best way to put that,” said Brown. “Obviously, you watch a kid practice. You can see how they win one on ones or what’s their first step looks like or footwork and all that kind of stuff and sometimes it's easier to tell in person than it is on video but what you miss is, what’s the communication like between teammates? Are they the first in line where they’re going? How do they take coaching when their coach is trying to correct them or give them constructive criticism? How do they take that? Are they viewed as a leader? Is the guy locked in? I’m probably more on the side of that’s what we’re missing from these live evaluations… It’s the nontangible stuff that you miss when you’re not able to go to the schools.”

Then, there is also the element of home visits. Coaches being able to sit in a recruit’s home and talk to the family is a valuable piece for the Mountaineer coaching staff to build relationships and understand their surroundings.

“What you don’t get is, you don’t get the understanding of where a kid comes from, you know? What has he been accustomed to, or what are some family traditions that are really important, or what kind of neighborhood? Who are the people in the town? Those types of things you can’t replace those. You can’t zoom into every hometown,” said Brown.

Neal Brown also mentioned a couple of high school kids who will be signing with the Mountaineers in February, and some of the vacancies will be filled with transfers, primarily with four years of eligibility.

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