Neal Brown Comments on Akheem Mesidor's Departure

West Virginia head coach Neal Brown held an unscheduled press conference on Wednesday afternoon to let the media know that defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor has entered the transfer portal.

Visibly hurt by the departure, Brown went into great detail on Mesidor's decision and the current state of the program.

"We've had a situation that I want to address and you all deserve to know. I want to be up front with you all about it because you all do a rally good job of covering us. So, late Tuesday, end of the day, I learned that Akheem Mesidor was going to enter the transfer portal. Candidly, I was surprised. I would even say that I was very surprised.

"Every college program in the country is dealing with some kind of loss due to the portal. We've had our share, you all have documented that fairly. In some of our cases, it was in the best interests of both parties. In some of our cases, I preferred for them to stay, but I really understood the reasoning. Most of the time, you really sensed them coming, right? Change of behavior...but not this one. Akheem is a great kid. He was excelling in the classroom and on the football field. I love Akheem Mesidor. I'm not angry about it. I'm not upset. I think the best emotion that I would use and these are probably words that football coaches aren't supposed to use would be hurt or maybe just sad. I would say personally, I hurt because the investment and more so just the relationship. Really close to him. Talk about a year recruiting, two years in the program. And I hurt for Coach Lesley and Coach Jackson as well.

"I'm not upset. I'm not angry but I sit here more resolute, more confident, and more committed in my beliefs in how to run a program than I've ever been. I believe into pouring into the student-athletes. I believe in going all-in. I believe in building an infrastructure and surrounding them with support staff that pours into them, serves them and create a culture of accountability.

"Here's the thing, there's going to be some days that are going to be tough like the last day and a half where you lose some guys that you're really, really invested in. But I believe if you do it that way, there's going to be a lot more success stories than there are ones that go away. And I believe that in every ounce in my being. This is important too, like I want our fans to understand too, I believe in the young men in our program. We've had five practices here. It's the most excitement we've had. It's the most competitiveness we've had. My staff and I are really excited about these guys and the work that they've put in over the last eight weeks over winter and the last two weeks of spring ball. We're off to a great start in the '23 recruiting class. I feel very confident that we're going to have some good news here in the weeks to come. I feel very, very confident that the 2023 class will be the best one that we've signed here. When I say this, like, the best is yet to come and I believe that.

"The last thing I kind of want to leave with is this. In 154 days, we're going to line up at Heinz Field and play and we're going to go out there with a damn good football team. We're going to go out there with a group of guys that believe and are committed to this University and to this state and they're going to play their ass off for the name on the front and the name on the back."

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