Neal Brown Speaks to Bilal Marshall's Hiring

Marshall is reprising his role on the WVU coaching staff; from graduate assistant to wide receivers coach, here's what Mountaineer fans can expect from one of WVU Football's newest hires.

Gold and blue is a fitting color combination for WVU Football's new wide receivers coach, Bilal Marshall.

Marshall spent 2020-21 with the Mountaineers as an offensive graduate assistant (wide receivers) before nabbing his first position coaching spot at Virginia Military Institute with the same group.

It's a position room that Marshall knows like the back of his hand; he played four seasons for the Purdue Boilermakers, racking up 47 passes for 549 yards and a trio of touchdowns.

Following his stint at VMI, Marshall stepped away from coaching for a brief rendezvous in the salesforce. He worked as a sales manager for Empire Today in Miami, Fl., but found that business left him far away from his calling.

"He went and worked in sales, and was doing really well, and decided that's not where his passion was," Brown said. "He came back to us as an older guy starting his professional career. I think you're going to see some real growth out of our group there.

"Probably as good of a young coach as we've had," he continued. "I thought it made a lot of sense to bring him back. He's going to be an elite recruiter as he gets experience. He's a really good teacher on the grass."

Brown spoke to Marshall's youth as a selling point. Marshall's communication with potential recruits stuck out, and in the era of a swift and superficial transfer market, roster management is of the utmost importance.

"It used to be, you've got to be able to recruit and develop," Brown said. "Now, it's that you've got to recruit, develop, and retain. You retain the guys that you really need to retain... His ability to relate is going to help him in that. I've seen him recruit firsthand on campus. He does a really good job with all different types of players, all different kinds of backgrounds, all different kinds of geographic regions."

Welcome back to #AlmostHeaven, @Coach__Lal!

MORE » https://t.co/kiHRB5ewoa#HailWV pic.twitter.com/AVX2ykV6Wv

— West Virginia Football (@WVUfootball) January 2, 2023

Marshall inherits easily the program's most questionable depth, but Brown is confident in his ability to change the tides of next season's youth.

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