One Move Could Help WVU Prosper in 2022

After a second losing season under head coach Neal Brown, WVU must make some serious progress in 2022 or this coaching staff may be history. It may sound brutal but this is a results-oriented business and if the results aren't there, people lose their jobs.

So what exactly does Neal Brown need to do this offseason to get things trending in the right direction? In my opinion, it starts with hiring a full-time offensive coordinator.

Since Brown has been on the job, he has called the plays. The offense has not seen any progress in the three years he's been in Morgantown. Part of that could be on quarterback play and a lack of playmakers but a lot of the blame needs to be placed on Brown's shoulders. He tends to stray away from the run game too much and makes roughly 6-8 questionable play calls every game.

Not only would hiring a coordinator increase the chances of a better product on the field but it would also allow Brown to oversee the entire operation. A head coach already has enough things to worry about on gameday and having to plan out each drive and each play call is a lot to handle. There are several head coaches that call plays but the vast majority of Power Five schools have the OC call the shots.

When Dana Holgorsen was in town, he learned after a while that it was much less stressful and it allowed him to do more during the game, hence the hiring of Jake Spavital in 2017.

Who could the coordinator be? Well, he could promote Gerad Parker or Chad Scott to handle the duties rather than looking outside the program. Parker does handle some of the red zone play-calling, so if it's someone already on staff, my money would be on Parker. As far as outside candidates go, well, that could be just about anybody. Brown has coached with a lot of folks over the years and tends to hire guys he's worked with or has some sort of connection to, which most head coaches do. The three guys that immediately come to mind are listed below.

Sean Dawkins - UNC Charlotte running backs coach/running game coordinator

Dawkins played for Troy in 2006-07 when Neal Brown was the inside receivers coach. He then came aboard Brown's staff at Troy as running backs coach after stints at West Texas A&M, Huntingdon College, UT-Chattanooga, and Austin Peay. In 2019, his first season on the job at UNC Charlotte, Dawkins helped engineer the best rushing game in school history with 2,639 rushing yards. The 49ers averaged 203.0 rushing yards/game which ranked 30th in the nation and tops among all C-USA schools.

Kenny Edenfield - South Alabama offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach

Edenfield has 31 years of coaching experience and was an assistant at Troy for over nine seasons (2008-17). He coached alongside Neal Brown for six seasons and served as the co-offensive coordinator and inside receivers coach during Brown's time as the head coach at Troy. In 2017, the Troy offense averaged 31.5 points per game and averaged 270 yards passing per game and 420 yards of total offense per game.

Tommy Mainord - North Texas co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach

Mainord and Brown have some history working together as well. They both were on Tommy Tuberville's Texas Tech's staff from 2010-12 and then at Kentucky from 2013-14. Mainord has done an excellent job with the offense at North Texas averaging over 30 points per game in each of the last three seasons and has coached C-USA Player of the Year QB Mason Fine and WR Jaelon Darden who was named the C-USA MVP in 2020 after catching 74 passes for 1,190 yards and 19 touchdowns.

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