BROWN HAPPY TO BE AT WVU
August 22, 2011 08:53 AM | General
When Devon Brown asked for a release from his scholarship at Wake Forest, one of the first places he thought about calling was West Virginia.
Brown, the Northern Virginia player of the year his senior season at Stone Bridge High after rushing for more than 1,700 yards and scoring 29 touchdowns, said he always had his eye on the Mountaineers even though the Mountaineers never really had their eyes on him.
Brown knew Ryan Clarke when Clarke played high school ball at DeMatha and he was good buddies with former Mountaineer star Brandon Hogan, Devon admitting that they would sometimes talk about attending college together.
“This was actually the place coming out of high school that I was interested in, but I didn’t have an offer,” Brown said last week. “Brandon and I wanted to go to college together, but we couldn’t do that.”
Devon said he also considered FCS power James Madison before ultimately choosing Wake Forest, and three years later when he decided to move on, his good relationship with James Madison actually helped steer him to WVU.
“JMU was a place I actually thought about going to and that’s when I decided to go to Wake. My recruiting coordinator there, we had a good relationship, and I still talk to him from time to time,” Brown said. “He knew Coach (Shannon) Dawson and he gave me his number and it took off from there.”
Brown got in touch with Dawson and asked him if there were any openings on the Mountaineer roster for the 2011 season, his last as a college player.
“I just told them who I was and what my situation was and how I got his number,” Brown recalled. “He was just talking to me and with the offense they run they were short on receivers, especially in the slot. They moved (tight end Tyler) Urban to the slot and he told me to get him a tape, they looked at it, and I guess they liked what they saw.”
Brown led the Demon Deacons in receptions last year with 39 and had 61 catches as a sophomore in 2009, but most of those were around the line of scrimmage on bubble screens and short routes across the middle. Brown admits he was looking for an offense that would allow him the freedom to do more than the stuff Wake was permitting him to do.
“At Wake they basically ran the same offense we did when Coach (Jeff) Mullen was here. He brought their offensive system and their schemes here and Jock (Sanders) ran like little, short crossing routes and ran little bubble screens,” said Brown, who says he really likes Coach Dana Holgorsen’s offensive philosophy of dictating things to the defense.
“The biggest thing I like about (this offense) is they are going to run their offense and make the defense adjust to the offense,” Brown said. “They are not going to adjust their offense according to what the defense does. That was like a big decision point for me, and it made me want to be here because I knew we were going to spread the ball and throw it, run it, and I wasn’t going to have to worry about running four-out one week and no tight end, and then the next week use the tight ends. We did that a lot at Wake; here I know what it’s going to be.”
What Brown offers WVU is another experienced guy to put into the mix at wide receiver. Presently Brown is working with Urban at Y.
“He’s more along the line of Tavon (Austin) and Jock Sanders last year,” Holgorsen said. “He’s got game experience and he’s got a great attitude. You talk about a kid who is happy to be here playing in this type of offense and making the most of it. I’ve coached a bunch of seniors that this is their last go-around and you get a lot out of them.”
To make sure he fit in, Brown got Hogan to give him the cell numbers of some of the guys on the team so he could get to know his future teammates a little better.
“He gave me Tavon’s number when I was thinking about coming here and I talked to Tavon before I came here,” Brown said. “I came up here a few times during the spring and I got to meet a few people, so the transition was a lot easier than I expected it to be.”
Getting along with the guys was important to Brown, but equally important was getting along in the system.
“At Wake I would just run underneath routes and little, short five-yard speed-outs. Here, if I am one-on-one with the linebacker, I have the option of doing different things. I can go down and beat him over the top,” Brown said.
Brown said the coaches frequently talk about “finding grass,” which means get to an open area in the defense.
“They give you a distance of between 12-14 yards and they tell you to find the open spot,” Brown explained. “That definitely gives you a lot of freedom to use your ability and your skills.”
And gaining more freedom was exactly what Brown was looking for when he decided to move on from Wake.
He says he couldn’t be happier right now.
“I am loving everything - just being around the guys,” he said. “I was worried when I came here, but I definitely fit in well, and everyone has accepted me well and I like all of the guys who are here.”
Brown, the Northern Virginia player of the year his senior season at Stone Bridge High after rushing for more than 1,700 yards and scoring 29 touchdowns, said he always had his eye on the Mountaineers even though the Mountaineers never really had their eyes on him.
Brown knew Ryan Clarke when Clarke played high school ball at DeMatha and he was good buddies with former Mountaineer star Brandon Hogan, Devon admitting that they would sometimes talk about attending college together.
“This was actually the place coming out of high school that I was interested in, but I didn’t have an offer,” Brown said last week. “Brandon and I wanted to go to college together, but we couldn’t do that.”
Devon said he also considered FCS power James Madison before ultimately choosing Wake Forest, and three years later when he decided to move on, his good relationship with James Madison actually helped steer him to WVU.
“JMU was a place I actually thought about going to and that’s when I decided to go to Wake. My recruiting coordinator there, we had a good relationship, and I still talk to him from time to time,” Brown said. “He knew Coach (Shannon) Dawson and he gave me his number and it took off from there.”
Brown got in touch with Dawson and asked him if there were any openings on the Mountaineer roster for the 2011 season, his last as a college player.
“I just told them who I was and what my situation was and how I got his number,” Brown recalled. “He was just talking to me and with the offense they run they were short on receivers, especially in the slot. They moved (tight end Tyler) Urban to the slot and he told me to get him a tape, they looked at it, and I guess they liked what they saw.”
Brown led the Demon Deacons in receptions last year with 39 and had 61 catches as a sophomore in 2009, but most of those were around the line of scrimmage on bubble screens and short routes across the middle. Brown admits he was looking for an offense that would allow him the freedom to do more than the stuff Wake was permitting him to do.
“At Wake they basically ran the same offense we did when Coach (Jeff) Mullen was here. He brought their offensive system and their schemes here and Jock (Sanders) ran like little, short crossing routes and ran little bubble screens,” said Brown, who says he really likes Coach Dana Holgorsen’s offensive philosophy of dictating things to the defense.
“The biggest thing I like about (this offense) is they are going to run their offense and make the defense adjust to the offense,” Brown said. “They are not going to adjust their offense according to what the defense does. That was like a big decision point for me, and it made me want to be here because I knew we were going to spread the ball and throw it, run it, and I wasn’t going to have to worry about running four-out one week and no tight end, and then the next week use the tight ends. We did that a lot at Wake; here I know what it’s going to be.”
What Brown offers WVU is another experienced guy to put into the mix at wide receiver. Presently Brown is working with Urban at Y.
“He’s more along the line of Tavon (Austin) and Jock Sanders last year,” Holgorsen said. “He’s got game experience and he’s got a great attitude. You talk about a kid who is happy to be here playing in this type of offense and making the most of it. I’ve coached a bunch of seniors that this is their last go-around and you get a lot out of them.”
To make sure he fit in, Brown got Hogan to give him the cell numbers of some of the guys on the team so he could get to know his future teammates a little better.
“He gave me Tavon’s number when I was thinking about coming here and I talked to Tavon before I came here,” Brown said. “I came up here a few times during the spring and I got to meet a few people, so the transition was a lot easier than I expected it to be.”
Getting along with the guys was important to Brown, but equally important was getting along in the system.
“At Wake I would just run underneath routes and little, short five-yard speed-outs. Here, if I am one-on-one with the linebacker, I have the option of doing different things. I can go down and beat him over the top,” Brown said.
Brown said the coaches frequently talk about “finding grass,” which means get to an open area in the defense.
“They give you a distance of between 12-14 yards and they tell you to find the open spot,” Brown explained. “That definitely gives you a lot of freedom to use your ability and your skills.”
And gaining more freedom was exactly what Brown was looking for when he decided to move on from Wake.
He says he couldn’t be happier right now.
“I am loving everything - just being around the guys,” he said. “I was worried when I came here, but I definitely fit in well, and everyone has accepted me well and I like all of the guys who are here.”
Gold-Blue Spring Festival Fan Recap
Sunday, April 19
John Neider | April 18
Saturday, April 18
Coach Zac Alley | April 18
Saturday, April 18
Coach Rich Rodriguez | April 18
Saturday, April 18
