Preparation Helps Lyons Get His Guy
January 08, 2019 01:41 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Two things guided West Virginia University Director of Athletics Shane Lyons in his search for a new football coach: Warren Buffet and a list.
Buffet's contribution came in the form of a quote that is pinned prominently behind Lyons' desk. A paraphrased version of it reads, I want somebody intelligent and somebody with energy, but foremost, I want somebody with character.
Character, of course, is the operative word.
As for Lyons' list, it's an envelope-sized index card of names he always keeps with him – just in case.
He's had that card ever since 2015 when he became West Virginia's 12thathletic director – just in case, and there have been additions and deletions to it as the years have gone by.
When Lyons isn't watching West Virginia games he's watching other games, watching highlights, watching scores, observing coaches or catching their press conferences on YouTube – just in case.
Well, the just-in-case list Lyons always keeps with him became operative early last week when Dana Holgorsen decided to accept Houston's offer to replace Major Applewhite.
That set in motion a whirlwind week that had Lyons spending nearly all of his time parked in his office with senior staff members Keli Zinn and Steve Uryasz. The trio spent New Year's Eve at the WVU Coliseum until they finally broke away just in time to catch the last few minutes of the Sugar Bowl.
Then, it was back to the Coliseum for another long, 17-hour day to ring in the New Year.
"It's about preparation," Lyons said earlier this week. "We talk about preparation for our athletes and how they need to be prepared for games. Well, I have to be prepared, too. I can't sit here every day and say, 'Well, nothing is ever going to happen and I'm not going to lose my coach.' You never know what's going to happen, so I was always preparing along the way during my four years as athletic director."
Failing to prepare is preparing to fail … a John Wooden quote, of course, and although it's not displayed behind Lyons' desk, his preparation played a big role in getting the right guy for West Virginia University football.
Troy's Neal Brown turned out to be the right guy.
"First and foremost, what I wanted in a coach was a person with character," Lyons explained. "I wanted somebody who is going to follow the NCAA rules, do it the right way as far as institutional policies go and so forth.
"I wanted somebody intelligent and somebody with energy, and then it expanded to are they a winner? Do they have head coaching experience? That was really important to me," Lyons admitted.
Of course, those things could easily be researched.
After that, he wanted a coach who matched the culture of the school and the state. Does he understand West Virginia University? Does he understand West Virginia and West Virginians?
Getting a better handle on that couldn't be determined until there was a face-to-face meeting.
"Until we sat down with Neal and we had a chance to go through pretty much a seven-hour interview and we talked about his organization and what he wanted to do for the student-athletes, it quickly came out that he was a fit," Lyons said. "He grew up in Kentucky where the people are very similar to West Virginians.
"The more we listened to him, the more it became apparent that he was our guy," he said.
And while Lyons' team had done its legwork, Brown had also done his homework on West Virginia University.
Brown's knowledge of West Virginia University's situation was impressive when he sat down to meet with Lyons and president E. Gordon Gee.
"Obviously, this was as fast-paced for him as it was for us," Lyons said. "Once he knew we were interested he probably had 48 hours to know as much about West Virginia as he could in that short amount of time - knowing as much as he could about me as an athletic director and as much about Dr. Gee as a president that he could.
"Our football program, our tradition, our history and our expectations, we talked about those," Lyons continued. "He did as much homework as he could on us, which was very impressive to say he wanted this job, cared about the job and wanted to be here."
Once the initial meeting with Brown was finished and the group was able to digest all that had transpired, it became quite clear to everyone involved that Brown was the one.
Lyons' experiences working with Nick Saban at Alabama and some of his other stops along the way helped guide him in what he was seeking in a football coach.
"So much happens behind the scenes in football," he explained. "You win football games out of season. You win it in recruiting. You win it in preparation going into the game and trying to get your student-athletes to compete at the highest level they can compete at.
"I felt Neal met that criteria," Lyons added. "You can look at his Troy teams and what he did winning more than 10 games three seasons in a row, three bowl wins and conference championships. He's preparing his teams for success."
So now that Lyons has his guy, all that's left to do is officially introduce Neal Brown to Mountaineer Nation on Thursday morning.
In the meantime, West Virginia's AD can now get caught up on everything else sitting on his desk.
"I was pretty much off the grid," he laughed. "I couldn't tell you what day it was. Half the time, I couldn't even tell you what time it was."
As for his list, Lyons can put that away – hopefully, for a long, long time.
Buffet's contribution came in the form of a quote that is pinned prominently behind Lyons' desk. A paraphrased version of it reads, I want somebody intelligent and somebody with energy, but foremost, I want somebody with character.
Character, of course, is the operative word.
As for Lyons' list, it's an envelope-sized index card of names he always keeps with him – just in case.
He's had that card ever since 2015 when he became West Virginia's 12thathletic director – just in case, and there have been additions and deletions to it as the years have gone by.
When Lyons isn't watching West Virginia games he's watching other games, watching highlights, watching scores, observing coaches or catching their press conferences on YouTube – just in case.
Well, the just-in-case list Lyons always keeps with him became operative early last week when Dana Holgorsen decided to accept Houston's offer to replace Major Applewhite.
That set in motion a whirlwind week that had Lyons spending nearly all of his time parked in his office with senior staff members Keli Zinn and Steve Uryasz. The trio spent New Year's Eve at the WVU Coliseum until they finally broke away just in time to catch the last few minutes of the Sugar Bowl.
Then, it was back to the Coliseum for another long, 17-hour day to ring in the New Year.
"It's about preparation," Lyons said earlier this week. "We talk about preparation for our athletes and how they need to be prepared for games. Well, I have to be prepared, too. I can't sit here every day and say, 'Well, nothing is ever going to happen and I'm not going to lose my coach.' You never know what's going to happen, so I was always preparing along the way during my four years as athletic director."
Failing to prepare is preparing to fail … a John Wooden quote, of course, and although it's not displayed behind Lyons' desk, his preparation played a big role in getting the right guy for West Virginia University football.
Troy's Neal Brown turned out to be the right guy.
"First and foremost, what I wanted in a coach was a person with character," Lyons explained. "I wanted somebody who is going to follow the NCAA rules, do it the right way as far as institutional policies go and so forth.
"I wanted somebody intelligent and somebody with energy, and then it expanded to are they a winner? Do they have head coaching experience? That was really important to me," Lyons admitted.
Of course, those things could easily be researched.
After that, he wanted a coach who matched the culture of the school and the state. Does he understand West Virginia University? Does he understand West Virginia and West Virginians?
Getting a better handle on that couldn't be determined until there was a face-to-face meeting.
"Until we sat down with Neal and we had a chance to go through pretty much a seven-hour interview and we talked about his organization and what he wanted to do for the student-athletes, it quickly came out that he was a fit," Lyons said. "He grew up in Kentucky where the people are very similar to West Virginians.
"The more we listened to him, the more it became apparent that he was our guy," he said.
And while Lyons' team had done its legwork, Brown had also done his homework on West Virginia University.
Brown's knowledge of West Virginia University's situation was impressive when he sat down to meet with Lyons and president E. Gordon Gee.
"Obviously, this was as fast-paced for him as it was for us," Lyons said. "Once he knew we were interested he probably had 48 hours to know as much about West Virginia as he could in that short amount of time - knowing as much as he could about me as an athletic director and as much about Dr. Gee as a president that he could.
"Our football program, our tradition, our history and our expectations, we talked about those," Lyons continued. "He did as much homework as he could on us, which was very impressive to say he wanted this job, cared about the job and wanted to be here."
Once the initial meeting with Brown was finished and the group was able to digest all that had transpired, it became quite clear to everyone involved that Brown was the one.
Lyons' experiences working with Nick Saban at Alabama and some of his other stops along the way helped guide him in what he was seeking in a football coach.
"So much happens behind the scenes in football," he explained. "You win football games out of season. You win it in recruiting. You win it in preparation going into the game and trying to get your student-athletes to compete at the highest level they can compete at.
"I felt Neal met that criteria," Lyons added. "You can look at his Troy teams and what he did winning more than 10 games three seasons in a row, three bowl wins and conference championships. He's preparing his teams for success."
So now that Lyons has his guy, all that's left to do is officially introduce Neal Brown to Mountaineer Nation on Thursday morning.
In the meantime, West Virginia's AD can now get caught up on everything else sitting on his desk.
"I was pretty much off the grid," he laughed. "I couldn't tell you what day it was. Half the time, I couldn't even tell you what time it was."
As for his list, Lyons can put that away – hopefully, for a long, long time.
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