Photo by: Kaitlyn Cole
Leddie Brown Could Be a Key Part of WVU’s Ground Game
April 01, 2019 03:15 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – After perusing last year's tape of West Virginia's running backs, new co-offensive coordinator Chad Scott came to one quick conclusion – these guys were too good to be getting tackled so frequently in the open field.
Before Martell Pettaway's 55-yard touchdown run at Texas last November, the Mountaineers went three long seasons without an explosive touchdown run from one of their running backs.
Dana Holgorsen's schemes did a great job of getting Mountaineer backs into open, but his runners were failing to capitalize once they got there.
There were lots of 20-, 30-, 40-yard runs, and even some 50-yard bursts, but nearly all of the longer ones ended before they crossed the goal line.
"We all know in this game, especially in this conference, you've got to score points and when you get the opportunity to hit the big one, you've got to finish the big one," Scott explained recently. "You don't want to come away with three, or at worst, nothing."
Therefore, that means the running backs must figure out a way to stay on their feet once they get into the clear.
"He wants running backs to attack. He wants us to make that cut and not hesitate," sophomore running back Leddie Brown said.
"They're very explosive with great initial quickness," Scott explained. "Listen, I hope they get 10 or 15 (yards) quite a bit, but they've also been in the open field a lot, and they haven't necessarily always finished their runs."
So this spring Scott has been working with his players on finishing their runs once they break free.
"Every element we're doing, drill-wise, there is a finishing component to it to help those guys understand that," Scott mentioned.
"We work on cutting in space all of the time," Brown said. "Every single practice there is a different drill going one-on-one with the safety or the linebacker working on our cuts."
Brown's cuts, or more precisely - his freshman highlights cuts - were pretty impressive. The Philadelphia resident muscled his way into a crowded backfield last year by running for 446 yards in 11 games, good enough for third on the team.
Kennedy McKoy led all Mountaineer backs with 1,026 all-purpose yards and he probably possesses the best ball skills of the group, while Martell Pettaway ran for 623 yards with a backfield-best 6.4 yards-per-carry average. He is probably WVU's best runner between the tackles.
Brown, standing 6-feet and weighing 214 pounds, possesses a little bit of both. He can run people over like Pettaway while also possessing some of McKoy's ball skills.
"(Leddie is) very talented, and he's a big kid," Scott admitted.
By the way, Scott is familiar with Brown; when Scott was an assistant at North Carolina, he tried to recruit him to play for the Tar Heels.
"My deal is I just don't want him to think he's a big kid. He can make people miss. He can catch the ball out of the backfield. He's got competitive speed to finish runs," Scott said.
Brown, once a four-star recruit from Neumann-Goretti High, is one of West Virginia's most touted running back prospects since Noel Devine in the mid-2000s. Leddie's college decision came down to signing day two years ago when he chose the Mountaineers over North Carolina and Florida.
The Gators dropped out of the picture when former WVU assistant coach Ja'Juan Seider left for Penn State and the in-state Nittany Lions were already full at running back.
Additionally, Brown had developed a close relationship with Holgorsen going back to Brown's days playing at Eastern Christian Academy with Wendell Smallwood and David Sills V.
That made things a little unsettling when Holgorsen left for Houston soon after the Camping World Bowl.
"At first I was heartbroken because we had a real good relationship, but I was like I can't be mad over that because it's a business and he's got to feed his family," Brown said. "I wished him the best in Houston."
After that, Leddie had to determine what was best for him. He sat down with new coach Neal Brown to get an idea how his offense worked.
What type of offense did Neal Brown run and what type of goals did he have for the running backs?
What Leddie discovered opened his eyes.
"We talked about me, and he got to know me a little bit and that was it," Brown said.
Bringing in Scott to coach the running backs didn't hurt things with Leddie either. Since Leddie's initial meeting with his head coach, what the youngster is discovering is that running backs play a vital role in what Neal Brown wants to accomplish offensively.
In many ways, the running game is going to more closely resemble what it looked like here in 2016 when Holgorsen was still calling the plays.
That year, WVU won 10 games by averaging 228.4 yards per game and scoring 24 touchdowns on the ground. The Mountaineers had a physical rushing presence with Ron Crook coaching the offensive line, enabling them to better to control football games.
That's how it used to be around here a decade or so ago when the Mountaineers frequently ranked in the top 10.
But then, when Jake Spavital took over the play calling duties in 2017, a lot of the old Air Raid principles returned.
Now with Brown, the pendulum is swinging downward toward the ground once again.
Since his hiring in January, Brown has stated repeatedly that West Virginia's location in a northern climate dictates that the Mountaineers must be able to run the football, particularly in November when championships are determined.
And November is when things usually turned sour for West Virginia. The Mountaineers are just 15-14 in November Big 12 games dating back to 2012.
WVU's inability to get tough yards on the ground has had a lot to do with that. It showed up in last year's Oklahoma State loss that ultimately cost the Mountaineers a Sugar Bowl berth, and it also showed up in late-season defeats to Texas in 2017, Kansas State in 2015 and K-State again in 2014.
All of those setbacks wound up changing the trajectory of West Virginia's seasons.
Coincidentally, Neal Brown's four-year November record at Troy was 11-4, which includes a four-win campaign during his first season there in 2015.
It's doubtful any of this came up when Brown met Brown, but he did make it clear that running the football is a big part of what he does.
"We have a bigger role in this offense than the last offense, and I think all of the running backs are going to have a pretty good season this year," Leddie predicted.
Either in confined spaces or in the open field.
Before Martell Pettaway's 55-yard touchdown run at Texas last November, the Mountaineers went three long seasons without an explosive touchdown run from one of their running backs.
Dana Holgorsen's schemes did a great job of getting Mountaineer backs into open, but his runners were failing to capitalize once they got there.
There were lots of 20-, 30-, 40-yard runs, and even some 50-yard bursts, but nearly all of the longer ones ended before they crossed the goal line.
"We all know in this game, especially in this conference, you've got to score points and when you get the opportunity to hit the big one, you've got to finish the big one," Scott explained recently. "You don't want to come away with three, or at worst, nothing."
Therefore, that means the running backs must figure out a way to stay on their feet once they get into the clear.
"He wants running backs to attack. He wants us to make that cut and not hesitate," sophomore running back Leddie Brown said.
"They're very explosive with great initial quickness," Scott explained. "Listen, I hope they get 10 or 15 (yards) quite a bit, but they've also been in the open field a lot, and they haven't necessarily always finished their runs."So this spring Scott has been working with his players on finishing their runs once they break free.
"Every element we're doing, drill-wise, there is a finishing component to it to help those guys understand that," Scott mentioned.
"We work on cutting in space all of the time," Brown said. "Every single practice there is a different drill going one-on-one with the safety or the linebacker working on our cuts."
Brown's cuts, or more precisely - his freshman highlights cuts - were pretty impressive. The Philadelphia resident muscled his way into a crowded backfield last year by running for 446 yards in 11 games, good enough for third on the team.
Kennedy McKoy led all Mountaineer backs with 1,026 all-purpose yards and he probably possesses the best ball skills of the group, while Martell Pettaway ran for 623 yards with a backfield-best 6.4 yards-per-carry average. He is probably WVU's best runner between the tackles.
Brown, standing 6-feet and weighing 214 pounds, possesses a little bit of both. He can run people over like Pettaway while also possessing some of McKoy's ball skills.
"(Leddie is) very talented, and he's a big kid," Scott admitted.
By the way, Scott is familiar with Brown; when Scott was an assistant at North Carolina, he tried to recruit him to play for the Tar Heels.
"My deal is I just don't want him to think he's a big kid. He can make people miss. He can catch the ball out of the backfield. He's got competitive speed to finish runs," Scott said.
Brown, once a four-star recruit from Neumann-Goretti High, is one of West Virginia's most touted running back prospects since Noel Devine in the mid-2000s. Leddie's college decision came down to signing day two years ago when he chose the Mountaineers over North Carolina and Florida.
The Gators dropped out of the picture when former WVU assistant coach Ja'Juan Seider left for Penn State and the in-state Nittany Lions were already full at running back.
Additionally, Brown had developed a close relationship with Holgorsen going back to Brown's days playing at Eastern Christian Academy with Wendell Smallwood and David Sills V.
That made things a little unsettling when Holgorsen left for Houston soon after the Camping World Bowl.
"At first I was heartbroken because we had a real good relationship, but I was like I can't be mad over that because it's a business and he's got to feed his family," Brown said. "I wished him the best in Houston."
After that, Leddie had to determine what was best for him. He sat down with new coach Neal Brown to get an idea how his offense worked.
What type of offense did Neal Brown run and what type of goals did he have for the running backs?
What Leddie discovered opened his eyes.
"We talked about me, and he got to know me a little bit and that was it," Brown said.
Bringing in Scott to coach the running backs didn't hurt things with Leddie either. Since Leddie's initial meeting with his head coach, what the youngster is discovering is that running backs play a vital role in what Neal Brown wants to accomplish offensively.
In many ways, the running game is going to more closely resemble what it looked like here in 2016 when Holgorsen was still calling the plays.
That year, WVU won 10 games by averaging 228.4 yards per game and scoring 24 touchdowns on the ground. The Mountaineers had a physical rushing presence with Ron Crook coaching the offensive line, enabling them to better to control football games.
That's how it used to be around here a decade or so ago when the Mountaineers frequently ranked in the top 10.
But then, when Jake Spavital took over the play calling duties in 2017, a lot of the old Air Raid principles returned.
Now with Brown, the pendulum is swinging downward toward the ground once again.
Since his hiring in January, Brown has stated repeatedly that West Virginia's location in a northern climate dictates that the Mountaineers must be able to run the football, particularly in November when championships are determined.
And November is when things usually turned sour for West Virginia. The Mountaineers are just 15-14 in November Big 12 games dating back to 2012.
WVU's inability to get tough yards on the ground has had a lot to do with that. It showed up in last year's Oklahoma State loss that ultimately cost the Mountaineers a Sugar Bowl berth, and it also showed up in late-season defeats to Texas in 2017, Kansas State in 2015 and K-State again in 2014.
All of those setbacks wound up changing the trajectory of West Virginia's seasons.
Coincidentally, Neal Brown's four-year November record at Troy was 11-4, which includes a four-win campaign during his first season there in 2015.
It's doubtful any of this came up when Brown met Brown, but he did make it clear that running the football is a big part of what he does.
"We have a bigger role in this offense than the last offense, and I think all of the running backs are going to have a pretty good season this year," Leddie predicted.
Either in confined spaces or in the open field.
Players Mentioned
RB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
WR
/ FootballRich Rodriguez | Dec. 3
Wednesday, December 03
Reid Carrico | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
Jeff Weimer | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
Rich Rodriguez | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
