WVU’s Brown Recaps 2022, Looks Ahead to 2023

Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications

January 23, 2023 03:10 PM | Football, Blog

By: John Antonik

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Neal Brown spent about 45 minutes this afternoon visiting with media in the Milan Puskar Center team room to recap the 2022 season and look ahead to 2023.

He used three words to describe the Mountaineers' 5-7 record last season – "not good enough."

"That's on me, and I accept it, although I'm proud with how we finished winning two of our last three games," he said.

Brown thought the team underachieved offensively, and that's where he has focused his attention during the offseason with regard to the staff reorganization that has taken place since the regular season finale on Saturday, Nov. 26 - a 24-19 victory over Oklahoma State.

Running backs coach Chad Scott has been promoted to offensive coordinator, tight ends coach Sean Reagan is moving back to coach quarterbacks, Bilal Marshall was hired last month to coach wide receivers and Blaine Stewart was recently added to oversee the tight ends.

The defensive staff returns intact.

Brown said he hasn't decided on play-calling responsibilities for 2023, but he did mention that he will be involved again this year as he was during the final three or four games of 2022.

"Last year was the first year I didn't do it in a while, so we will wait and see how things go this spring," Brown said.

The fifth-year coach said there are three areas that need to be addressed this year, all beginning with the letter E. They are

Eliminating Errors, which include penalties and turnovers
Efficiency, particularly on first and 10 and third and medium
Explosive plays, an area in which he believes his team regressed in 2022

Brown said he watched more defensive tape than usual during the offseason to get a better handle on the struggles West Virginia experienced on that side of the ball last season. He narrowed it down to four areas:

Poor pass defense
Allowing too many explosive plays
Lack of takeaways
Third-down struggles

"We need to win now and how do we improve in the next nine months in order to do so?" Brown said. "Well, we need to be more consistent overall. The transfer portal hurt us last year on defense more than I expected, and we've got to be better in certain areas this year."

He indicated that the solutions are in-house to the struggling areas on defense, while also pointing out the areas of concern in 2022 were areas of strength in 2021 and 2020.

He also touched on roster construction moving forward.

West Virginia signed 18 prospects during the December signing period and eight have already enrolled in school. They are quarterback Sean Boyle, running back Jahiem White, wide receiver TJ Johnson, offensive lineman Johnny Williams IV, linebackers James Heard Jr., Josiah Trotter and Ben Cutter and defensive back Josiah Jackson. Brown said he anticipates adding another high school prospect or two during the February signing period.

Six transfer players have been announced so far. They are wide receivers Devin Carter (NC State) and Ja'Shaun Poke (Kent State), defensive tackle Davoan Hawkins (Tennessee State), placekicker Michael Hayes (Georgia State), cornerback Montre Miller (Kent State) and tight end Kole Taylor (LSU).

Brown indicated that Penn State defensive tackle Fatorma Mulbah has also signed, and he expects to add another transfer player to the roster in the next week or two. Currently, he said the Mountaineer roster sits at 80 players, and he is planning for movement in and out of the program toward the end of spring practice, which will begin in late March.

That could make room for additional three to five players from the portal, depending upon on how things shake out. He used a bank account analogy to describe how he is approaching his 2023 Mountaineer roster.

"Deposits and withdraws," he said. "We hope we are bringing in more than we are losing."

In Carter, West Virginia beat out Penn State for his services and Brown anticipates him being a strong candidate to take over the No. 1 receiver role in 2023. Poke brings versatility at inside receiver and should also be a factor on special teams as a returner, while Taylor was a high-priority tight end prospect who is expected to give WVU a vertical threat in the passing game this year.

That's an aspect West Virginia was lacking from its tight end corps last season.

"We lost a lot of production in the wide receiver room," Brown said, adding he expects to see significant growth this year from junior college transfers Jeremiah Aaron and Cortez Braham.

"It usually takes junior college guys a full year to get comfortable," he admitted.

Brown likes Hawkins' pass rushing ability and said he was familiar with him when he played at Kentucky, while Miller gives the secondary some top-end speed that it lacked last season.

Meanwhile, Hayes was brought in to replace Casey Legg, who announced last month on social media that he was retiring from football.

Brown said his staff is hunting for another wide receiver to add in the transfer portal, preferably a speedy guy who can take the top off the defense. Touted four-star prospect Rodney Gallagher, who is expected to enroll in school during the summer, could also assume that role.

The roster was also bolstered by the return of senior offensive lineman Doug Nester, who recently announced on social media that he is coming back to WVU for his final year of college eligibility.

That means West Virginia's offensive line returns virtually intact with center Zach Frazier, and veteran offensive tackles Wyatt Milum, Brandon Yates and Ja'Quay Hubbard teaming with promising Freshman All-American guard Tomas Rimac to give the Mountaineers one of the most experienced units in the Big 12.

WVU will also have two quarterbacks on the field this spring with game experience in Garrett Greene and Nicco Marchiol.

Injury-wise, Brown said Aubrey Burks and CJ Donaldson are progressing nicely and could be cleared to do some work later this spring. Jalen Thornton will likely be limited, according to the coach. Brown also said veteran football communications director Mike Montoro is recovering nicely after undergoing major back surgery, and he hopes he is well enough to return to work before the end of spring football drills.

In sum, Brown realizes year five will be important for Mountaineer football.

"I'm very aware that we need to win this year," he said. "Every decision we're making right now is we need to win."

Brown said spring football practice will begin on Tuesday, March 21.

An announcement of the full spring football schedule, including the annual Gold-Blue Game, is forthcoming.