MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (February 18, 2019) – West Virginia University football coach Neal Brown introduced the 2019 Mountaineer coaching staff, its position responsibilities and recruiting territories to members of the media on Monday, Feb. 18, at the Milan Puskar Center Team Room.
Assistant Coach (Defensive Coordinator) Vic Koenning
Primary Recruiting Territory: West Virginia: Bridgeport, Charleston
Secondary: South Georgia
On his initial impressions of his defensive players so far
I think they have a ‘want to.’ I think there are a lot of things we have to teach them. There is a lot of parenting that has to go on. Some guys respond better to tough love, and some guys respond better to straight up hugs and arms around the neck. We have to find a way to make them successful. Everyone is different. We’re learning the players every day, as much as we can. It’s going to be a challenge. There are some depth issues at certain positions. There are some guys that are going to have to step up. Some of the guys that didn’t play much last year, we’re going to have to develop them into players. The other part of it is that we have to get them to have confidence. If you don’t believe you can do something, you’re not going to do it. I’m not saying they are mind games, but we have to convince them through repetition and development. Success breeds success just like failure breeds failure. We have to get them to start being successful in every part of their lives, so that they will be more confident when they are on the field.
On the similarities between his first year at Troy to being at WVU
Oh yeah, our first year. I did that at Illinois. I did that at K-State. I did that when I went to Clemson and a little bit at North Carolina. That’s a book. When you need someone to come in and do this, my name must be under that somewhere on the computer.
On if they had success with that transition at Troy
We did. Coach (Neal) Brown thought a program is geared so much toward development of the person. For example, I had almost all the safeties call me this weekend and say, ‘Coach, can you walk through some of this stuff that we are trying to put in on a one-on-one basis?’ I told them I would do it if they called me. Almost every single guy came up here this weekend on their own and just asked, ‘Can you show me this, can you show me that?’ That shows you that they kind of want to do it. The more that they are going to have success, the more that they are going to have confidence, the better they are going to be. I can go into a scenario where this one school had two classrooms. One was ‘A’ students and one was ‘C’ and ‘D’ students, and they switched teachers. The teacher convinced the ‘C’ and ‘D’ students that they were ‘A’ students. The roles flipped in one semester. The teacher can decide or convince or determine a lot of the success, and that is really what we are. We are teachers, and we are parents. I truly believe that we can do that as parents. We can breed success under these guys.
Assistant Coach (Defensive Secondary) Jahmile Addae
Primary Recruiting Territory: Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia/Martinsburg; South Washington, D.C.; Richmond, Va.
Secondary: Florida: Gainesville, Tampa, Tallahassee; Las Vegas; Any Defensive Back Crossover
On if he knew he would come back to West Virginia
I knew it, I knew I would come back here. They say there is power in the tongue, and you have to speak it into existence. For me, I knew it was a dream of mine to come back home and coach ball. This isn’t a job for me. It is a brotherhood. It’s a fraternity. It’s family. I know that is somewhat cliché in our profession, but obviously for me, it is a personal deal.
On his previous coaching positions at high-level football programs
Nothing against those leagues (in Division II and III), I think there are really good football coaches all over, but I was blessed enough to get on a few spots that were still big-time, premier programs. I developed myself and young men throughout those experiences.
On if he took something from each place he’s coached
I did. You take some, you leave some. Working for Butch (Jones), working for Rich (Rodriguez) and working for PJ (Fleck), again, three guys that have done really well in the profession, along with a lot of coordinators that have done well. I like to say that football, especially coaching, is a copycat profession. If something works, you are going to take it and use it. I like to think that I kind of grabbed a lot of good things from some folks and left what I didn’t think was pertinent or important necessarily to my position in bettering my guys. I think that is what kind of molded me on campus recently.
On if it was tough leaving Minnesota
It was tough. Any time you leave a situation where you put a lot of time, effort, blood, sweat and tears into kids, schemes, the community, any of those things. A lot of the time people misconstrue a coaches’ move as being easy, when a lot of times, it is harder than you think, but maybe it was the best thing for you, your family and your career, and that was the situation here.
Assistant Coach (Wide Receivers) Xavier Dye
Primary Recruiting Territory: North Washington D.C./Baltimore, Md.; Delaware
Secondary: North Carolina/Charlotte; Any Wide Receiver Crossover
On what led him to West Virginia
Well, it was a text saying, ‘I’m going to call you.’ I didn’t think much of it, I’m thinking I’m still going to be at Clemson and all that stuff. But he called me up and we talked on the phone for a few minutes. He said he’d fly me up the next day, so I came up. It took about a week for him to call me back. Of course, my stomach was all torn up the whole week because you don’t know if you got the job. Did you do a good job? But it ended up working out for the best and I’m excited about it. I appreciate Coach (Neal Brown) giving me this opportunity.
On West Virginia’s recent history of talented receivers
You can’t ask for a better place. I was looking at some stats and I think Clemson had like seven guys drafted since 2013. I think West Virginia had like five guys, so that’s not too far away from them. They’ve had some great players come through here, and, hopefully, we can keep that tradition going.
On coaching in the Big 12
I’m excited about it; there’s a lot of powerhouse teams here. I’m just going to make sure my guys are ready to go each and every week.
On how nerve-wracking the hiring process can be
It was pretty nerve-wracking because you don’t know how good of a job you actually did. It happened so fast. Like I said, I talked to him Monday, Tuesday I was up here interviewing for the job. Luckily, I was preparing myself, hoping to get a job down the road. I guess I did a decent enough job to get it. It’s been exciting, but that week, a lot times it was me not eating much. There were just a lot of unknowns.
Assistant Coach (Defensive Line) Jordan Lesley
Primary Recruiting Territory: Mississippi Junior Colleges;Ohio: Cincinnati/Dayton
Secondary: Mobile, Ala.; Pensacola, Fla.; Georgia: Gwinnett County, Atlanta; Any Defensive Line Crossover
On if his ties to Ohio will help him in recruiting
It does, it does. Any time that you’re in a new area, you hit the ground and you start to meet people. I’ve always been a little bit of a people person, easy to get along with. I’ve always liked meeting new people. I get a little long-winded sometimes. What should have been a 30-minute conversation turns into an hour and a half, which puts me behind on the road. That’s really important to me, and I think a lot of people appreciate it. I’ll try to do things and handle situations the right way, up front. The better relationships you have, the easier that is to build. I haven’t been on the ground in the Ohio area that I have yet, so I’m looking forward to that this spring.
On how the new coaching staff has been received in terms of recruiting
Really good, really good. We had a couple of big wins at Troy - LSU and Nebraska. (They were) Power 5 wins. Any time you do that, not only the program, but Coach (Neal) Brown and Coach Vic (Koenning) and all these guys are recognizable name-wise. So, you start diving into it. What you’re accomplishing is every time you go out on the field, that’s your resume. Every time you’re on TV, that’s your resume. The reception has been great. The coaches I’ve talked to, the kids I’ve talked to have never had the opportunity to talk about coming up here. It’s just been very good.
On when the defensive coaches will figure out what the team can do
I think we’ll get it figured out in the spring. We have what we want to do, and I think any coach does. Then you have what you can’t do. A lot of It (comes) during our workouts this offseason. You do the right things, and you notice a couple things about certain guys. That kind of gives you an idea before you ever put pads on what you can and can’t do. Any time, our deal is to make sure we put our guys in the position to be successful. The worst thing you can do is ask them to do something that they can’t do because it works on the board. We’re really multiple, but at the same time, pretty simple. I know that probably doesn’t make sense saying it, but those are things you find out in the offseason leading up to spring. I think we’ll have a good (idea) in spring ball.
Assistant Coach (Offensive Line) Matt Moore
Primary Recruiting Territory: West Virginia: Morgantown, Fairmont, Beckley, Bluefield; Virginia: Roanoke;All Offensive Line
Secondary: Tennessee
On developing players while still targeting high-level recruits
That’s something that they’ve done such a great job building this plan here. That doesn’t mean we’re not going to shoot for those guys. We’re going to shoot for them. It doesn’t scare us at all if they have an Ohio State offer or a Notre Dame offer. We’re going to go after them, because there are so many kids, today, that it’s about how you develop the players that you have. At Troy, we were never a top-10 recruiting class. We had good recruiting classes, but we developed those kids. The guy at The Athletic did a good job, I don’t know if you read that article. He ranks the 2015 class, and he re-ranks them and gives them points by if they played, if they were all-conference or an All-American. That class that we recruited at Troy in 2015, we were top-20. About that time, we weren’t in the top-100, probably, but that’s all about developing kids. You take them in, and you develop them. Maybe they’re a three-star, we don’t worry about that. We want guys that fit in with what we’re trying to do from a mentality – being selfless, being hardworking.
On being innovative and resourceful at smaller schools
No doubt. You have to be, and I played for Hal Mumme. There was a lot of innovation their when it came to offense, because we were the first ones in that conference where everybody thought, ‘Man, they’re throwing it around everywhere.’ I really learned a lot about football and offensive line play and protections playing in that system under a coach that did it for several years. But, yes, when you’ve only give so much and you have to do something with it, you have to figure out how to make things last a little longer and make things better. It goes back to developing the players. It’s like you said, you take a kid that they say, ‘Well, maybe that kid’s like the left tackle this year.’ That kid was 240 (pounds) this summer when he got here, and (assistant athletic director/head coach for football strength and conditioning) Coach (Mike) Joseph just did a tremendous job. That guy has really impressed me as I’ve been here about how he does things, how he goes about his business. He doesn’t want any accolades. He doesn’t care about videoing all of his workouts. He really instills that blue-collar mentality, and he was a (Division II) player. He does a really good job with everything.
On finding recruits who fit into the program’s mentality
Sometimes, they’re four-stars. Sometimes, they are long enough and fast enough, and they fit in. Sometimes, they’re not. Sometimes, they’re guys that you see that something in them, and you have to figure out how good they are and how good they can be. That’s coaching. That’s what we have to do is we have to get in here and coach them to how good they can be.
Assistant Coach (Outside Linebackers) Al Pogue
Primary Recruiting Territory: Western Pennsylvania/Pittsburgh
Secondary: Alabama: Montgomery and Northwestern Atlanta Counties; Detroit
On having multiple coaching jobs throughout Alabama
I never left Alabama. Really, really good football. I was just very fortunate to get started in my career as a high school coach in the state. I had an opportunity to go to Auburn for three (years) in kind of an off-the-field capacity. Then, like you said, was hired by Larry Blakeney, who was a legendary coach. He retired in the middle of the season. Coach Neal Brown comes in, and I was very fortunate to be the only defensive guy that he retained. We had a nice stretch, a nice run at Troy. He comes here, and lo and behold, he brings me north with him, so I’m excited.
On the transition from coaching cornerbacks to linebackers
I’m both excited and a little challenged by it. The thing that makes it easy for me is I’m very familiar with Coach (Vic) Koenning’s system, having worked with him for four years. I have a good understanding of how those guys work and how it all ties in. I’m excited about it.
On coaching different positions at different types of schools
I know, for me, I think being a high school coach kind of helped me the most along the way. You wear many hats at that level. Having to coach not only defensive backs, but also special teams guys. Maybe one would have to coach the running backs. Doing laundry, things like that. So that helped me prepare for this opportunity more than anything. Of course, going to Auburn and things like that have helped polish me a little bit. For the most part, I think being a high school coach helped me the furthest, as far as my proving grounds.
On the areas he will be recruiting
I will be in Pittsburgh, western Pennsylvania, Detroit and I’ll have some secondary stuff down in the southeast – Alabama, Georgia, things of that nature. It’s just all (going to) be new; getting in and establishing relationships with the coaches and people that are connected with the kids. Getting to know the areas really well just comes from doing my homework and just being thorough in my approach. I’m excited about it. It’s new, it’s challenging. I just think it could be very beneficial for us if we can get in there and get some good kids from those areas.
Assistant Coach (Quarterbacks) Sean Reagan
Primary Recruiting Territory: Huntington, W.Va.;Kentucky;All Quarterbacks
Secondary: Indianapolis, Chicago
On his thoughts on redshirt junior quarterback Austin Kendall
Well, Austin is talented, but the main thing that he brings to the table is we now have a competition. There are three guys – him and the other two – and all three are talented, but the main thing is competition and competition makes everybody else better. Who is going to win the job? I don’t know. I haven’t seen any of them throw the ball forward live yet. Everything I’ve seen is on film. But I’m excited to work with them.
On if he’s had time to watch any film of redshirt junior quarterback Jack Allison and redshirt freshman quarterback Trey Lowe III
I’ve watched a little bit, but you said ‘time’, that’s the key word in that phrase. There hasn’t been a whole lot of time, I just got back off the road recruiting. But I have watched the game and both of them are talented. It’s just getting to know them and see how they process information and how fast can we put the peddle down and what the teaching progression is going to be like. That will come in time; we have spring ball coming up here in about a month, and we’ll take it as slow as we need to or as fast as we need to and see how they pick up on it.
On what he looks for production-wise from his quarterbacks
Production-wise, protect the football. We have a saying around here, ‘The ball is the program.’ If we don’t turn the football over, then we have a really good chance to win the game. So, the main focus at the quarterback position is always going to be protect the football. Are there going to be interceptions thrown? Sure. And a lot of them are going to be things you can’t help. But what I want the quarterback to do is control those interceptions that you can help and make precise decisions.
Assistant Coach (Co-Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs) Chad Scott
Primary Recruiting Territory: Eastern Pennsylvania/Philadelphia;Central/South New Jersey
Secondary: Florida: Orlando, Ocala, etc.; Any Running Back Crossover
On Coach Neal Brown’s offensive strategy
Offense is offense, and there is something unique about what he does. Obviously, he’s really good. First of all, we want to score points, and we haven’t gone away from the air raid, but we’ve gotten a lot more creative with what we do, in terms of running the ball. We’re using the tight end a lot more in different sets, so we can get a lot more burst and play a lot faster, keep the defense off the field and be able to run the ball a lot more effectively.
On Coach Neal Brown’s run-game strategy
It’s different since what we’ve done with the tight end position. We grew up playing the air raid and grew up in this one-back, four-wide offense where you run inside or outside zone, where as now, we’ve incorporated the tight end where we put that guy in the backfield for different sets, put him in some field sets. We’re being a little more multiple, being able to flex guys out or set guys in.
On his impressions of the current running back corps
I’ve seen plenty. They’re talented. I’ve been very fortunate to walk into a group that has experience, they have size, they have speed. We have guys that can catch the ball out of the backfield, guys that can block. Thus far, without seeing the guys in pads, I haven’t seen a lot of weaknesses.
On what he wants to emphasize with the running backs in practice
The big thing for us, just watching them on film, is we want to get better at blocking. They run the ball really well, but we want to get better at blocking. We want to get better on the back end and finishing runs. They all did a phenomenal job from their stance all the way to the second level. That’s what it’s all about, getting to the second level. Those are the runs you can take to the house, and those guys are that type of guys. So, finishing runs a little better and blocking.
Assistant Coach (Inside Linebackers) Blake Seiler
Primary Recruiting Territory: Kansas/Iowa Junior Colleges; West Virginia: Northern Panhandle/Wheeling; Ohio: Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Toledo, Youngstown
Secondary: Louisiana
On if he has specific recruiting areas
I am going to be in the Northern Ohio area; Cleveland, Akron, Youngstown, Toledo. I have connections out in my previous area with Kansas junior colleges, and I have been recruiting down in Louisiana for seven years now.
On making connections with recruits
To me, it is all about relationships. I know everyone says that, but it is not just about texting a guy or DM’ing direct messaging a guy. It’s consistency. It’s constant contact. It’s putting a face with the name and getting out to see them. You want to talk to their families and find out what is important to them, so you can make that connection with the kid.
On his circumstances of coming here
I know (assistant coach – defensive coordinator/safeties) Vic Koenning, so that was the number one connection. My experience in the league obviously helped. My wife’s family is about two hours north of here, so those were all big factors for me. We got it done. Like I told other people, it’s West Virginia University. This is a tough place to play. The fan base is outstanding. The mentality of WVU is blue-collar, hard-working guys. Toughness and dedication, all those things. If you give the fans something to cheer about here, it is a tough place to play. I think all the pieces are in place. Coach (Neal) Brown, that is what swayed me to come here.
On the lessons he took from Kansas State’s head coach Bill Snyder
A lot of the same things we just talked about. We never had the most talented players there, but we taught them fundamentals. We taught them accountability. We taught them discipline. Those are the building blocks. Obviously, if you can recruit some talent and teach them to play together with toughness and discipline, then you have a chance. You have a chance to be special if you can add talent to that equation.
Assistant Coach (Tight Ends/Inside Receivers) Travis Trickett
Primary Recruiting Territory: Parkersburg, W.Va.; Columbus, Ohio and Surrounding Area; New York City/North New Jersey
Secondary: Northeast Pennsylvania/Lackawanna College; Jacksonville, Fla./Savannah, Ga.; South Florida
On if there was any hesitation to leave Georgia State
As my career has gone, I’ve been at different places, and I’ve had great bosses. I’ve had great head coaches that I’ve worked under that have allowed me to do what I needed to do or wanted to do, and I can bounce things off of. I had great working environments, and me and my wife, we were happy in Atlanta. We have two children and another one on the way, and we were settled. We were good. We bought a house, and you don’t buy a house in coaching unless you plan on being somewhere. We really wanted to build that thing up, and it was a big project. When I got that phone call, we knew it would take something life changing for me to leave there, and that was a life-changing phone call. So, we came back. I left the office yesterday, last night about 9:00 or 10:00. I got out to the parking lot and looked up, and I see the stadium, I see the flying WV on the side. I just stood there for about five minutes and thought, ‘Wow.’ I’m excited. I really am.
On family conversations since being hired at West Virginia
When this whole thing was happening, Clint (Trickett) was calling me about every hour asking, ‘Did you hear anything? Did you hear anything? Did you hear anything?’ As a family, this University has meant everything to our family. It’s put food on our table and clothes on our backs when dad was here, and dad’s been here twice. It gave me my education, it gave me my start in coaching. Both my brothers went to school here. My wife, she’s from Doddridge County, she went to school here and graduated with her nursing degree. This University has given so much to us. It’s always been a goal of any of ours to get back, whether it be myself, my brother Chance, my brother Clint. Whoever it is, we cheer each other on, and when this opportunity came by, it was a joyous day. Everyone was excited, but the opportunity to do it with Coach (Neal) Brown is what I’m more excited about than anything. Because I know, having gone against his teams, having to watch from afar and studying his habits on film, I know what kind of coach he is and what kind of program he runs. I’ve recruited against him for the past two years, and to be able to come in with him and knowing what we’re going to do and how he is, I’m tickled to death.
On if he talked to his grandmother during the hiring process
I actually went and saw my grandma yesterday. Saturday was her 93rd birthday, so we drove out and my dad came up. We drove out to Preston County, and we sat down. She was excited. My whole dad’s side is Preston County, and my wife’s side is all in the Clarksburg, Doddridge County area. Obviously, we have Tricketts in Clarksburg and all over the place. That phone’s been buzzing every day.
On what made his family a coaching family
We did. He did not want us to be a coach. He actually went out of his way to tell us to not coach. ‘Y’all are too smart. You need to be a doctor or a lawyer.’ At first, as a competitor, I wanted to coach for the competitive aspect. I wanted to be involved. But when I started at West Virginia, I discovered my love for teaching, and I realized I like teaching, I like being a teacher, I like seeing me helping somebody get from point A to point B. They do the work, and they get the reward. That is what coaching is all about, when you see those guys. Not only that, as the years go on, you see them grow up as men, graduate, get jobs, help them get jobs, have former players come work for me. Those relationships, you get into coaching for selfish reasons, but as you go on, you realize that this is a servant position, and that’s what I enjoy the most.
Assistant Coach (Defensive Coordinator) Vic Koenning
Primary Recruiting Territory: West Virginia: Bridgeport, Charleston
Secondary: South Georgia
On his initial impressions of his defensive players so far
I think they have a ‘want to.’ I think there are a lot of things we have to teach them. There is a lot of parenting that has to go on. Some guys respond better to tough love, and some guys respond better to straight up hugs and arms around the neck. We have to find a way to make them successful. Everyone is different. We’re learning the players every day, as much as we can. It’s going to be a challenge. There are some depth issues at certain positions. There are some guys that are going to have to step up. Some of the guys that didn’t play much last year, we’re going to have to develop them into players. The other part of it is that we have to get them to have confidence. If you don’t believe you can do something, you’re not going to do it. I’m not saying they are mind games, but we have to convince them through repetition and development. Success breeds success just like failure breeds failure. We have to get them to start being successful in every part of their lives, so that they will be more confident when they are on the field.
On the similarities between his first year at Troy to being at WVU
Oh yeah, our first year. I did that at Illinois. I did that at K-State. I did that when I went to Clemson and a little bit at North Carolina. That’s a book. When you need someone to come in and do this, my name must be under that somewhere on the computer.
On if they had success with that transition at Troy
We did. Coach (Neal) Brown thought a program is geared so much toward development of the person. For example, I had almost all the safeties call me this weekend and say, ‘Coach, can you walk through some of this stuff that we are trying to put in on a one-on-one basis?’ I told them I would do it if they called me. Almost every single guy came up here this weekend on their own and just asked, ‘Can you show me this, can you show me that?’ That shows you that they kind of want to do it. The more that they are going to have success, the more that they are going to have confidence, the better they are going to be. I can go into a scenario where this one school had two classrooms. One was ‘A’ students and one was ‘C’ and ‘D’ students, and they switched teachers. The teacher convinced the ‘C’ and ‘D’ students that they were ‘A’ students. The roles flipped in one semester. The teacher can decide or convince or determine a lot of the success, and that is really what we are. We are teachers, and we are parents. I truly believe that we can do that as parents. We can breed success under these guys.
Assistant Coach (Defensive Secondary) Jahmile Addae
Primary Recruiting Territory: Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia/Martinsburg; South Washington, D.C.; Richmond, Va.
Secondary: Florida: Gainesville, Tampa, Tallahassee; Las Vegas; Any Defensive Back Crossover
On if he knew he would come back to West Virginia
I knew it, I knew I would come back here. They say there is power in the tongue, and you have to speak it into existence. For me, I knew it was a dream of mine to come back home and coach ball. This isn’t a job for me. It is a brotherhood. It’s a fraternity. It’s family. I know that is somewhat cliché in our profession, but obviously for me, it is a personal deal.
On his previous coaching positions at high-level football programs
Nothing against those leagues (in Division II and III), I think there are really good football coaches all over, but I was blessed enough to get on a few spots that were still big-time, premier programs. I developed myself and young men throughout those experiences.
On if he took something from each place he’s coached
I did. You take some, you leave some. Working for Butch (Jones), working for Rich (Rodriguez) and working for PJ (Fleck), again, three guys that have done really well in the profession, along with a lot of coordinators that have done well. I like to say that football, especially coaching, is a copycat profession. If something works, you are going to take it and use it. I like to think that I kind of grabbed a lot of good things from some folks and left what I didn’t think was pertinent or important necessarily to my position in bettering my guys. I think that is what kind of molded me on campus recently.
On if it was tough leaving Minnesota
It was tough. Any time you leave a situation where you put a lot of time, effort, blood, sweat and tears into kids, schemes, the community, any of those things. A lot of the time people misconstrue a coaches’ move as being easy, when a lot of times, it is harder than you think, but maybe it was the best thing for you, your family and your career, and that was the situation here.
Assistant Coach (Wide Receivers) Xavier Dye
Primary Recruiting Territory: North Washington D.C./Baltimore, Md.; Delaware
Secondary: North Carolina/Charlotte; Any Wide Receiver Crossover
On what led him to West Virginia
Well, it was a text saying, ‘I’m going to call you.’ I didn’t think much of it, I’m thinking I’m still going to be at Clemson and all that stuff. But he called me up and we talked on the phone for a few minutes. He said he’d fly me up the next day, so I came up. It took about a week for him to call me back. Of course, my stomach was all torn up the whole week because you don’t know if you got the job. Did you do a good job? But it ended up working out for the best and I’m excited about it. I appreciate Coach (Neal Brown) giving me this opportunity.
On West Virginia’s recent history of talented receivers
You can’t ask for a better place. I was looking at some stats and I think Clemson had like seven guys drafted since 2013. I think West Virginia had like five guys, so that’s not too far away from them. They’ve had some great players come through here, and, hopefully, we can keep that tradition going.
On coaching in the Big 12
I’m excited about it; there’s a lot of powerhouse teams here. I’m just going to make sure my guys are ready to go each and every week.
On how nerve-wracking the hiring process can be
It was pretty nerve-wracking because you don’t know how good of a job you actually did. It happened so fast. Like I said, I talked to him Monday, Tuesday I was up here interviewing for the job. Luckily, I was preparing myself, hoping to get a job down the road. I guess I did a decent enough job to get it. It’s been exciting, but that week, a lot times it was me not eating much. There were just a lot of unknowns.
Assistant Coach (Defensive Line) Jordan Lesley
Primary Recruiting Territory: Mississippi Junior Colleges;Ohio: Cincinnati/Dayton
Secondary: Mobile, Ala.; Pensacola, Fla.; Georgia: Gwinnett County, Atlanta; Any Defensive Line Crossover
On if his ties to Ohio will help him in recruiting
It does, it does. Any time that you’re in a new area, you hit the ground and you start to meet people. I’ve always been a little bit of a people person, easy to get along with. I’ve always liked meeting new people. I get a little long-winded sometimes. What should have been a 30-minute conversation turns into an hour and a half, which puts me behind on the road. That’s really important to me, and I think a lot of people appreciate it. I’ll try to do things and handle situations the right way, up front. The better relationships you have, the easier that is to build. I haven’t been on the ground in the Ohio area that I have yet, so I’m looking forward to that this spring.
On how the new coaching staff has been received in terms of recruiting
Really good, really good. We had a couple of big wins at Troy - LSU and Nebraska. (They were) Power 5 wins. Any time you do that, not only the program, but Coach (Neal) Brown and Coach Vic (Koenning) and all these guys are recognizable name-wise. So, you start diving into it. What you’re accomplishing is every time you go out on the field, that’s your resume. Every time you’re on TV, that’s your resume. The reception has been great. The coaches I’ve talked to, the kids I’ve talked to have never had the opportunity to talk about coming up here. It’s just been very good.
On when the defensive coaches will figure out what the team can do
I think we’ll get it figured out in the spring. We have what we want to do, and I think any coach does. Then you have what you can’t do. A lot of It (comes) during our workouts this offseason. You do the right things, and you notice a couple things about certain guys. That kind of gives you an idea before you ever put pads on what you can and can’t do. Any time, our deal is to make sure we put our guys in the position to be successful. The worst thing you can do is ask them to do something that they can’t do because it works on the board. We’re really multiple, but at the same time, pretty simple. I know that probably doesn’t make sense saying it, but those are things you find out in the offseason leading up to spring. I think we’ll have a good (idea) in spring ball.
Assistant Coach (Offensive Line) Matt Moore
Primary Recruiting Territory: West Virginia: Morgantown, Fairmont, Beckley, Bluefield; Virginia: Roanoke;All Offensive Line
Secondary: Tennessee
On developing players while still targeting high-level recruits
That’s something that they’ve done such a great job building this plan here. That doesn’t mean we’re not going to shoot for those guys. We’re going to shoot for them. It doesn’t scare us at all if they have an Ohio State offer or a Notre Dame offer. We’re going to go after them, because there are so many kids, today, that it’s about how you develop the players that you have. At Troy, we were never a top-10 recruiting class. We had good recruiting classes, but we developed those kids. The guy at The Athletic did a good job, I don’t know if you read that article. He ranks the 2015 class, and he re-ranks them and gives them points by if they played, if they were all-conference or an All-American. That class that we recruited at Troy in 2015, we were top-20. About that time, we weren’t in the top-100, probably, but that’s all about developing kids. You take them in, and you develop them. Maybe they’re a three-star, we don’t worry about that. We want guys that fit in with what we’re trying to do from a mentality – being selfless, being hardworking.
On being innovative and resourceful at smaller schools
No doubt. You have to be, and I played for Hal Mumme. There was a lot of innovation their when it came to offense, because we were the first ones in that conference where everybody thought, ‘Man, they’re throwing it around everywhere.’ I really learned a lot about football and offensive line play and protections playing in that system under a coach that did it for several years. But, yes, when you’ve only give so much and you have to do something with it, you have to figure out how to make things last a little longer and make things better. It goes back to developing the players. It’s like you said, you take a kid that they say, ‘Well, maybe that kid’s like the left tackle this year.’ That kid was 240 (pounds) this summer when he got here, and (assistant athletic director/head coach for football strength and conditioning) Coach (Mike) Joseph just did a tremendous job. That guy has really impressed me as I’ve been here about how he does things, how he goes about his business. He doesn’t want any accolades. He doesn’t care about videoing all of his workouts. He really instills that blue-collar mentality, and he was a (Division II) player. He does a really good job with everything.
On finding recruits who fit into the program’s mentality
Sometimes, they’re four-stars. Sometimes, they are long enough and fast enough, and they fit in. Sometimes, they’re not. Sometimes, they’re guys that you see that something in them, and you have to figure out how good they are and how good they can be. That’s coaching. That’s what we have to do is we have to get in here and coach them to how good they can be.
Assistant Coach (Outside Linebackers) Al Pogue
Primary Recruiting Territory: Western Pennsylvania/Pittsburgh
Secondary: Alabama: Montgomery and Northwestern Atlanta Counties; Detroit
On having multiple coaching jobs throughout Alabama
I never left Alabama. Really, really good football. I was just very fortunate to get started in my career as a high school coach in the state. I had an opportunity to go to Auburn for three (years) in kind of an off-the-field capacity. Then, like you said, was hired by Larry Blakeney, who was a legendary coach. He retired in the middle of the season. Coach Neal Brown comes in, and I was very fortunate to be the only defensive guy that he retained. We had a nice stretch, a nice run at Troy. He comes here, and lo and behold, he brings me north with him, so I’m excited.
On the transition from coaching cornerbacks to linebackers
I’m both excited and a little challenged by it. The thing that makes it easy for me is I’m very familiar with Coach (Vic) Koenning’s system, having worked with him for four years. I have a good understanding of how those guys work and how it all ties in. I’m excited about it.
On coaching different positions at different types of schools
I know, for me, I think being a high school coach kind of helped me the most along the way. You wear many hats at that level. Having to coach not only defensive backs, but also special teams guys. Maybe one would have to coach the running backs. Doing laundry, things like that. So that helped me prepare for this opportunity more than anything. Of course, going to Auburn and things like that have helped polish me a little bit. For the most part, I think being a high school coach helped me the furthest, as far as my proving grounds.
On the areas he will be recruiting
I will be in Pittsburgh, western Pennsylvania, Detroit and I’ll have some secondary stuff down in the southeast – Alabama, Georgia, things of that nature. It’s just all (going to) be new; getting in and establishing relationships with the coaches and people that are connected with the kids. Getting to know the areas really well just comes from doing my homework and just being thorough in my approach. I’m excited about it. It’s new, it’s challenging. I just think it could be very beneficial for us if we can get in there and get some good kids from those areas.
Assistant Coach (Quarterbacks) Sean Reagan
Primary Recruiting Territory: Huntington, W.Va.;Kentucky;All Quarterbacks
Secondary: Indianapolis, Chicago
On his thoughts on redshirt junior quarterback Austin Kendall
Well, Austin is talented, but the main thing that he brings to the table is we now have a competition. There are three guys – him and the other two – and all three are talented, but the main thing is competition and competition makes everybody else better. Who is going to win the job? I don’t know. I haven’t seen any of them throw the ball forward live yet. Everything I’ve seen is on film. But I’m excited to work with them.
On if he’s had time to watch any film of redshirt junior quarterback Jack Allison and redshirt freshman quarterback Trey Lowe III
I’ve watched a little bit, but you said ‘time’, that’s the key word in that phrase. There hasn’t been a whole lot of time, I just got back off the road recruiting. But I have watched the game and both of them are talented. It’s just getting to know them and see how they process information and how fast can we put the peddle down and what the teaching progression is going to be like. That will come in time; we have spring ball coming up here in about a month, and we’ll take it as slow as we need to or as fast as we need to and see how they pick up on it.
On what he looks for production-wise from his quarterbacks
Production-wise, protect the football. We have a saying around here, ‘The ball is the program.’ If we don’t turn the football over, then we have a really good chance to win the game. So, the main focus at the quarterback position is always going to be protect the football. Are there going to be interceptions thrown? Sure. And a lot of them are going to be things you can’t help. But what I want the quarterback to do is control those interceptions that you can help and make precise decisions.
Assistant Coach (Co-Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs) Chad Scott
Primary Recruiting Territory: Eastern Pennsylvania/Philadelphia;Central/South New Jersey
Secondary: Florida: Orlando, Ocala, etc.; Any Running Back Crossover
On Coach Neal Brown’s offensive strategy
Offense is offense, and there is something unique about what he does. Obviously, he’s really good. First of all, we want to score points, and we haven’t gone away from the air raid, but we’ve gotten a lot more creative with what we do, in terms of running the ball. We’re using the tight end a lot more in different sets, so we can get a lot more burst and play a lot faster, keep the defense off the field and be able to run the ball a lot more effectively.
On Coach Neal Brown’s run-game strategy
It’s different since what we’ve done with the tight end position. We grew up playing the air raid and grew up in this one-back, four-wide offense where you run inside or outside zone, where as now, we’ve incorporated the tight end where we put that guy in the backfield for different sets, put him in some field sets. We’re being a little more multiple, being able to flex guys out or set guys in.
On his impressions of the current running back corps
I’ve seen plenty. They’re talented. I’ve been very fortunate to walk into a group that has experience, they have size, they have speed. We have guys that can catch the ball out of the backfield, guys that can block. Thus far, without seeing the guys in pads, I haven’t seen a lot of weaknesses.
On what he wants to emphasize with the running backs in practice
The big thing for us, just watching them on film, is we want to get better at blocking. They run the ball really well, but we want to get better at blocking. We want to get better on the back end and finishing runs. They all did a phenomenal job from their stance all the way to the second level. That’s what it’s all about, getting to the second level. Those are the runs you can take to the house, and those guys are that type of guys. So, finishing runs a little better and blocking.
Assistant Coach (Inside Linebackers) Blake Seiler
Primary Recruiting Territory: Kansas/Iowa Junior Colleges; West Virginia: Northern Panhandle/Wheeling; Ohio: Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Toledo, Youngstown
Secondary: Louisiana
On if he has specific recruiting areas
I am going to be in the Northern Ohio area; Cleveland, Akron, Youngstown, Toledo. I have connections out in my previous area with Kansas junior colleges, and I have been recruiting down in Louisiana for seven years now.
On making connections with recruits
To me, it is all about relationships. I know everyone says that, but it is not just about texting a guy or DM’ing direct messaging a guy. It’s consistency. It’s constant contact. It’s putting a face with the name and getting out to see them. You want to talk to their families and find out what is important to them, so you can make that connection with the kid.
On his circumstances of coming here
I know (assistant coach – defensive coordinator/safeties) Vic Koenning, so that was the number one connection. My experience in the league obviously helped. My wife’s family is about two hours north of here, so those were all big factors for me. We got it done. Like I told other people, it’s West Virginia University. This is a tough place to play. The fan base is outstanding. The mentality of WVU is blue-collar, hard-working guys. Toughness and dedication, all those things. If you give the fans something to cheer about here, it is a tough place to play. I think all the pieces are in place. Coach (Neal) Brown, that is what swayed me to come here.
On the lessons he took from Kansas State’s head coach Bill Snyder
A lot of the same things we just talked about. We never had the most talented players there, but we taught them fundamentals. We taught them accountability. We taught them discipline. Those are the building blocks. Obviously, if you can recruit some talent and teach them to play together with toughness and discipline, then you have a chance. You have a chance to be special if you can add talent to that equation.
Assistant Coach (Tight Ends/Inside Receivers) Travis Trickett
Primary Recruiting Territory: Parkersburg, W.Va.; Columbus, Ohio and Surrounding Area; New York City/North New Jersey
Secondary: Northeast Pennsylvania/Lackawanna College; Jacksonville, Fla./Savannah, Ga.; South Florida
On if there was any hesitation to leave Georgia State
As my career has gone, I’ve been at different places, and I’ve had great bosses. I’ve had great head coaches that I’ve worked under that have allowed me to do what I needed to do or wanted to do, and I can bounce things off of. I had great working environments, and me and my wife, we were happy in Atlanta. We have two children and another one on the way, and we were settled. We were good. We bought a house, and you don’t buy a house in coaching unless you plan on being somewhere. We really wanted to build that thing up, and it was a big project. When I got that phone call, we knew it would take something life changing for me to leave there, and that was a life-changing phone call. So, we came back. I left the office yesterday, last night about 9:00 or 10:00. I got out to the parking lot and looked up, and I see the stadium, I see the flying WV on the side. I just stood there for about five minutes and thought, ‘Wow.’ I’m excited. I really am.
On family conversations since being hired at West Virginia
When this whole thing was happening, Clint (Trickett) was calling me about every hour asking, ‘Did you hear anything? Did you hear anything? Did you hear anything?’ As a family, this University has meant everything to our family. It’s put food on our table and clothes on our backs when dad was here, and dad’s been here twice. It gave me my education, it gave me my start in coaching. Both my brothers went to school here. My wife, she’s from Doddridge County, she went to school here and graduated with her nursing degree. This University has given so much to us. It’s always been a goal of any of ours to get back, whether it be myself, my brother Chance, my brother Clint. Whoever it is, we cheer each other on, and when this opportunity came by, it was a joyous day. Everyone was excited, but the opportunity to do it with Coach (Neal) Brown is what I’m more excited about than anything. Because I know, having gone against his teams, having to watch from afar and studying his habits on film, I know what kind of coach he is and what kind of program he runs. I’ve recruited against him for the past two years, and to be able to come in with him and knowing what we’re going to do and how he is, I’m tickled to death.
On if he talked to his grandmother during the hiring process
I actually went and saw my grandma yesterday. Saturday was her 93rd birthday, so we drove out and my dad came up. We drove out to Preston County, and we sat down. She was excited. My whole dad’s side is Preston County, and my wife’s side is all in the Clarksburg, Doddridge County area. Obviously, we have Tricketts in Clarksburg and all over the place. That phone’s been buzzing every day.
On what made his family a coaching family
We did. He did not want us to be a coach. He actually went out of his way to tell us to not coach. ‘Y’all are too smart. You need to be a doctor or a lawyer.’ At first, as a competitor, I wanted to coach for the competitive aspect. I wanted to be involved. But when I started at West Virginia, I discovered my love for teaching, and I realized I like teaching, I like being a teacher, I like seeing me helping somebody get from point A to point B. They do the work, and they get the reward. That is what coaching is all about, when you see those guys. Not only that, as the years go on, you see them grow up as men, graduate, get jobs, help them get jobs, have former players come work for me. Those relationships, you get into coaching for selfish reasons, but as you go on, you realize that this is a servant position, and that’s what I enjoy the most.