Personally I think the best D WVU had under Brown was with Co DCs.
DB Blake Shrader UAB
Blake Shrader is in his seventh year as the defensive backs coach at UAB, and his fourth year as the passing game coordinator.
Shrader has been an instrumental part in helping the Blazers finish top 20 nationally in total defense each of the last four years, including ranking top 10 nationally from 2018-20.
UAB was ninth in total defense in 2018, eighth in 2019, seventh in 2020 and 16th in 2021. The defensive success has resulted in UAB winning three Conference USA West Division titles (2018-20), two C-USA Championships (2018, 2020) and two bowl games (2018, 2021).
Shrader’s unit has been the catalyst for the defensive success as UAB finished seventh nationally in passing yards allowed in 2020 (173.2/game), and has finished top 50 in passing yards allowed every year since returning to action in 2017 (22nd in 2017, 14th in 2018, 8th in 2019, 7th in 2020 and 48th in 2021).
UAB finished 2021 at 9-4 overall and capped the season with a 31-28 victory over No. 13 BYU in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl. The Blazers held one of the nation’s most high-powered offenses to just 195 passing yards. The win was UAB’s highest ranked victory in program history.
Shrader’s unit had four All-Conference USA performers in 2021, led by Grayson Cash who was a Second Team All-C-USA honoree.
The defensive backs had five players earn All-Conference USA honors in 2020, led by cornerbacks Brontae Harris and TD Marshall who were Second Team All-Conference USA selections. Additionally, safeties Will Boler, Dy’jonn Turner and Damon Miller were Honorable Mention selections.
The defense specifically stepped up in UAB’s final two games of the season which led the Blazers to the 2020 C-USA title. In its final two games against Rice and Marshall, UAB held the two teams to a combined .474 completion percentage, 304 total passing yards and tallied two interceptions.
WR Coach Josh Crawford WKU
Josh Crawford – who was originally hired in January 2021 as WKU's outside receivers coach – enters his second season on The Hill. One of the most successful offensive coaches in the nation’s high school ranks, Crawford has helped lead some of Georgia’s highest-profile teams to record-setting seasons in recent years.
In his first season on The Hill, Crawford helped lead one of the most prolific passing attacks in college football. Collectively, WKU’s wide receivers produced 6,072 receiving yards and 63 touchdowns. Wide receiver Jerreth Sterns accounted for 1,902 of those yards and 17 touchdowns on 150 receptions. His efforts led to him being named C-USA Newcomer of the Year and signing an undrafted free agent deal with the Tampa Bay Bucaneers.
Crawford most recently coached at Colquitt County High School (Class 7A) as assistant head coach and co-offensive coordinator. In 2020, Colquitt County went 7-0 in the regular season and were region champions. The team reached the quarterfinals of the state playoffs and finished with a 9-1 record while averaging 40 points per game.
Prior to that, Crawford was at Valdosta High School from 2018-to-2019, where he was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Crawford was tasked with revamping an offense that averaged 18 points and 189 yards per game the year prior. In his two years, Valdosta was one of the most explosive offenses in the state and completed back-to-back quarterfinal appearances.
In 2018 Valdosta’s offense scored 501 points totaling 5,573 yards – rushing for 1,991 and passing for 3,582 – while averaging 38 points and 429 yards per game against one of the state’s toughest schedules. The offense produced a 1,300-yard rusher and three receivers who produced 900, 800 and 700 yards receiving. As Region 1 6A’s top offense, Valdosta produced five players who were selected First Team All-Region.
In 2019, despite five new starters in the offensive line and losing the top three offensive targets from 2018, Valdosta’s offense was the No. 1 scoring offense in Class 6A until playoff elimination, averaging 41 points per game. Valdosta’s offense eclipsed the 500-point mark once again, scoring 505 during the 2019 campaign while amassing 4,714 total yards and averaging 363 yards per game. Valdosta’s offense again led Region 1 6A while producing three First Team All-Region players, as well as a 1,000-yard wide receiver who tied the school record for touchdown receptions.
Special Teams Brian Haines App State
Brian Haines joined head coach Shawn Clark's staff as the running backs coach/special teams coordinator with the Mountaineers in January 2020.
Named a 2021 candidate for the Broyles Award that goes to the nation’s top assistant, Haines coached a running back group that helped App State extend its FBS-leading streak of consecutive years with a 1,000-yard rusher to 10 and directed a special teams group that included kicker Chandler Staton, who received first-team All-America recognition, and Jalen Virgil, who had two kickoff returns for touchdowns.
App State ranked 16th nationally in overall special teams based on the Fremeau Efficiency Index (FEI) that combines kickoff return, kickoff, punt return, punt and field goal efficiency into one overall rating.
App State’s two leading backs (Nate Noel, Camerun Peoples) both rushed for more than 900 yards while ranking No. 2 and No. 3 in rushing yards per game in the Sun Belt, and that came a year after the Mountaineers were the only FBS team in the country to have four running backs rush for at least 500 yards.
Virgil added a 100-yard kickoff return at Miami and a 97-yard kickoff return against Georgia Southern to the 100-yard return for a touchdown at Georgia Southern in 2020, and Staton was named PFN’s national kicker of the year after going 20 of 21 on field goals while making all 57 of his extra points. He set five App State career records, two App State single season records and two consecutive makes records during the 2021 season, when the Mountaineers ranked in the top 25 nationally by allowing just 4.1 yards per punt return.
I think these 3 guys could really help a struggling staff and give WVU a better shot moving forward.
I would also look to bring in a serious Associate Head Coach that can do things like make sure we don't need timeouts after kickoffs and getting delay of games on PATs.
Obviously WR, DB and Special Teams are the weakest links in the chain. If they do nothing about any of these 3 Brown won't make it past week 6.
DB Blake Shrader UAB
Blake Shrader is in his seventh year as the defensive backs coach at UAB, and his fourth year as the passing game coordinator.
Shrader has been an instrumental part in helping the Blazers finish top 20 nationally in total defense each of the last four years, including ranking top 10 nationally from 2018-20.
UAB was ninth in total defense in 2018, eighth in 2019, seventh in 2020 and 16th in 2021. The defensive success has resulted in UAB winning three Conference USA West Division titles (2018-20), two C-USA Championships (2018, 2020) and two bowl games (2018, 2021).
Shrader’s unit has been the catalyst for the defensive success as UAB finished seventh nationally in passing yards allowed in 2020 (173.2/game), and has finished top 50 in passing yards allowed every year since returning to action in 2017 (22nd in 2017, 14th in 2018, 8th in 2019, 7th in 2020 and 48th in 2021).
UAB finished 2021 at 9-4 overall and capped the season with a 31-28 victory over No. 13 BYU in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl. The Blazers held one of the nation’s most high-powered offenses to just 195 passing yards. The win was UAB’s highest ranked victory in program history.
Shrader’s unit had four All-Conference USA performers in 2021, led by Grayson Cash who was a Second Team All-C-USA honoree.
The defensive backs had five players earn All-Conference USA honors in 2020, led by cornerbacks Brontae Harris and TD Marshall who were Second Team All-Conference USA selections. Additionally, safeties Will Boler, Dy’jonn Turner and Damon Miller were Honorable Mention selections.
The defense specifically stepped up in UAB’s final two games of the season which led the Blazers to the 2020 C-USA title. In its final two games against Rice and Marshall, UAB held the two teams to a combined .474 completion percentage, 304 total passing yards and tallied two interceptions.
WR Coach Josh Crawford WKU
Josh Crawford – who was originally hired in January 2021 as WKU's outside receivers coach – enters his second season on The Hill. One of the most successful offensive coaches in the nation’s high school ranks, Crawford has helped lead some of Georgia’s highest-profile teams to record-setting seasons in recent years.
In his first season on The Hill, Crawford helped lead one of the most prolific passing attacks in college football. Collectively, WKU’s wide receivers produced 6,072 receiving yards and 63 touchdowns. Wide receiver Jerreth Sterns accounted for 1,902 of those yards and 17 touchdowns on 150 receptions. His efforts led to him being named C-USA Newcomer of the Year and signing an undrafted free agent deal with the Tampa Bay Bucaneers.
Crawford most recently coached at Colquitt County High School (Class 7A) as assistant head coach and co-offensive coordinator. In 2020, Colquitt County went 7-0 in the regular season and were region champions. The team reached the quarterfinals of the state playoffs and finished with a 9-1 record while averaging 40 points per game.
Prior to that, Crawford was at Valdosta High School from 2018-to-2019, where he was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Crawford was tasked with revamping an offense that averaged 18 points and 189 yards per game the year prior. In his two years, Valdosta was one of the most explosive offenses in the state and completed back-to-back quarterfinal appearances.
In 2018 Valdosta’s offense scored 501 points totaling 5,573 yards – rushing for 1,991 and passing for 3,582 – while averaging 38 points and 429 yards per game against one of the state’s toughest schedules. The offense produced a 1,300-yard rusher and three receivers who produced 900, 800 and 700 yards receiving. As Region 1 6A’s top offense, Valdosta produced five players who were selected First Team All-Region.
In 2019, despite five new starters in the offensive line and losing the top three offensive targets from 2018, Valdosta’s offense was the No. 1 scoring offense in Class 6A until playoff elimination, averaging 41 points per game. Valdosta’s offense eclipsed the 500-point mark once again, scoring 505 during the 2019 campaign while amassing 4,714 total yards and averaging 363 yards per game. Valdosta’s offense again led Region 1 6A while producing three First Team All-Region players, as well as a 1,000-yard wide receiver who tied the school record for touchdown receptions.
Special Teams Brian Haines App State
Brian Haines joined head coach Shawn Clark's staff as the running backs coach/special teams coordinator with the Mountaineers in January 2020.
Named a 2021 candidate for the Broyles Award that goes to the nation’s top assistant, Haines coached a running back group that helped App State extend its FBS-leading streak of consecutive years with a 1,000-yard rusher to 10 and directed a special teams group that included kicker Chandler Staton, who received first-team All-America recognition, and Jalen Virgil, who had two kickoff returns for touchdowns.
App State ranked 16th nationally in overall special teams based on the Fremeau Efficiency Index (FEI) that combines kickoff return, kickoff, punt return, punt and field goal efficiency into one overall rating.
App State’s two leading backs (Nate Noel, Camerun Peoples) both rushed for more than 900 yards while ranking No. 2 and No. 3 in rushing yards per game in the Sun Belt, and that came a year after the Mountaineers were the only FBS team in the country to have four running backs rush for at least 500 yards.
Virgil added a 100-yard kickoff return at Miami and a 97-yard kickoff return against Georgia Southern to the 100-yard return for a touchdown at Georgia Southern in 2020, and Staton was named PFN’s national kicker of the year after going 20 of 21 on field goals while making all 57 of his extra points. He set five App State career records, two App State single season records and two consecutive makes records during the 2021 season, when the Mountaineers ranked in the top 25 nationally by allowing just 4.1 yards per punt return.
I think these 3 guys could really help a struggling staff and give WVU a better shot moving forward.
I would also look to bring in a serious Associate Head Coach that can do things like make sure we don't need timeouts after kickoffs and getting delay of games on PATs.
Obviously WR, DB and Special Teams are the weakest links in the chain. If they do nothing about any of these 3 Brown won't make it past week 6.
