Way too early Football prediction.

[xgunnx]

What I'm expecting from new HC Brown and his stuff going into his first season. I want to see a team that gets better each game, has discipline and plays hard every down. Also hope the late season collapses go away. I'll be happy with a 6 win season in Coach Browns first year. Any wins beyond 6 would be amazing. IMO

 

[oceantide83]

What if he wins 5 games?

 

[lenny4wvu]

What I'm expecting from new HC Brown and his stuff going into his first season. I want to see a team that gets better each game, has discipline and plays hard every down. Also hope the late season collapses go away. I'll be happy with a 6 win season in Coach Browns first year. Any wins beyond 6 would be amazing. IMO

Prepare to be amazed.. I honestly think (and hope) for 8+ IMHO.. I think the defense will vastly improved (new schematics, attitude and "not just eating up blocks"..As with all offenses,it's all up to the OL getting NASTY in the trenches (where it counts)!!

 

[oceantide83]

it's all up to the OL getting NASTY in the trenches (where it counts)!!

That's what she said.

 

[WVUALLEN]

7-5

It's been 53 years since a first year head coach has come in with no returning starting QB.

Jim Carlen no returning starting QB (3-5-2)
Bowden had Mark Sherwood (8-3)
Cignetti had Dan Kendra (5-6)
Don Nehlen had Oliver Luck (6-6)
Rich Rod had Brad Lewis (3-8)
Stewart had Pat White (9-4)
Holgorsen had Geno Smith (10-3)
Brown has no returning starter

 

[locustwv]

8-4

 

[Nova Mountaineer]

Not sure of record. But I feel the team will be tougher, more disciplined and focused. And as noted
above - improvement as we more through the season. Real improvement over the first four years
is the benchmark I'm using. While we're all excited don't think it's fair to make evaluation before
that. His coaches, for the most part, have to get use to D-1 atmosphere. Now we might see some
great strides right off the bat, but I think it's unfair to hold that as the standard.
What I find interesting is the non, on-field staff he's put together - analysts, etc. I guess other
schools have such things, but I'm not aware of that type of staffing here. The fact that we haven't
lost any players is just amazing to me given the scope of the changes.

 

[doneagain]

I like that NB at least sounds like he has a plan and a process. I like that he has expectations. I hate to compare coaches, because I was a Dana fan, but the more I see and hear out of NB, the more I am glad Dana chose to go elsewhere. Again, I think Dana will do really well at Houston, and I believe that is a result of him being a better fit there. I believe NB believes if you work hard enough and have a positive attitude that you can overcome problems. Looking back, I feel Dana sometimes looked at problems and tried to figure out how to work around them, such as recruiting, instead of trying to solve the problem so he didn’t have to deal with it anymore.

I think 7 wins will be a great first year for NB.

I think the wins will come from JMU, NC State, Kansas, Baylor, TT, KSU and a 7th win in a minor bowl game, possibly the SERVPRO First Responders Bowl against a CUSA team.

 

[TownesVanZandt]

Don't underestimate the other new coaches.

Neal Brown has to win that battle. I think WV has the best talent for the new coach but Tech has the QBs.
Les Miles has the experience from Oklahoma State and LSU plus 100% of the fanbase.

When the Big 12 started....Oklahoma State was like a FCS program. Think they loss their first game to Texas by 60 points in 1996.
Miles comes along in 2001 and changed that program. Without Miles I don't think T Boone invests the money and Mike Gundy doesn't have the success.
Miles has that man in Booth. Booth is KU's T Boone Pickens


Klieman is a winner. I think Kliemann can ultimately be the coach who can build a program. I think the question is how much did Bill Snyder leave him.

 

[doneagain]

Don't underestimate the other new coaches.

Neal Brown has to win that battle. I think WV has the best talent for the new coach but Tech has the QBs.
Les Miles has the experience from Oklahoma State and LSU plus 100% of the fanbase.

When the Big 12 started....Oklahoma State was like a FCS program. Think they loss their first game to Texas by 60 points in 1996.
Miles comes along in 2001 and changed that program. Without Miles I don't think T Boone invests the money and Mike Gundy doesn't have the success.
Miles has that man in Booth. Booth is KU's T Boone Pickens


Klieman is a winner. I think Kliemann can ultimately be the coach who can build a program. I think the question is how much did Bill Snyder leave him.

I understand everyone has high hopes for a new coach, but Miles isn’t gonna fix Kansas in one off season. To answer your question, Snyder didn’t leave Klieman much of anything, and no one other than Snyder has ever won at KSU. Until someone else does, Snyder will look like a miracle worker who did the impossible. In time klieman might build a winner, but history is not on KSU’s side.

Kingsbury didn’t get fired because he had a better team than everyone else, so yeah, I believe we are further along with NB than TT is with Wells. Wells has to overcome a losing mentality at TT after three straight losing seasons, and his QBs might have talent, but they have yet to prove they can stay healthy.

No one will ever accuse WVU of being a blue blood, but many coaches have had success at WVU, and there is no reason to believe that trend won’t continue with NB. Only 6 of WVUs 35 head coaches have ended their tenure with a losing record and none have had a losing record since the 70s. NB had a tough first year at Troy, but he has more to work with at WVU, and it isn’t like anyone here is saying NB is going to win the B12 in year 1.

 

[TownesVanZandt]

Les Miles has maybe the best player in the Big 12 to work with in Pooka Williams.
Williams could be better than anyone on Texas and Oklahoma.
The question becomes the new coaching staff finding ways to get him the ball.

But KU needs the DL. They have a start with Steven Parker from Dallas but KU needs 2 to 3 more DL.

Snyder is the Purple Wizard but Snyder and nepotism destroyed K State the last few years.
K State underachieved. They were better than their record.
But....maybe a lot of people were wrong about K State.
Truthfully I think they will finish last but you never know.

Kingsbury was suppose to be the Messiah.
It was like USC bringing in coaches who were with Pete Carroll.
Most people around Tech are still upset about Mike Leach.

But....Tech is very much like WV.
Spike Dykes was a coach at Midland Lee and went to Texas Tech.
If you grew up in West Texas you ended up playing for Tech.
Players like Zach Thomas. But Leach went away from that. He started with those type of players but Leach turned his back on West Texas very much like Dana turned his back on West Virginia.

Matt Wells is trying to fix this. If Wells can reconnect with the fanbase and the coaches in West Texas Tech could win 7-8 games every year and compete for Big 12 championships.

 

[doneagain]

Les Miles has maybe the best player in the Big 12 to work with in Pooka Williams.
Williams could be better than anyone on Texas and Oklahoma.
The question becomes the new coaching staff finding ways to get him the ball.

But KU needs the DL. They have a start with Steven Parker from Dallas but KU needs 2 to 3 more DL.

Snyder is the Purple Wizard but Snyder and nepotism destroyed K State the last few years.
K State underachieved. They were better than their record.
But....maybe a lot of people were wrong about K State.
Truthfully I think they will finish last but you never know.

Kingsbury was suppose to be the Messiah.
It was like USC bringing in coaches who were with Pete Carroll.
Most people around Tech are still upset about Mike Leach.

But....Tech is very much like WV.
Spike Dykes was a coach at Midland Lee and went to Texas Tech.
If you grew up in West Texas you ended up playing for Tech.
Players like Zach Thomas. But Leach went away from that. He started with those type of players but Leach turned his back on West Texas very much like Dana turned his back on West Virginia.

Matt Wells is trying to fix this. If Wells can reconnect with the fanbase and the coaches in West Texas Tech could win 7-8 games every year and compete for Big 12 championships.

Dana turning his back on WVU as you say was as much a WVU decision as it was a Dana decision. Dana had a chance to take the next step this past season and failed to do, yet he still wanted an extension and raise and thought he could levy Houston to get a new deal at WVU. Dana likes Houston, so the worst case scenario for Dana was WVU balked at the offer and he takes the Houston offer. Shane Lyons stood his ground and honestly wanted to finally bring in his own guy without having to fire Dana and pay a big buyout, so he told Dana he had not earned a new deal and they decided to part ways.

So the veiled shot at WVU is misinformed. You have not heard one single WVU fan complain about Dana going to Houston. It was time to leave and WVU, in my opinion, upgraded to a complete head coach. WVU called Dana’s bluff, then went out and got the best coach available this off season. Dana is a guy that wants to sleep in, didn’t use all his available practices for bowls, didn’t want to do any recruiting until the very end when he would swoop in to try and seal the deal, didn’t want to attend fund raisers, and couldn’t handle criticism that comes with the job of being a power 5 head coach. He will not have the same demands at Houston because the teams he will be competing against in conference will not have the same resources that Houston has, unlike the B12 where even the lower tier programs still have power 5 resources.

But, yeah, Dana turned his back on us and we are all just devastated by it. Probably won’t recover. It is exactly like the situation with Mike Leach.

 

[TownesVanZandt]

Dana turning his back on WVU as you say was as much a WVU decision as it was a Dana decision. Dana had a chance to take the next step this past season and failed to do, yet he still wanted an extension and raise and thought he could levy Houston to get a new deal at WVU. Dana likes Houston, so the worst case scenario for Dana was WVU balked at the offer and he takes the Houston offer. Shane Lyons stood his ground and honestly wanted to finally bring in his own guy without having to fire Dana and pay a big buyout, so he told Dana he had not earned a new deal and they decided to part ways.

So the veiled shot at WVU is misinformed. You have not heard one single WVU fan complain about Dana going to Houston. It was time to leave and WVU, in my opinion, upgraded to a complete head coach. WVU called Dana’s bluff, then went out and got the best coach available this off season. Dana is a guy that wants to sleep in, didn’t use all his available practices for bowls, didn’t want to do any recruiting until the very end when he would swoop in to try and seal the deal, didn’t want to attend fund raisers, and couldn’t handle criticism that comes with the job of being a power 5 head coach. He will not have the same demands at Houston because the teams he will be competing against in conference will not have the same resources that Houston has, unlike the B12 where even the lower tier programs still have power 5 resources.

But, yeah, Dana turned his back on us and we are all just devastated by it. Probably won’t recover. It is exactly like the situation with Mike Leach.

Not talking about him leaving...

Once I started seeing Dana Holgersen's name coming up for jobs I had an idea that he was gone.

Especially because Tech wasn't interested in him and then his name came up at Colorado.
Was his agent using the media to drop his name.

Mike Leach was fired by Tech because they had to because of political pressure.

Dana didn't think WV was good enough to win in the Big 12.
Similar to what was happening to Mike Leach with Texas Tech.

 

[WVUALLEN]

Knew Dana was leaving when Lyons told him they would not negotiate a new contract for him. No pay raise.

 

[WVUALLEN]

Dana turning his back on WVU as you say was as much a WVU decision as it was a Dana decision. Dana had a chance to take the next step this past season and failed to do, yet he still wanted an extension and raise and thought he could levy Houston to get a new deal at WVU. Dana likes Houston, so the worst case scenario for Dana was WVU balked at the offer and he takes the Houston offer. Shane Lyons stood his ground and honestly wanted to finally bring in his own guy without having to fire Dana and pay a big buyout, so he told Dana he had not earned a new deal and they decided to part ways.

So the veiled shot at WVU is misinformed. You have not heard one single WVU fan complain about Dana going to Houston. It was time to leave and WVU, in my opinion, upgraded to a complete head coach. WVU called Dana’s bluff, then went out and got the best coach available this off season. Dana is a guy that wants to sleep in, didn’t use all his available practices for bowls, didn’t want to do any recruiting until the very end when he would swoop in to try and seal the deal, didn’t want to attend fund raisers, and couldn’t handle criticism that comes with the job of being a power 5 head coach. He will not have the same demands at Houston because the teams he will be competing against in conference will not have the same resources that Houston has, unlike the B12 where even the lower tier programs still have power 5 resources.

But, yeah, Dana turned his back on us and we are all just devastated by it. Probably won’t recover. It is exactly like the situation with Mike Leach.

You can't make a point to TVZ. He switches often during a conversation.

 

[locustwv]

8-4. I’m calling it now. After that. Big time. Playoffs

 

[TownesVanZandt]

I think 8 wins is a possibility.
I think I even said WV at their peak in year 1 could win as much as 10.

8-10 wins....
Austin Kendall is a better version of Brandon Silvers. Watch the Memphis Express to see Neal Brown's former QB.

WV rushes for 1800 yards in 12 games.
Meaning the OL becomes a beast.
2 All Big 12 OL

Bush is an explosive player.
Has 5+ 50+ yard plays

WVs DLine dominates. The brothers and Donahue control the LOS.
Alston owns the Bandit position and gets 8+ sacks.



Miller is the Game 1 starting CB.
Osita Smith makes a difference as a freshman
Robinson is All Big 12 level.

 

[Pitt4Life34]

What if he wins 5 games?

I giggled

 

[Pitt4Life34]

Prepare to be amazed.. I honestly think (and hope) for 8+ IMHO.. I think the defense will vastly improved (new schematics, attitude and "not just eating up blocks"..As with all offenses,it's all up to the OL getting NASTY in the trenches (where it counts)!!

Depends on QB position of course

 

[TownesVanZandt]

Smartest thing I have heard Greggy say...

WV's OL wasn't horrible last year but it wasn't the greatest.
They have 2-3 starters for a winning team with maybe 1 elite player among those 2-3.

Oklahoma had 4 elite OL last year and 7-8 starters on a winning team.
Their backups who will be starters this year are better than the starters on probably 6-7 Big 12 teams.


When you don't have the OL you have to rely exclusively on QB play.

OL takes at least one year to develop.

But who knows....
Matt Moore can be a magician and there could be some great players that I don't know about.

But usually a new coach has issues with the OLine unless of course the previously OLine coach stays .
Like what you saw with Texas A&M and Jim Turner.
Turner who moved on to the NFL is one of the better OLine coaches and already was developing the players that Jimbo used to develop an adequate downhill rushing attack.

 

[Pitt4Life34]

Smartest thing I have heard Greggy say...

WV's OL wasn't horrible last year but it wasn't the greatest.
They have 2-3 starters for a winning team with maybe 1 elite player among those 2-3.

Oklahoma had 4 elite OL last year and 7-8 starters on a winning team.
Their backups who will be starters this year are better than the starters on probably 6-7 Big 12 teams.


When you don't have the OL you have to rely exclusively on QB play.

OL takes at least one year to develop.

But who knows....
Matt Moore can be a magician and there could be some great players that I don't know about.

But usually a new coach has issues with the OLine unless of course the previously OLine coach stays .
Like what you saw with Texas A&M and Jim Turner.
Turner who moved on to the NFL is one of the better OLine coaches and already was developing the players that Jimbo used to develop an adequate downhill rushing attack.

More jibberish from Mr geek fan know it all. I would bet any amount of money you never played a real down of football Texass.

 

[doneagain]

I think 8 wins is a possibility.
I think I even said WV at their peak in year 1 could win as much as 10.

8-10 wins....
Austin Kendall is a better version of Brandon Silvers. Watch the Memphis Express to see Neal Brown's former QB.

WV rushes for 1800 yards in 12 games.
Meaning the OL becomes a beast.
2 All Big 12 OL

Bush is an explosive player.
Has 5+ 50+ yard plays

WVs DLine dominates. The brothers and Donahue control the LOS.
Alston owns the Bandit position and gets 8+ sacks.



Miller is the Game 1 starting CB.
Osita Smith makes a difference as a freshman
Robinson is All Big 12 level.

I don’t see 8 wins. I see the defense being better because we try to rely on the run game more meaning our defense gets more of a break. Our OLine will not have to be superhuman to run the ball in the B12 because most defenses in conference are designed mainly to stop the pass.

The flip side is our scoring average is potentially going to go down with more ball control running plays. I think the 2020 season will be more indicative of what brown wants to do on offense, but this year with 4 quality options at tailback, he will have to play to the team’s strength, and that should be the run. We don’t even know who the starting QB is for 2019, so to me that limits what they can do offensively in the spring and summer because they are splitting reps 3 ways in practice.

If we get to 8 or more wins it will have as much to do with what other teams fail to do as it will be what we are able to do. In NB’s first year at Troy he only won 4 games, so laying the long term foundation looks to be more important to NB. It will be harder to duplicate the 3 successive years of 10-win seasons at Troy at WVU competing in the B12 than in the Sun Belt.

 

[TownesVanZandt]

A lot of it is formation and experience.

Herman left for a few years and Tim Beck Texas' OC left for a lot of years and the Big 12 has changed.
A lot of what they wanted to do at Texas wasn't there even running the ball.

This was with an average OL.
Even Iowa St has had issues because of their OL.

As good as Iowa St has been they have been doing that without a great OL.

Iowa St is a team that WV can resemble.


8-10 is if everything goes right
I even have a scenario for WV to only win 3 games next year as well.

 

[doneagain]

A lot of it is formation and experience.

Herman left for a few years and Tim Beck Texas' OC left for a lot of years and the Big 12 has changed.
A lot of what they wanted to do at Texas wasn't there even running the ball.

This was with an average OL.
Even Iowa St has had issues because of their OL.

As good as Iowa St has been they have been doing that without a great OL.

Iowa St is a team that WV can resemble.


8-10 is if everything goes right
I even have a scenario for WV to only win 3 games next year as well.

If WV is trying to resemble anything ISU - comparing their history to ours - then we need to give up football.

 

[TownesVanZandt]

If WV is trying to resemble anything ISU - comparing their history to ours - then we need to give up football.

History doesn't win football games and for WV it doesn't even help with recruiting very much.

Iowa St was brought up because the offense of Troy was very similar to Iowa State...

The changes at Iowa St have helped them against Oklahoma but have hurt them against Texas.
But Iowa St is trying to get better in the trenches...
Both offensively and defensively.

WV has not separated from the pact yet to be the third strongest program....
They still recruit at the same level as Oklahoma St and TCU and for most years finish around the same spots as both schools.

 

[TownesVonzandt]

Don't argue with me about sports I have 100+ accounts to back me up.

 

[xgunnx]

Nice too read through a bunch of positive replies. After reading about Neal Browns coaching pedigree and his style and success as a HC at Troy. It really does give this Mountaineer fan hope.

I've seen a comment about WVU compared to or being similar to ISU. Sorry but no West Virginia Mountaineers are unique and have many challenges and obstacles to overcome. But have maintained a historically winning program that is self sustaining financially. I'm glad WVU athletics have higher expectations then to be like another ISU (no disrespect to a great program at ISU) but a lot of fans remember when WVU played for the NCAA Championship and would like to see the Mountaineers get back to that level.

 

[TownesVanZandt]

No one compared WV to Iowa State historically.

The comparsion was made because Iowa St under Matt Campbell plays a style that Neal Brown wants to play at West Virginia.

But....
Iowa St doesn't have the players in the trenches to play that style against certain teams.
Iowa St under Matt Campbell has struggled against Iowa and Texas.
Finally jumped K State this year.

Point is....

If West Virginia is going to grind down opponents with a rushing attack they will need an OLine.

They will need a DLine to control the LOS on their defense.

Two position groups WV needs to improve at.
1) Offensive Line
2) Secondary

OL don't develop quickly...
It is a position that takes 1-3 years to build a 2 deep OLine that WV needs

Without an OLine WV will have to rely on a QB.
Iowa St did with Jacob Park until Texas turned his crazy and made him quit football.

Even then they had Kempt throwing up balls to Iowa St's good WR in 2017 and then had Purdy do the same in 2018.


Iowa St is a Poor Man's version of Texas.
Since WV wants to play more of a LOS game they need to be better than Iowa St at it in 2019....

If not WV and Neal Brown will be a Poor Man's version of Iowa State.

 

[xgunnx]

No one compared WV to Iowa State historically.

The comparsion was made because Iowa St under Matt Campbell plays a style that Neal Brown wants to play at West Virginia.

But....
Iowa St doesn't have the players in the trenches to play that style against certain teams.
Iowa St under Matt Campbell has struggled against Iowa and Texas.
Finally jumped K State this year.

Point is....

If West Virginia is going to grind down opponents with a rushing attack they will need an OLine.

They will need a DLine to control the LOS on their defense.

Two position groups WV needs to improve at.
1) Offensive Line
2) Secondary

OL don't develop quickly...
It is a position that takes 1-3 years to build a 2 deep OLine that WV needs

Without an OLine WV will have to rely on a QB.
Iowa St did with Jacob Park until Texas turned his crazy and made him quit football.

Even then they had Kempt throwing up balls to Iowa St's good WR in 2017 and then had Purdy do the same in 2018.


Iowa St is a Poor Man's version of Texas.
Since WV wants to play more of a LOS game they need to be better than Iowa St at it in 2019....

If not WV and Neal Brown will be a Poor Man's version of Iowa State.

Thanks for clarifying your point. I do agree the offensive line will need upgraded and the defensive secondary has been weak this past few seasons. Both will have to be focused on through recruiting and heavy doses of coaching up. It's a big reason why I'm predicting 6 wins also factoring in a new QB.

 

[TownesVanZandt]

Not everyone has an OLine like Oklahoma so you need to grind down an opponent.

If you can't stop anyone you can't grind down an opponent.

But Oklahoma is not Oklahoma unless it has a lead.
Oklahoma is 10x better with a lead because their offense becomes more methodical.
Best way to beat Oklahoma is too jump on them and to take their running game off the table.
Oklahoma knows they can score at a higher rate than most...

Unless WV continues to want to put that pressure on their QB they need the DBs...

Better secondary play means less points given up and more drives that WV can methodically grind down an opponent.

Even Oklahoma is trying to fix their Secondary and defense overall because they know you can't count on elite QB play every year

 

[1duluth1]

>> I've seen a comment about WVU compared to or being similar to ISU. Sorry but no West Virginia Mountaineers ...have maintained a historically winning program that is self sustaining financially. <<

Though WVU will never be a blue-blood - an Ohio St, Alabama, Notre Dame... we are in the next tier of schools -- like an NC State or Iowa. Usually pretty good. Ranked often. Occasional Top-10 year. Occasional losing record.

There have been 7 decades since 1950. In every decade except 1, WVU has attained a Top-10 ranking at some point during that decade. Also, I think we have the 15th most wins of any Division 1 school.

-Winter Tim

 

[TownesVanZandt]

History doesn't win football games....
WV cannot parlay that history into recruiting better than Iowa State at the current time.


Matt Campbell was an OL in college. The team he is creating is being built around physical play at all positions especially on the OL and DL...

Iowa State is pretty much a B1G team in the Big XII. This is what Matt Campbell has tapped into.

If Neal Brown and West Virginia want to be a physical team and a team that wins games because of physicality Iowa St is the team that WV has to be better than....

Doesn't matter if Iowa St hasn't won a conference championship in forever...
Truthfully I think that is what is driving them to improve....

But even after Matt Campbell has been there for some time Iowa St isn't where they want to be at regarding OL play and DL play.

Matt Campbell said it after the Texas
When you pride yourself on physicality and you win or lose games on physical play you cannot be pushed around.
Said that after the Texas game.

 

[WVUALLEN]

TVZ the twist and post expert.

 

[Pitt4Life34]

TVZ the twist and post expert.

Do you think he knows what a loser he is. He is the queen of drama haha. I think I’m gonna jump on Nebraska’s site and start power posting about all things Nebraska.

 

[TownesVanZandt]

Greggy....you have been owned by everyone on here.

Attacking what you call homers but you swing from whoever's dick is the longest.

 

[WVUALLEN]

Sounds like a Texas fan's feelings are hurt.

 

[TexasTrill2018]

Do you think he knows what a loser he is. He is the queen of drama haha. I think I’m gonna jump on Nebraska’s site and start power posting about all things Nebraska.

Nebraska sites are interesting if you want to do research on collective thinking

They all think the same and act the same.
You won't see many fights on a Nebraska board. Just nostalgia.

Make sure you say the 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers are the greatest team ever
Tommie Frazier is the greatest QB ever. Would have been a 6 time NFL MVP if it wasn't for blood clots
Scott Frost is the best coach in college football and will win 5-7 National Championships at Nebraska .

 

[Pitt4Life34]

Nebraska sites are interesting if you want to do research on collective thinking

They all think the same and act the same.
You won't see many fights on a Nebraska board. Just nostalgia.

Make sure you say the 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers are the greatest team ever
Tommie Frazier is the greatest QB ever. Would have been a 6 time NFL MVP if it wasn't for blood clots
Scott Frost is the best coach in college football and will win 5-7 National Championships at Nebraska .

Texass you’re such a piece of work. You are without question the biggest geek online.

 

[Pitt4Life34]

Greggy....you have been owned by everyone on here.

Attacking what you call homers but you swing from whoever's dick is the longest.

You missed your meds today goofball.

 

[TexasTrill2018]

Texass you’re such a piece of work. You are without question the biggest geek online.

Coming from you I will take that as compliment.