--West Virginia head coach Neal Brown said it's an exciting time of the year and it's a lot different since you can now meet in the summer and have 16 OTAs. They had a running start into practice and today and tomorrow is about teaching this group how to practice and alignment and assignments. They'll start the evaluation portion when they start putting shells on. Right now they are two-spotting all group and team periods with everybody getting reps. There is the exact same drill on both fields for the first two weeks so everybody can get evaluated. Strength and conditioning staff with Mike Joseph did a good job getting everybody ready. First two and a half weeks of camp is about preparing for the season and the last two weeks are prepping for Penn State.
--Everybody is here with the team all the new transfers are here. On injuries, Brayden Dudley is limited with an off-season surgery hoping to be back. Josiah Trotter has handled rehab well. Asani Redwood is ahead of schedule and doing non-contact stuff. Cortez Braham may or may not be out there tomorrow due to illness but not something serious. Davis Mallinger continues to come back from his surgery and was out there but limited. Zach Frazier was limited but out there.
--You're allowed up to 120 players which is a real positive rule. You used to have 105 in camp and now you can have that many.
--About 4 or 5 walkons will be here when school starts but the rest have been here since the second summer session in June.
--Depth is better but they need some walk-on offensive linemen because they lost some of those. At linebacker because of Trotter's injury, he would like to be a little deeper there. They'd like to be better at some spots but they can go out there and practice with full two units where everybody is getting work and the competition is good enough.
--It starts January and the way the rules work now you start the summer and have 90--percent of your guys and it starts to build a personality in the winter and summer then you really find out when they first hit adversity. This is a confident group.
--The old way of doing things with pre-season stuff is you look at returning production from the team last year. They lost a high percentage but he really likes what they've done at wide receiver and it's the most versatile group they've had and they have more pure pass catchers. They have guys that aren't similar just look at Devin Carter and EJ Horton with how different they are. They have a lot of different body types and different styles and he likes the mix of their skill set.
--West Virginia went back and really analyzed what the issues were on defense. They need to simplify and improve their tackling ability with a focus on fundamental football. The team speed is the best they've had and they want them to play fast, but physical at the point of contact whether that's shedding blocks or making tackles.
--Brown made the decision on what they were going to do offensively and Chad Scott is going to lead the room but this is year 9 and he's called plays in 8 of those. There is some real advantages when it comes to managing the game. It's beneficial and allowed him to think about what they needed to be offensively when he took a step back last year. The most success he has had as a head coach is calling the plays and the reason he has this job in the first place is because he was a good offensive coordinator. Sean Reagan and Chad Scott will have in-game input.
--The in-game play calling is a little overrated it's about getting those plays in and repping them throughout the week. As a play caller you're thinking ahead and in-between those other coaches can help you. Not as much right now as in the past, but the roles of Reagan and Scott could grow as the season progresses.
--Sometimes you add responsibilities to people and they bog down but sometimes they flourish and that's what's happened with Chad Scott. He is good in front of the room and is a good teacher that brings a lot of energy. He is able to articulate his points without using a lot of words and pushing him outside of his boundaries gave him a unique perspective.
--Garrett Greene and Nicco Marchiol are both very even keel. Greene has great energy but what happened earlier is he had really big highs, but really low lows. Today his energy level was good and he was able to bounce back. Marchiol is more comfortable and at ease. They handled the negative plays better.
--A lot of a team's personality has to do with who are the alpha's on that side of the ball. Lee Kpogba on defense is the leader and he is aggressive and likes to talk but it has to happen naturally you can't force that.
--The guys that have played a lot of football that have transferred in can transition easier.
--WILL LB is the question mark. Who is going to step up? They've got some candidates but over the next two and half weeks they need to show they're ready. He wants to see the transfers and how they mesh and take to the systems but what he really wants to see is the guys that played last year and the jump they make. That's what's going to make our football team.
--Matt Jansen did a really good job and they wish him the best but he's proud of what they've been able to do in that department as it changes and evolves. Drew Fabianich they wanted somebody with NFL experience as a General Manager and he received a lot of positive feedback on him. He wanted to continue to develop the people in that department.
--Transfer portal they were open to adding another guy but were beat and now they will give those scholarships to walk-ons.
--West Virginia underachieved last year and that burned but the lack of respect they are getting helped to provide a chip on the shoulder. You have to have this burning desire and hunger to get better.
--Communication there is less needed when the head coach is the play caller. Data and analytics they make a lot of those decisions on Thursday on when they're going to go for it on fourth down and either touchdown or field goal. The head coach is not the play caller on first or second down at the latest you let the guy know when there is four downs so you can think ahead. First down and second down. So there are some advantages on that and you can control the tempo of the game and the time of possession. They had a plan and you're able to do that. The offensive play caller has more an impact on the tempo of the game than anybody else.
--West Virginia invested in two returners in Ja'Shaun Poke and Beanie Bishop.
--Brown doesn't have any thoughts on Colorado coming back into the league. He has a ton of confidence in Brett Yormark and however all these shakes out is West Virginia and the Big 12 are going to be positioned well.
--Everybody is here with the team all the new transfers are here. On injuries, Brayden Dudley is limited with an off-season surgery hoping to be back. Josiah Trotter has handled rehab well. Asani Redwood is ahead of schedule and doing non-contact stuff. Cortez Braham may or may not be out there tomorrow due to illness but not something serious. Davis Mallinger continues to come back from his surgery and was out there but limited. Zach Frazier was limited but out there.
--You're allowed up to 120 players which is a real positive rule. You used to have 105 in camp and now you can have that many.
--About 4 or 5 walkons will be here when school starts but the rest have been here since the second summer session in June.
--Depth is better but they need some walk-on offensive linemen because they lost some of those. At linebacker because of Trotter's injury, he would like to be a little deeper there. They'd like to be better at some spots but they can go out there and practice with full two units where everybody is getting work and the competition is good enough.
--It starts January and the way the rules work now you start the summer and have 90--percent of your guys and it starts to build a personality in the winter and summer then you really find out when they first hit adversity. This is a confident group.
--The old way of doing things with pre-season stuff is you look at returning production from the team last year. They lost a high percentage but he really likes what they've done at wide receiver and it's the most versatile group they've had and they have more pure pass catchers. They have guys that aren't similar just look at Devin Carter and EJ Horton with how different they are. They have a lot of different body types and different styles and he likes the mix of their skill set.
--West Virginia went back and really analyzed what the issues were on defense. They need to simplify and improve their tackling ability with a focus on fundamental football. The team speed is the best they've had and they want them to play fast, but physical at the point of contact whether that's shedding blocks or making tackles.
--Brown made the decision on what they were going to do offensively and Chad Scott is going to lead the room but this is year 9 and he's called plays in 8 of those. There is some real advantages when it comes to managing the game. It's beneficial and allowed him to think about what they needed to be offensively when he took a step back last year. The most success he has had as a head coach is calling the plays and the reason he has this job in the first place is because he was a good offensive coordinator. Sean Reagan and Chad Scott will have in-game input.
--The in-game play calling is a little overrated it's about getting those plays in and repping them throughout the week. As a play caller you're thinking ahead and in-between those other coaches can help you. Not as much right now as in the past, but the roles of Reagan and Scott could grow as the season progresses.
--Sometimes you add responsibilities to people and they bog down but sometimes they flourish and that's what's happened with Chad Scott. He is good in front of the room and is a good teacher that brings a lot of energy. He is able to articulate his points without using a lot of words and pushing him outside of his boundaries gave him a unique perspective.
--Garrett Greene and Nicco Marchiol are both very even keel. Greene has great energy but what happened earlier is he had really big highs, but really low lows. Today his energy level was good and he was able to bounce back. Marchiol is more comfortable and at ease. They handled the negative plays better.
--A lot of a team's personality has to do with who are the alpha's on that side of the ball. Lee Kpogba on defense is the leader and he is aggressive and likes to talk but it has to happen naturally you can't force that.
--The guys that have played a lot of football that have transferred in can transition easier.
--WILL LB is the question mark. Who is going to step up? They've got some candidates but over the next two and half weeks they need to show they're ready. He wants to see the transfers and how they mesh and take to the systems but what he really wants to see is the guys that played last year and the jump they make. That's what's going to make our football team.
--Matt Jansen did a really good job and they wish him the best but he's proud of what they've been able to do in that department as it changes and evolves. Drew Fabianich they wanted somebody with NFL experience as a General Manager and he received a lot of positive feedback on him. He wanted to continue to develop the people in that department.
--Transfer portal they were open to adding another guy but were beat and now they will give those scholarships to walk-ons.
--West Virginia underachieved last year and that burned but the lack of respect they are getting helped to provide a chip on the shoulder. You have to have this burning desire and hunger to get better.
--Communication there is less needed when the head coach is the play caller. Data and analytics they make a lot of those decisions on Thursday on when they're going to go for it on fourth down and either touchdown or field goal. The head coach is not the play caller on first or second down at the latest you let the guy know when there is four downs so you can think ahead. First down and second down. So there are some advantages on that and you can control the tempo of the game and the time of possession. They had a plan and you're able to do that. The offensive play caller has more an impact on the tempo of the game than anybody else.
--West Virginia invested in two returners in Ja'Shaun Poke and Beanie Bishop.
--Brown doesn't have any thoughts on Colorado coming back into the league. He has a ton of confidence in Brett Yormark and however all these shakes out is West Virginia and the Big 12 are going to be positioned well.
