Why Mountaineers could be in position to continue their climb
Harry Lyles Jr., ESPN Personnel WriterJun 6, 2024, 07:00 AM ET The enduring image of West Virginia’s 2023 season, which ended with a 30-10 Duke’s Mayo Bowl victory over North Carolina, is that of coach Neal Brown covered in celebratory mayonnaise.So, what happened to
the clothing Brown wore that night?”Threw them away,”he stated. “They went straight to the trash.”
But something Brown and the Mountaineers didn’t throw away from that game was the momentum they obtained from the win heading into the offseason. Their 9-4 record, which was their best since 2016, followed they were selected to complete 14th in the Huge 12 preseason media poll, with lots of sensation Brown was training with his job on the line.Heading back to reality today like … pic.twitter.com/7mBWJkLGEu!.?.!— Duke’s Mayo(@DukesMayonnaise) January 2, 2024″ There’s a lots of belief program-wide,”Brown stated.”We’ve made some
truly essential actions over the last 18 months. However the hardest part is that last piece. It’s the distinction between nine wins and 11– and winning a conference championship.” Brown explained that once the team returned together this year, there weren’t any significant modifications to the Mountaineers ‘process.”Just get better, each player,”
he stated.”We require [quarterback] Garrett Greene to enhance his completion percentage. We need [
running back] Jahiem White to improve in the pass game. We need [left deal with] Wyatt Milum to be dominant. We need guys just to make a little bit of enhancement. We need our receiver room to raise their production on contested catches. We’ve pinpointed these truly little growth locations at each position, within each player, and after that within each department.”That’s been the push considering that January; we need to make incremental development. We need to be much better to offer ourselves an opportunity to go play because championship game.”Editor’s Picks 2 Related
Greene does not think conference those goals will be an issue.” This spring, there were no actually down practices where guys just were having a hard time to be there,” he said.”I think top to bottom our guys love, enjoy playing football. We could have teed it up the Sunday after the spring game if we needed to.
“A lot of West Virginia’s fortunes in 2024 will rest on the shoulders of Greene, whose preferred players maturing were Johnny Manziel and Baker Mayfield. Greene’s game and on-field charm emulate their designs; he even uses No. 6 as a salute to Mayfield.” Something’s going to happen
, whether it’s great or bad, something is going to occur,”Greene said.”I believe I play with my hair on fire. I love to play. I’m not simply going to relax there and toss it. I like to run around getting [the defense]
blended a bit.” Greene ended up last season completing 53.1%of his passes with 2,406 yards, 16 goals and 4 interceptions. He likewise had 120 hurries for 772 lawns and 13 goals.”My expectation is he’s going to have a huge year,” Brown stated. “I think last year, if you go and you just look at performance, there’s really few quarterbacks in the nation that are returning that had the exact same kind of production he had. And he missed out on two games. “He’s an elite runner. He throws the ball downfield as good as anybody in college football, I believe statistics back that up. Our focus given that January has been on intermediate throws and improving his completion percentage. And I actually think that he has an opportunity to go from a 53 %completion percentage in 2015, that can be mid-60s or above.
” Garrett Greene brings a little Johnny Manziel and Baker Mayfield to his game, saying,” I play like my hair is on fire. “Christopher Leduc/Icon Sportswire Greene has been investing a lot of time this offseason with his quarterback coach, David Morris, in Mobile, Alabama, working on principles, especially his footwork and body posture.But Greene won’t be driving the offense alone by any means. The Mountaineers are 24th in the nation out of 134 FBS schools in returning production from 2023. Offensively, based on metrics by ESPN’s Costs Connelly, they return 89%of their production, 3rd most in the nation. White and CJ Donaldson have the prospective to be one of the most difficult backfields to defend in the nation. At wide receiver, Traylon Ray, Preston Fox and Hudson Clement return, and West Virginia added Jaden Bray from Oklahoma State.And in spite of losing Zach Frazier to the NFL, the Mountaineers restore an experienced offensive line group in Milum, Brandon Yates, Nick Malone and Ja’Quay Hubbard.On the opposite of the ball, Brown likes his group’s depth on the defensive line and in the linebacking group. On the line, Brown said,”I think that Sean Martin is really ready to take the next step. He’s been a three-year starter for us, but I think he’s prepared to take that action and be an all-conference player, an early-round draft choice.”In the middle of the defense, the Mountaineers lose leader Lee Kpogba, but Brown stated they feel they have” high-end Big 12 players” in Josiah Trotter,
Trey Lathan, Ben Cutter and Ohio State transfer Reid Carrico.”We’re going to determine packages, and we’re going to play them all, “Brown said. At the spur(outside linebacker), Tyrin Bradley and Gardner-Webb transfer Ty French are anticipated to get to the passer.Aubrey Burks– whom Greene called the best protective player in the country– heads the protective backfield, along
with transfer cornerbacks Garnett Hollis Jr. from Northwestern and Ayden Garnes from Duquesne.” I believe the big thing for us is we have actually got to continue to put pressure on the quarterback, limit groups in the run game, and then– for us to go from
a team that was 9 wins last year to a team that can going to Dallas [for the championship game]– we’ve got to play the pass better,” Brown stated.”That’s been a point
of focus for us.”With a knowledgeable group and the momentum it brought from the championship game in Charlotte to Morgantown, it will be harder for the Mountaineers to slip up on groups in 2024. Their spring game seemed like a reflection of
the optimism surrounding this group. It started with a fashion program on a blue carpet (rather of red). Lathan was rocking a”Neal Breezy “Tee shirts in assistance of his coach.Yall want this??? pic.twitter.com/aUfQYh0ks2!.?.!— Trey Lathan(@treylathan5 )April 27, 2024 Former West Virginia quarterback Pat White and kicker Pat McAfee were the honorary captains for the Gold and Blue teams. “Those guys are very hectic, so spending the time to come back, it shows how crucial it is to them,”Brown stated.”I think that’s what spring football games ought to be.Still star-struck #HailWV pic.twitter.com/i1Yu1JUya3!.?.!— WVU Sports (@WVUSports)April 28, 2024 “I inform our guys, the coaches get 14 practices, you get one and we’re going to attempt to blow out the one you get. And I think we were able to do that.” In the 14 practices the coaches got, Brown made sure his players got plenty of suggestions from previous Mountaineers.
The school’s all-time leading rusher, Avon Cobourne, linebacker Bruce Irvin, safety Karl Joseph and large
receiver David Sills all visited the group ahead of a season with heightened expectations.”I believe we have actually got a fantastic opportunity opening weekend with Penn State being available in here, “Brown said.” We play a difficult schedule, however this is going to be a fun, amusing team. And our guys like to contend
. We’re going to be a hard out.”Greene agreed.”There’s
not a single guy in the locker space that doesn’t think that we can be playing in Dallas in the very first week of December, “Greene said.”We completely believe that. We certainly have the talent in the space on offense, defense and special groups. Now, it’s simply a matter of putting in the work of the summer and, when the season comes, performing. “”Last year, we were chosen to finish 14th, and we didn’t, “he continued.”This year, we seemed like we ought to have been one of the leading favorites to win it, and the chances came out and we weren’t where we wished to be.
[ The Mountaineers are the 10th choice, at +1800, to win the Big 12 on ESPN BET.] So, I think everything that this team does, we type of play with a chip on our shoulder. We did that in 2015. We’re
going to continue with this year.” I would simply inform them to kick back and see the show.”