Neal Brown Announces Position Coaches

Since West Virginia head football coach Neal Brown was officially hired, we watched him meticulously put together his coaching staff. As news continued to break throughout the last month and a half of, we had a sense of which coach would oversee what positions: however, nothing was official.

Monday Morning, Brown officially introduced his assistant coaches and revealed their role within the staff. After proclaiming he was “Really excited about this group” of coaches, Brown thanked athletic director Shane Lyons for his support through the process.

“Appreciate Shane (Lyons) and our administration for making this happen, because you can’t hire quality people without resources and investing and I appreciate Shane and his group for making this happen.”

Then, Neal went over the criteria he had in bringing coaches into Morgantown. “In putting together this staff, first and foremost, looking for men of character, whose beliefs align with our culture add they were all in on our philosophy of developing total Mountaineers.” Said Brown.

Brown listed some of his other critical factors as he put together this staff and talked about the experience they shared.

“Continuity – six out of ten guys we’ve worked together for at least four years.

“Big 12 experience – five out of the 10 have previous experience in this league.

“Power five experience – nine out of the ten have been a part of staffs at the power five level.”

“West Virginia University ties – One key member on each side of the ball has strong ties to this University and then proven winners and proven recruiters.”

Afterward, Neal went through his entire staff and gave some notes on his assistant coaches.

Matt Moore co-offensive coordinator and offensive line. “This is our eighth year together. Three times his unit led college football in fewest sacks. He tutored the highest drafted offensive lineman in the Sun Belt Conference in history. Big 12 experience at Texas Tech part of a team that took Texas Tech to the number one ranking.”

“Chad Scott is our co-offensive coordinator coaching running backs. Position groups always been highly productive. Great understanding of the run game. Nationally known for his recruiting prowess as well.”

“Xavier Dye coaching our wide receivers. Very good player at Clemson. Last two years on the staff there. Obviously, you all know are the National Champions. Comes highly recommended from Dabo Swinney.”

“Sean Reagen– quarterbacks. We were together at Texas Tech. It will be our eight years together combined. Known for developing quarterbacks. If you look at the record books at Troy and in the Sun Belt conference as a whole his quarterbacks under his tutelage are right at the top.

“Travis Trickett – inside receivers and tight ends. Deep West Virginia ties. Morgantown graduate. West Virginia grad. Student Assistant for coach Rod Rodriguez. GA for coach Saban and coach Fisher. And Dad obviously long-time offensive line coach – nationally known. Travis has been offensive coordinator the last seven years of his career. Highly regarded as a recruiter as well.”

“Vic Koenning. Huge part of our success at Troy. Last three years his units have been in the top of our league and one of the top teams in the country in sacks, tackles for loss and takeaways.”

“Jahmile Addae – secondary. Obviously, a West Virginia Grad. Two-year all-conference player in the Big East. Two-year captain here. Came highly recommended as a recruiter and as a teacher on the field.”

“Jordan Lesley defensive line. This will be our fifth year together. The units at Troy highly productive at defensive line. Multiple all-conference players the last three years.”

“Al Pogue outside linebackers. This will be our fifth year together. In 2018 Troy was ranked number five nationally in interceptions. During the last four years, Troy was number two nationally in takeaways. And he coached a guy, Blace Brown who’s tied for third nationally in career picks – just graduated there.

“Blake Seiler inside linebackers. Highly impressed with how his guys played. When I was a coordinator in this league, he was a coach at Kansas State – always impressed with how they played. Played with an edge. Coach the defensive player of the year in 2016 in this league.”

Brown finished his time at the podium with this:

“Excited about this group. Proud to represent this group. We got a lot of experience in the group. There is a good mix of youth and experience. Like I said key factors looking for good people, proven winners, proven recruiter.”