Neal Brown Explains Why He Waits to Name Starters, in Favor of Mandatory Depth Charts

Does waiting until the last possible minute to announce a starter really give a team an advantage? Well, WVU head coach Neal Brown isn’t sure, but trying to gain an edge over his opponent is not actually why he often waits to name his staters.

When asked if he was ready to publicize who his starting quarterback will be against Penn State, Brown said did not hesitate when saying no. “No. We went this far. We might as well let it roll,” he responded.

Brown still keeping his quarterback close to the vest days before kickoff has become a theme during his tenure in Morgantown. He actually waited so long to announce JT Daniels, a veteran transfer, as his quarterback before the Backyard Brawl kicked off the 2022 season that Pitt’s head coach Pat Narduzzi kinda beat him to it and told the Pittsburgh media that his team knows it’s going to be Daniels before Brown could even speak that week.

WVU HC Neal Brown Still Not Announcing QB for Penn State Game

However, there are a couple differences this year compared to last season. First off, the competition between Garrett Greene and Nicco Marchiol felt more legitimate and equal since both started the offseason without ever having been the guy at the college level before. The other difference is Brown has disclosed his top quarterback to the team privately.

WVU HC Neal Brown says the QB battle is over and he knows who will start. He isn’t ready to share publicly who the QB1 will be yet though.

— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) August 21, 2023

But again, Brown isn’t naive to the fact most are assuming it will be Greene leading the Mountaineers in State College. For other position battles, most are even expecting Beanie Bishop will be WVU’s lead returner. Bishop went as far as to say part of the reason he left Minnesota is they did not give him a chance to return kickoffs and punts. So why not just cut the charade?

Brown says he’s actually in favor of programs releasing mandatory depth charts and injury reports days before each game. He’s just not interested in being the trend setter. Brown will not provide any further information on his starters until everyone else agrees to do it too. Doing so, while others continue to resist, would put his team at a disadvantage, says Brown.

WVU HC Neal Brown says he would be all for mandatory depth charts and injury reports, BUT he’s not doing it until everyone else does it. He feels doing it just because people want to know would put him at a disadvantage if others aren’t releasing them.

— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) August 28, 2023

While the charade is annoying at times, Brown does have a point here. Penn State head coach James Franklin is doing the same thing.