WVU HC Neal Brown Details Positions of Need When Adding in Transfer Portal

Even though the Transfer Portal can create a sense of stress and something to worry about for college coaches like Neal Brown, the leader of the Mountaineers is well aware of the benefits of it as well.

Just as easily as a team can lose players and suffer a decline, something West Virginia experienced a couple years ago, a program can look to the portal as a way to quick rebuild or climb even further higher up the standings. And to that end, Brown addressed which positions his staff has been directed to focus on when searching for transfers.

And Brown gave an answer that has already become very evident based on the offers being sent out by WVU so far. Brown pointed to the secondary as their primary need and brought up a pass rushers as well. “The secondary is going to be the primary area we’re going to focus on in the portal and we’d also like to add a pass rusher. But the secondary is going to be first and foremost,” said Brown.

West Virginia has extended offers to defensive backs throughout all levels of college football, spanning the FCS to impact players from other major conferences like the Big Ten and ACC. Also being shown in offers, Brown made sure to mention linebacker and wide receiver as positions fans should expect to see addition as well.

As for his thoughts on the most important aspect of the portal window period for the Mountaineers, Brown is confident he will be able to retain most of the key contributors West Virginia is expecting to rely on again in 2024. He’s, of course, referring to 2023’s freshman sensation running back Jahiem White, wide receivers Traylon Ray and Rodney Gallagher among other notable young players who helped WVU improve upon a disappointing 2022 with an 8-4 (6-3) regular season.

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“As far as retention is going that’s something we spent a lot of time on last week…Our hope is we can hold on to our main players. You’re going to lose some, that’s just normal. You’re going to lose some, but we hope we can keep them all together.”

Soon after Brown made his comments, his confidence was supported by several key players on the offensive line, defense and offense announcing deals with WVU’s NIL collective Country Roads Trust, which means they will be staying in Morgantown for the foreseeable future.

For a related story, Brown offered his thoughts about the possibility of bringing back players who are available again after previously departing WVU.