WVU head football coach Neal Brown Penn State Week 2024

all right I want to I want to start with a little bit of somber news just thoughts and prayers out to Cohen kx's family down in Madison West Virginia um saw that this morning and um just sad I don't have anything else to to really say on it just sad I have a 13-year-old myself daughter um and as as the season kicks off that's definitely on a somber note but want people down in Madison and and throughout Southern West Virginia and especially his family to know that that we are thinking about them and and our prayers are with them and so I want to start with that um next I want to thank you all for being here um and we we're going to get a lot of national attention on this game uh but you guys are here consistently um every single week covering us and it's important and and in your fair and so I appreciate that um very very and and I'm starting this and there's a reason why I'm saying this very appreciative of the opportunity to be the head coach here you know you want to play and you want to coach at places where it really matters and it matters here um you know I thought about that a lot you know kind of the end of last week we had Senator Joe Mansion Who regardless of your political beliefs he's a former player here and in um a leader in in a leading voice in politics right now and in and for the last few years he was here um John Chambers one of the leading uh business people in the entire world uh spent some time time here then we had Joe Missoula who's the world champion coach of the Boston Celtics you know CH Charles Wesley gin went from uh opening up at for Luke Coles to to be in here at practice and um you know and it matters and there's people and I can go on I could name a bunch of other people but it it matters here and so very fortunate of that um we had a great fundraising event kind of built off that on Saturday uh raising money for for the Country Roads trust and than for for Joe Missoula to be here um busy schedule and just I think just um and I think people that were here really felt this but I've known this since since we first met over a year ago is just a really humble U person and and really kind of Serv servanthood behind his leadership style and then Charles Charles played at the end of the evening and he's really talented so happy for him and uh probably as big a fan as there is of just all things Mountain years so and then the other thing before we start talking about Penn State um I knew this and ren beat me to the punch a little bit but this is the voice of the Mountaineers Tony ked's 40th season and um he's as good as it gets and so U appreciate him and and hopefully his 40th you know the older he gets the less he's going to remember but at least it's it's it's it's uh his most recent season will be one to remember so uh uh talking about Penn State obviously one of the top programs in the country they deserve their top 10 preseason rankings um a lot of respect for for Coach James Franklin what he's done not only at Penn State but what he did at Vanderbilt um they' got new coordinators in all three areas defensively I think is where it starts for them you know top five defense in most categories in in 2023 the dline is deep they're talented um multiple NFL players on that defensive line I think had linebacker a lot of turning experience uh 41 really makes them go um and then you know NFL Talent high high level Talent at safety and so um present some real challenges offensively um Andy did a great job at Kansas before that he did a great job at Buffalo um he got after us pretty good last time he was here with Kansas and so there's a lot to review you know you're watching a lot of Kansas film you're watching uh what Penn State did last year to kind of get the strengths uh of their football team you know their running backs both those guys are are Elite talents uh the tight ends are going to present some issues those are guys that um not only have great size but they run really well and and at Kansas the tight ends were featured pieces of their offense and there's no doubt that they'll be featured part at Penn State as well um special teams the coordinator did a really good job at Vanderbuilt the last couple years um he's well thought of within the Special Teams community Comm um they've got a talented punter and they've got a talented kickoff specialist um and then the returners you start thinking they've got competition a kicker but the returners are both running backs and like I said those are high-end guys and then um the Saunders kid that that does their punt rur he's really talented and so uh very familiar with the roster you know we tried to probably get most of them and didn't get it done uh we got a few but not we got most of them on their roster we're very familiar with and so really just kind of wrap up open up for questions is our guys are excited about the opportunity um it's going to be a great challenge not going to make or break our season anyway but I'm not trying to minimize the importance of it this is this is a big- Time college football weekend uh we got Fox big noon game uh the crew is going to be here uh MCA is going to be here on Friday lot going on and in the spotlights on Morgantown and I fully affect our our I fully expect our fans and our community um to really Blossom under the under the bright light so with that I'll uh I'll take questions great you mentioned coordinators opening game that I imagine be even more problematic because you don't have their game so how do you you look at the players that you saw last year more than the coordinators and what they did at previous stops how do you balance this so the way we do it which could be same or different than other people is we always start from a Personnel standpoint first first of all and so you evaluate the Personnel the guys you think you're going to see now there'll be there be some surprises as well some guys that may big made big improvements um from last season or from the spring or or maybe some high school players but you look at the strength and weaknesses of those players and then you start evaluating the schemes you could potentially and it's just a best guess you know they don't know what we're going to run and and all of our coordinators are back um we don't know what they're they're going to run and they've got all the and they're all three new so anytime you go into a new game uh a new season things are going to be different um you know I think there there in all three phases they going to be a little bit of mix you know James has been a head coach for a long time he's got some things he really believes in he's had a lot of success so my best guess because that's all it would be it' be an educated guess would be that we're going to see some remnants of what they used to do on special teams on defense and an offense and then some new ideas that all three coordinators bring with them from their previous uh stops to that end though this year you're going in the game with green having season under his belt a lot more continuity you kind of know what this offense can do and maybe even what the potential is how much of a of an advantage is that in comparison to when you were scheming for the game last year and you were more guessing on the on what you think yeah so well I wish I wish they'd let us pick up pick up right where we ended last year so if we could have played them a week after uh the North Carolina game I'd have really known what to expect cuz we were we were in pretty good Rhythm there the other than that Oklahoma game we were in pretty good Rhythm so um but they don't let let you do that and so it's been um since late December since we've played a game so you know our players have changed their players have changed you know even the guys returning have gotten bigger stronger uh We've evolved what we're doing offensively uh there's a little bit of unknown what they're doing defensively now we do go into the game like I really felt like Garrett was was prepared to take a step last year during the offseason going into the game um but you don't know until you start he's the starter and he goes and plays the whole season so definitely have a better feel for what his what how he's going to play and a lot of belief in him I I I I said this several times man I think he's if not the most underrated player in college football one of them and so I'm excited to watch him get a get a chance on a national stage on Saturday it's probably a question for Jordan but I'll ask you um is there some projecting going on and how all is going to fit what Andy does off defensively how do you kind of match up his skill set to what they did at Kansas well I think you have to dig a Little Deeper um if you look at what Andy did at Buffalo they had a kid that the the quarterback that I think he left after we played him in the bowl game there whatever down in Mobile that would have been 18 um they had they had a quarterback that's very similar in size um you know I have a hard time remembering all the way back there I know the kid was similar in size and had a big strong arm like like like Drew does um so you look back what he did there you know and they didn't you know they had some injuries at quarterback at Kansas during their ten during his tenure there so he had to play some guys that weren't necessarily the bean kid or Jaylen Daniels and some of the stuff they did with those individuals um and so he listen he's he's a really talented play caller um he was really talented like I I felt that um I had I remember having a conversation with with uh with my agents going into the Buffalo game when we were playing Buffalo I'm like man like I don't know this guy but man he's like he does some really good stuff offensively so he's a guy that I've known and and kind of been on my radar for a long time now so he's going to figure it out you know they're not going to look just like they did at Kansas um but they've got two quarterbacks they could potentially play prula who who we recruited in high school really good athlete and U throws the ball efficient enough too and so he's going to figured out they get good pieces you know um we'll try to figure it out early in the game and then kind of go from there you know what you got for running backs that's a good place to start for him yeah yeah exactly like he didn't take the job because they didn't have players you know what I mean like you know that's that's a pressure position he's taken um they've had they've had a few different guys and and all those if you look back at the run that James had through offensive coordinators like he's had really talented individuals in that role um and and there's some pressure that goes goes along with that role for sure um but Andy knew and and I'm I'm he's very smart and so I think he probably made a calculated decision he looked at that rer and said oh yeah they got some players especially at running back tight end some young white outs and so they've got he's got some uh some pieces there and and you know there's a lot of things he could do we got to we kind of just take our best guess in terms of the offense and the kind of the man that leading the way what is your impression of J Aller Now versus when you played him because entering that game there kind of were questions about him like green but now we've seen him yeah I think that um the quarterback probably gets too much blame and too much credit when things go good um I think this uh maybe this um more nationally probably than locally that um he's got pressure on him or he didn't play well like if you go back and look and you think about this as a first-time starter the kid played pretty well last year he played really well against us he was a difference in the game last year um we did okay versus our Run game but he hit some explosive passes against us that really hurt us I thought he was accurate with the football in our contest uh we didn't do a great job covering him but I thought he played well and if you look at his complete body of work I think sometimes unfairly like you know a lot of people struggle against Michigan and Ohio State it's not like you know Michigan did win the national Championship Ohio state does have a pretty good pretty sporty little team too so um I think sometimes those are a little bit maybe unfair um because if you look at his entire body of work as a first year starter um he did some really good things 25 and two 344 whatever it was attempts two picks ain't bad yeah like that's that's what I'm saying he he's talented you like we're kind of after able to watch the tape from the scrimmage all that stuff we're at depthwise and questions you have we stayed relatively healthy um I don't think he really knows he play a game and I'm not trying to avoid the question I just there's there's things I feel good about there's some question marks um I'm not going to share what I think the question marks are because I'd be helping them but there's some question marks and you don't really know until you play and so I'm eager um I'm eager I I'm I I'm glad we got this week to prepare we need it um but I'm eager to see kind of kind of what we have you know I feel really good about I like the leadership on our team uh we're going to have a really good football team and and and we've worked a long time to be able to to Peak at the right time and and that's the hope you're always going to have some some first game Jitters watching the game on Saturday watching the games on Saturday you're always going to have some things that that go that because you haven't played in so long that are maybe a little bit different in game one um but I'm going you to see our guys compete talking to Garrett he mentioned the two Edge guys um and then he also mentioned the Mike linebacker what what do you see from their Edge rushers and what do you see from King well you know it starts at the edge with um you know they let's go back this they had two was it did they have two first round picks last year I know they had they had chop and then the the other kid was either late first early second I can't remember so um for them I think it starts with um the two ends Dennis Sutton and abdil Carter and abdil Carter started last year linebacker um in regardless what draft boards you're looking at he's one of the early defensive guys taken and then Dennis Sutton has has an early round grade on him as well I think where it gets lost a little bit on their D line is they've got a number of guys they play interior-wise and it's going to be hot on uh on Saturday and so they're going to be be able to rotate a bunch of different bodies um they're they're third in uh the vanover guy kid he's a really talented player as well um and so they do they have that's probably the you know I don't speak for them but watching them that seems like a really deep position for them across the defensive line this this might be a long way to get to the question of is there a message to you guys out of the Georgia Tech game against Florida State but it seemed to me that that that comments from the Georgia Tech coach were very similar to everything you're trying to do both the way he runs his offense the fact that they're trying to build a strong foundation for the future that they looking at a hard-nosed g game that with the line of scrimmage all all of that together and uh uh yeah I was just wondering what what whether you know you got thoughts on that on on being I had I had the game on in the background and so I watched it but I watched it casually um I will say there there's some similarities um I watched them last year so you know like I said I had the game on I really didn't um pay a ton of attention to it but Buster fauler is offensive coordinator at Georgia Tech um he played and coached with a guy that coached me at Kentucky Chris Hatcher who's head coach at Sanford so I know Buster it's funny cuz he was an air raid quarterback he played at Vala State and uh was a really good quarterback um my background's kind of the air raid and you know he want he want a significant game run the ball all the time against Florida State and that's kind of what they did last year as well and here we are last year had a lot of success you know um I don't know enough about their roster to say close it is they do some things schematically that are similar the way we do it um you know we probably throw the ball a little bit more than they do um than whe and just looking at the stats than they did against uh Florida State you know and Florida state has a bunch of different bodies you know a bunch of different new guys playing on defense they lost a ton where Penn State lost a few but they got a lot coming back so does does what you what you're doing what you're building here how does that play into being an underdog in a game like this especially with so much unknown going in yeah you know um I don't know the best way to answer that Bob really other than the fact that um I guess the we don't we don't we feel like if we play our game that we've got a chance to win against anybody we're playing against now um and we have a ton of respect for Penn State um but we're going to play our style of football and we've really been working on on that probably for the last 19 months now and we feel like we've we've honed that in even more so in Fall camp and so we're excited about playing the fact that we're underdogs you know that doesn't really we're going to play with a chip on our shoulder we're going to try to play really physical whether that's Penn State Albany pit you know Kansas you know whoever we're playing week to week um I don't know if we have a bigger chip on our shoulder because we're playing Penn State I don't know if you pay attention to this at all but the pen State's a favorite but the line's actually moved closer then it at 12 and a half now eight and a half that usually that that happens just because of home games you know like that that's a uh the only reason I know that is because there's some when you're dealing with some data analytics you see it but that from my perspective like you see that when the when you're playing at home especially early in the year when people are still trying to figure out what they what the teams are so you see a little bit movement on that I wouldn't I wouldn't read into that yeah and just to follow up to that cuz kind of where I was going that you talked about before of kind of feeling a little bit of a slight off the rankings and things like that but since then and I saw you on um with with Marty and McGee Marty Smith did have put you guys in the playoff there has been some national that was an appalachin boat I believe yeah there's been some coming toward there's been some coming towards more respect to West Virginia in the last week or two and obviously is included with a little bit of a bias there well here's the thing it's it comes and goes um I think that all this preseason stuff's really good entertainment um but you're going to know within the first month and and so I think you know we've got a lot of proof still um you know as I've talked I really haven't talked about our team I talked about our team last year I've been more disappointed in how some of our players have been portrayed in the preseason you know in particular like a Wyatt milum uh a gar green um you know people aren't talking about our running backs I think they're pretty talented um Aubrey Burks has been a really productive player you know garnite Hollis is a kid that transferred in that was a high level all big 10 player at Northwestern that's some of the guys that you know that I really I think that've been slighted you know for our football team time will tell you know we got you know we play a really tough schedule and so we're going to have plenty of opportunities to Make Some Noise nationally looking back at that game last year the rushing totals were identical um obviously the difference was in the passing game obviously that's you anticipate that being similar or complet third third and fourth Downs were critical last year too like you know every play matters but there's some that are weighted a little heavier you know and and some third and four downs there we didn't take advantage and they did um you know and and they were better than us last year you know we didn't play we didn't play as well in the when it came winning time but but they were better and so we'll see we'll see how the last last year has treated us just a question your schedule you had the mck game on your first day class is that new for you yeah that's we moved it up yeah we did so we did the reason we did that is to give us a little bit more lead time into Penn State yeah we used to do it a week out but part of the things we changed through the um you know our fall Camp schedule was moving that mck game to the night we don't we don't like to do a whole lot of strenuous activity on the first day of class just because there's a lot going on and so we mov the my game to that day and then started our pen State stuff the next day them can they do all the is it like another challenge like handle all the distractions and know by the way go playb no we just wanted to get out so the my game is really not a strenuous deal it's more of a mental where we work a lot of our transitions you work a lot of the special situational stuff that you got to work uh we want to get out under the lights as well U yall are going to Y are going to see that there's it's been quite a bit of improvement with our lighting at the stadium so uh it's a little brighter and so we we wanted to catch catch kicks and catch balls Under The Lights too but yeah that is a change though Mike and then you've been kind of repetitive about this that you were intentionally physical tackling all that stuff and then we'll see if it pays off yeah you knock but like you had you had guys who came back from injuries quickly maybe accelerated maybe they want to be a part of this cuz it was fun um it didn't seem like you racked up injuries too um you don't know yet but do you feel like in more ways than just hey we got tough like it did work out and you have some some confidence behind that that hunt you might have had so that's the reason behind it um I think the the better time to ask that Saturday about 4:00 3:30 whatever time we get done and if we do tackle better if we do uh if our line of scrimmage play is positive on both sides and the answer as yes you know um because all you're planning that just gives you an opportunity you still got to go out perform on Saturdays and so we did that with the hope that we're going to perform the way we need to perform on Saturday but but until we do that I can't tell you if it worked or not I feel good about it we've stayed relatively healthy we still got to get through the pract you know this week's practice we got a hard practice on Tuesday and Wednesday so I don't want to jinx anything there but we stayed re excuse me relatively healthy we want to do that this week and then um I I I believe I really believe that what we did in the pre preseason gave gives us the best opportunity to to be at our best in week one you you mentioned playing with a chip on your shoulder last year's game the end of the game they scored the little how have you used that or have you used it it's kind of it just is what it is you know like um I'm really not using it it just kind of is what it is you know like they scored late um I don't really have a a necessarily problem with it uh as far as you know but it is what it is like here's the thing like if our guys need something like that to motivate them then yeah um but I will say this the the score of the game score of the game you know and we didn't play very well um we had a game we had a chance to win the game in the four in the third quarter when when winning plays were required and we didn't make those winning plays and they did and so you know they beat us and now we got an opportunity to to to play them at home and this is going to be the last time that that West Virginia and Penn State are on the field together U especially here in Morgantown for for the foreseeable future and I guess we could always play in the playoff or a bowl game or something like that but this is uh the last time for for for the foreseeable future you the communication system I mean you've used it game last year practice but this is going to be louder than any of those environments so how do you adjust that do you have a backup well I hope our fans are a little quieter when we're on like we got to work it on defense uh I want I want our fans be as loud as possible when Penn State has the ball and uh and and a little quieter and we have the ball uh until we score we score they can they can be loud but um now you got to practice it you got to practice it it's uh you know it it does get where it's difficult to hear so you do have to practice it and then you got to have plan B where if they can't hear then you go to kind of plan B to Greg's point and it's kind of amusing because we've talked about the communication and the technology uh the the Mexico was using it and the FCS team they played didn't because they're not using the playoffs ended up beaten the Mexico without using the IP ads or the communication system so I mean what is it is it it's blocking and tackling John there you go you got block you got tackle you know like the iPad is not going to help you with that you might know you might have a better idea where they're going to be but you still got to win it and so that like we can get as fancy as we want to but it's going to come down to usually about eight or nineo and Minos during each play and if you win your share you usually win the game and uh we can talk about it on the coach to player we can watch it on the surface Pros but it yep as much as we progress it it it it comes down to those things all the stuff about their new coordinators being new you don't have that but I don't suspect you're going to be like identical no um it's kind of a weird like a paradox there you have all the familiar Parts but I guess how would it don't give it away I know that but how different do you think things could look and is it just doing stuff better or doing better well I think you studi what you did you know like study what you did a year ago um you want to do things that um philosophically you you you really believe in so you can you're going to continue to do those um but you can't present it the same way you know they got really good coaches and they've been watching us from last year and so you got to change you got to change up what you're doing and so and that's in all three phases offense defense special teams and um bottom line is when we get in this game and it kicks off there's going to be a bunch of adjustments and so both both both sides of the the stadium are GNA have to make a bunch of adjustments and and who can do that in the most efficient way and do it early we'll have a we'll have an advantage Tom Allen's history big pressure guy from his time you know he it's uh you know he's a coordinator obviously for's head coach um and not real sure if he was calling defense or any in or not um but yeah he I think he's been a good mix you know from a structure standpoint hasn't been much different than what Manny did that's probably you know I don't know I wasn't privy any information but when I started really studying them back in May I'm like oh I can I can see why James you know times obviously had a lot of success as a coordinator and then when you start watching them structurally there's some real similarities and he knows the opponents in the Big 10 or the old big 10 I guess you know there several new ones but okay anything else for Coach all all right thank you very much thank you