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Jun 21, 2024
West Virginia running back Jahiem White celebrates after scoring against North Carolina during the second half of an NCAA college football game at the Duke’s Mayo Bowl Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
MORGANTOWN — To paraphrase the late, great songstress Dinah Washington, whose signature hit was “What a Difference a Day Makes”, with West Virginia football it can best be put “What a Difference a Year Makes.”
In this summer of change in college sports, little has changed more than the way West Virginia’s football program is viewed from last year to this.
As Dinah Washington sang it:
What a difference a day makes,
Twenty-four little hours,
Brought the sun and the flowers,
Where there used to be rain.
Certainly, what a difference a year has made, 12 little months brought the sun and the flowers where there used to be rain.
As Mountaineer football went into the summer of ’23, it had no respect.
Neal Brown’s job as head coach was less secure than a Boeing exit door, the team was about to be picked 14th and last in the Big 12 Conference’s pre-season poll and quietly media types were already beginning to compile lists of potential coaching replacements.
Today, however, as Brown enters the summer with a contract extension through 2026, his team enters the season coming off a nine-victory season after surprising everyone with a solid performance.
They have sent center Zach Frazier into the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers as a second-round pick and Mountaineers’ names are beginning to appear on NFL draft picks.
Respect is growing, he acknowledges, but he argues this is a work in progress.
“The respect this year is medium,” he said as he sat in his office overlooking the playing field in Milan Puskar Stadium. “All the national magazines are coming out. We’re not in the pre-season Top 25 more than we’re in. I don’t know how many nine-win teams are not in the Top 25, but we’re on the outside of most of those.”
And, yes, they are no longer looked up as a last-place finisher in a changing Big 12, but neither are they looked upon as a championship contender.
“Most of the Big 12 early stuff, we’re like in the middle of the pack. It’s not like we’re on the top of these pre-season things,” Brown said. “It’s different than a year ago, yes … But I still don’t think — especially nationally — we’re on people’s radar like we should be.
“There is still the hunt. It’s not like we’ve arrived, by any means.”
A year ago the most familiar name was Frazier on the Mountaineers, a fixture at center and an All-American, but let’s face it, you don’t sell tickets on a star center.
This year, though, there are players with a touch of notoriety.
The quarterback Garrett Greene, seen as a liability entering last season, is now a known commodity. Freshman running back Jahiem White came out of nowhere to become the top freshman running back in the country.
All-conference teams are beginning to notice Wyatt Milum, an offensive tackle, and safety Aubrey Burks.
It seems to be happening, the change from the Dana Holgorsen debacle that left the cupboard bare.
“We’re going into Year 6,” Brown pointed out. “The first year, 2019, that’s a team you inherited. Your first recruiting class is 2020. You sign them in December, then you have COVID.
“So really Frazier and a few others are our first recruiting class that has gone through a cycle. Zach was on a four-year plan while a lot of others are on 5.”
Now, Brown is playing with players he has brought in and developed. A coaching change normally takes a while to take hold.
So this year our first recruiting class is in its fifth year, the second class is in its fourth year and the players have developed and created an awareness of themselves.
But there’s a way to go.
“Wyatt Milum, he’s as good as any offensive tackle in the country and he’s getting some recognition, but I think he’s even better than the recognition he’s getting,” Brown said. “I think Sean Martin has an opportunity to play himself into a possible early round pick. I think he has those kind of traits.”
Martin is a West Virginia-born kid. So is Milum. So was Frazier. So was Doug Nester, who transferred in. The days where Holgorsen avoided West Virginians as recruits are certainly over.
“I think Aubrey Burks has an opportunity to play himself into it. You look at both the running backs, Jahiem White and JC Donaldson; look at Tomas Rimas … We’ve some guys who are showing up on NFL draft charts and some of these pre-season lists.”
And then there’s the poster boy of disrespect for WVU players in quarterback Garrett Greene.
“I think Garrett is interesting,” Brown said. “His stats last year are really, really good. I think people recognize him as a good player, but I don’t think he’s getting the recognition that he deserves.
“Part of that is because there are a lot of high quality quarterbacks in our league, but I like our guy.”
Brown isn’t shy about singing Greene’s praises and predicts stardom.
“I think it’s an opportunity for Garrett. I think he’s sitting on a big jump, especially throwing the football,” Brown said.
What’s really intriguing about Greene’s image is that he may be suffering through no fault of his own.
Think of it this way. How might people be looking upon Greene had Houston not pulled off a miracle Hail Mary completion against WVU to win that game, the play coming right after Greene had thrown what would have been a game-winning TD pass to Hudson Clement with 21 seconds remaining.
How might he be rated coming into this season off a 10-win, not 9-win season, and with a game-winning touchdown pass on his resume?
“It’s fair to think it would be different,” Brown agreed. “But, I think the Oklahoma State game is more in my craw. I think if we win that game we end up playing in the championship game.”
That game followed the Houston game and became a shootout with the Cowboys winning, 48-34, as the WVU defense let Ollie Gordon run wild for 282 rushing yards and four touchdowns to overcome Greene’s 249 passing yards and two touchdowns and 117 rushing yards.
Those two games turned what might have been an 11-win season into nine wins.
“Quarterbacks, right or wrong, are always judged on wins and I think if we were a 10- or 11-win team his national recognition would be a little bit higher, but I do think he’s being undervalued,” Brown said.
“What he did last year, both running and throwing, was special and I think he’s going to take another jump from a completion percentage-wise, which is going to make him more effective on third down and we are going to score more touchdowns in the red zone because he will be more accurate.
“I think he is going to make a big jump. I don’t see him getting … Like Phil Steele’s magazine, he wasn’t even in the top 4 quarterbacks in our league and I don’t get that if you are looking at numbers.”
And that bothers Brown because he tries hard to get his players the recognition they deserve.
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