WVU football not done searching to fill needs

The OTAs, which are coach-led non-contact practices for up to eight hours per week in June and July, will bring together not only those players returning from the spring but also all newcomers who enroll at WVU for summer school.

West Virginia expects the 16 remaining signees from its class of 2024 to arrive in Morgantown in June, along with a number of incoming walk-ons.

On top of that, Mountaineer head coach Neal Brown and his staff continue to look for further additions. Brown still feels his 2024 squad has some holes that need to be filled, likely by new transfers.

“In our secondary, we need one or two more bodies because we just don’t have enough there. I think we’re better than we have been there, but we still need some depth,” the coach said recently.

A few days after acknowledging the need for help in the secondary, Brown’s Mountaineers picked up a commitment from Dontez Fagan, a 6-foot, 175-pound defensive back who plans on transferring from Charlotte to WVU. A native of Ardmore, Oklahoma, Fagan spent three seasons in the junior college ranks and then last year at Charlotte before entering the portal in April.

Fagan may not be the only new transfer West Virginia adds this summer.

A leg injury this spring to highly-regarded redshirt freshman defensive lineman Corey McIntyre may require West Virginia to search the portal for immediate help in its d-line. McIntyre’s status for the fall is still unclear, but if he’s unavailable, the Mountaineers could use more depth up front.

“Depending on how a couple injuries workout d-line wise, that could be an area of need, too,” admitted Brown. “I think the injury picture will tell us on that.”

Besides the secondary and defensive line, WVU’s head coach has also noted at various points this spring that his club may seek additional immediate impact help by searching the portal for offensive line, tight end and/or wide receiver transfers.

The other lane of the two-way street that is the transfer portal is for those who are exiting West Virginia. The spring portal window was open from April 16-30.

“We want all of them,” Brown stated in terms of retaining as many members of the current roster as possible. “We don’t avoid it (the fact that the portal was open). It’s not like we walk around here going, ‘I hope they don’t figure out the portal is open.’ They know. We try to be transparent with our guys. The portal is open, which means everybody is a free agent and everybody has individual choices. Obviously (NIL) money is a factor for some more than others. I think it’s a little bit misleading with the narrative out there as to what the money is. (The players should) dig into the truth.”

Since June 30, 2021, the NCAA has allowed college student-athletes to legally profit off their name, image and likeness. Many, especially those in the high-exposure sports like FBS football and D-I men’s basketball, are now receiving money from outside sources, such as collectives.

“There are a ton of benefits to being a college football player and men’s basketball player. They’re making money more than they ever have, and they deserve it,” stated the 44-year-old Brown. “What people don’t talk about, though, is there is an added pressure element. There’s this comparison component that wasn’t there when I was playing – which doesn’t seem too long around, but when I grow some facial hair and see all this grey, I go ooh – but there’s that comparison component, which is kind of a FOMO – fear of missing out – or they look on social media. I think that puts a lot of stress on them. I also think guys get a lot of stress from outside influences, some from home and some from agents and those who don’t really know what’s going on within their sphere. I think those pressures are real, and I feel for them.

“There’s a ton of benefits to playing Power 4 football, but there is a ton of pressure that people don’t understand or talk about,” continued Brown. “Money is a factor, the experience you’re having is a factor, and I think your individual situation is a factor. They have to think about those things.

“Everybody who is here today, I want them to be part of our program because we care about them, but at the same time, I get those decisions,” the coach acknowledged.

Five players who spent the spring with the Mountaineers entered the transfer portal before that window closed on April 30 – wide receiver E.J. Horton, quarterback Sean Boyle, cornerback Montre Miller, spur linebacker Brayden Dudley and wide receiver Graeson Malashevich.

Besides trying to secure their 2024 roster, Brown and his staff are also deep into recruiting for the classes of 2025, ’26 and beyond. Coming off a 9-4 record last season, recruiting is much different for WVU this year than it was after its disappointing 5-7 mark in 2022.

“I don’t have to deal with the (negative) narrative that I was dealing with last year, and that helps,” the sixth-year head coach admitted. “We’ve also had a lot of success with freshmen. People want to play early now, and I think that helps.”

West Virginia already has six verbal commitments for its class of ’25 and one for ’26, and it had a lot of prospects on campus the past couple of months. There were over 100 who attended WVU’s Gold-Blue Game last Saturday alone.

“We’re been pushing these spring visits because the way the recruiting model works now, things happen fast,” explained Brown. “We’ve had a lot of ’25 kids here, but we’ve had a lot of ‘26s, too. For them to watch spring practice, they can observe things they wouldn’t normally get to see on a game-day visit or during a junior day because this is the only time they can actually watch a practice. They see what the depth looks like, they see the schematics, they also can see the coach-to-player interaction and the player-to-player interaction. Those are critical. They also get a feel for the environment at practice. We’ve really been pushing guys to come this spring, and we’ve had a bunch.”

In major college athletics, recruiting never stops, be it for the transfers who could help right away or high school prospects who may not factor in for several seasons to come.