MORGANTOWN West Virginia coach Neal Brown finalized three important administrative positions Wednesday with the hirings of staff members he worked with at Troy.
Mark Perry was named director of football administration, with Brian Bennett coming along as director of player personnel and Patrick Johnston joining the Mountaineers as director of football operations.
“These guys did an outstanding job on our staff at Troy, and I am excited to have them join the West Virginia football staff,” Brown said in a university release. “From an administrative viewpoint, they have a lot of great ideas that will help build the program brand, assist with cultivating a family atmosphere and make the student-athlete experience more enjoyable.”
All three come to WVU with Brown after working in similar functions at Troy; Perry served as the director of football operations, Bennett as the director of player personnel and
Perry played quarterback at Kentucky under Hal Mumme, and became a graduate assistant for the Wildcats before spending two seasons at Baylor, where he served as assistant director of operations, assistant strength coach and as a defensive graduate assistant.
Perry then began a 14-year tenure as a high school coach in Kentucky at Lexington Catholic (where he was the Class 3A coach of the year in 2016), Central Hardin High and Washington County.
West Virginia’s release noted Perry will oversee the football program’s budget.
He is married to the former Elizabeth Mitchell and the couple has three children, Beau, Mary-Claire and Brooks.
Bennett has worked at Texas (defensive quality control coach), Louisville (graduate assistant) and Florida (student assistant) under Charlie Strong.
Bennett will oversee multiple recruiting coordinators at WVU, managing players evaluations, academic admissions and being “the liaison to Brown on all recruiting issues.” At Troy, Bennett helped orchestrate the Sun Belt Conference’s top-ranked recruiting class in 2017.
Bennett earned a bachelor of science degree in psychology from Louisville in 2011 and his master’s degree in sports administration from Louisville in 2013.
He is married to the former Sarah Hall of Danville, Ky.
Johnston for two years was Troy’s on-campus recruiting director and assistant director of operations.
WVU revealed Johnston will play a leadership role in capital projects, facility improvements, event management and branding.
He spent five years as the director of member services for Wynlakes Golf and Country Club before coming to Troy in July 2015, where he earned his master’s degree from in sport management in 2017.
Johnston is married to the former Becca Chavers.
