MORGANTOWN — When Jarret Doege was a middle school quarterback attending Texas Tech football camps, he and Charlie Brewer tended to draw extra attention. It was a perk of their older brothers, Seth and Michael, being Red Raiders quarterbacks.
Now Charlie is Baylor’s starter and Jarret is joining the Big 12 too — bound for West Virginia as a transfer, partly because of a relationship with Neal Brown that dates back to Lubbock.
“At camps they would be pulled aside and Neal would take time to go work with those two dudes, because he knew they were going to be players someday,” Seth said this week.
No doubt Doege is hoping to show the WVU coaches what he showed the MAC.
As a true freshman at Bowling Green, Doege took over the starting role in Week 4. (The guy he beat out, James Morgan, transferred to FIU and became last season’s Conference USA Newcomer of the Year.)
No doubt Doege benefited from hearing the Air Raid verbage growing up. He heard it at Texas Tech practices, heard it when Seth and their dad talked football at home.
When Seth was hired as an assistant with Bowling Green, the other coaches wondered why teams weren’t recruiting Jarret. In fact he had no offers, only discussions with Texas Tech about a blueshirt opportunity that never materialized.
So the Falcons became his chance — his only chance — and during his first camp, Doege seized command faster than anyone expected.
“It took me a couple years to operate and process in that offense,” Seth said. “It took Jarret like a semester.”
“What people don’t realize is at Bowling Green we’d call run plays and he’d throw touchdowns. He’d see a one-on-one matchup with no help and throw it. Then everybody would say that was an RPO, but nope, it was Jarret seeing something else.”
After the Falcons’ fired head coach Mike Jink last October, Doege returned home for Christmas break unsure about his future. He ultimately decided to go all-in for spring practice, to grind out the installation of a new offense, to give full attention to the teammates he loved and the Scot Loeffler’s new staff. He came away impressed by Loeffler but couldn’t shake the notion that something was missing.
So into the transfer portal he went. Seven schools made contact, but the interest from Neal Brown stood out. WVU’s new boss watched video of Doege and reached out to Seth for the kind of assessment you’d want from a former coach, not a big brother.
“I told Neal he processes quickly, takes command and throws an accurate ball,” Seth said. “In that Air Raid system, that give you a great chance.”
