MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Before WVU football coach Neal Brown and quarterback Jarret Doege worked together to finish the 2019 regular season with a 2-1 record, as well as open the 2020 campaign with 228-yard, three-touchdown performance from Doege against Eastern Kentucky, the duo has memories at the expense of the Mountaineers.
During WVU’s first season in the Big 12 in 2012, the No. 5-ranked and undefeated Mountaineers entered Lubbock, Texas, to face Texas Tech, only to walk out battered and bruised after the Red Raiders rolled over WVU 49-14.
The offensive coordinator that day for Texas Tech? Neal Brown. The quarterback for the Red Raiders? Seth Doege, older bother to Jarret. Seth ended up throwing for 499 yards and six touchdowns against the Mountaineers that day.
The postgame scene on the field was dramatic as fans rushed, and one of those was a middle school-aged Jarret Doege.
“I remember that game like it was yesterday,” Doege said Tuesday. “West Virginia came in and they were ranked in the top 5 with Geno Smith and Stedman Bailey, all those guys. My brother hung like six touchdowns, and I ended up rushing the field. I was in seventh or eighth grade.
“Now, hopefully, I can swap the roles here this year.”
While Doege is now in full support of the Gold and Blue, his previous relationship with Brown is why he’s in the position he’s in. Brown was at Texas Tech from 2010-12, and Seth Doege was his starting quarterback for the final two seasons. Jarret was a youngster, but attended camps at Texas Tech during that time, and Brown worked with Jarret and current Baylor starting quarterback Charlie Brewer.
“Charlie Brewer and I used to go, and Neal would take us down to the stadium,” Jarret said. “It was just me and him throwing, and coach Brown would be evaluating just us two.”
As a recruit out of Cooper High in Lubbock, though, there wasn’t much for Jarret to go off. Brown was the head coach at Troy, but Seth was the wide receivers coach at Bowling Green under Mike Jinks. Jarret took the opportunity to play for his brother with the Falcons.
“At Bowling Green, I came in with a staff that came from Texas Tech, and I had gone to camps there, so I knew these guys really well — they were like family,” Doege said. “All of those guys ended up getting fired after the (2018) season, so I decided I wanted to go play big-time college football at the highest level of competition.”
Doege, a two-year starter at Bowling Green who accumulated 4,041 yards and 29 touchdowns during his time there, garnered interested from many head coaches across the country and Power 5 programs, including Brown and WVU.
After Doege entered the transfer portal, Brown offered a trip to Morgantown.
“He told me to come on down for a visit, fell in love with it, committed, and was ready to go,” Doege said.
Doege replaced Austin Kendall as WVU’s starting quarterback just nine games into his Mountaineers career, and is now fully established as the starting signal-caller for the next few seasons.
