MORGANTOWN — Despite a three-game losing streak late in the season, constant rumors about a possible coaching change that never came to fruition and strong pushes from several opponents late in the process, WVU head coach Neal Brown still put together quite the recruiting class during national signing day on Wednesday.
“I’m proud of this group of signees, it’s a group that stayed committed,” Brown said during his press conference Wednesday afternoon. “Through all the turmoil we really had two de-commitments and we added some good players. It’s been challenging, some tough times, but they stayed committed because of the relationships we’ve built and the belief in the vision.”
Over Brown’s first four years in Morgantown, there was a clear recruiting focus on linemen. The Mountaineers pursued and signed any and every big, athletic lineman they could get their hands on. With those units more or less finally solidified, WVU’s 2023 recruiting class had a few different focus areas.
“If you look for themes, pass rush was something that was really, really important,” Brown explained. “We wanted versatility in our running backs and tight ends…The other thing was box linebackers, we needed some downhill, box linebackers.”
WVU seemed to address all its needs and closed the day with 17 signees.
Local Flavor
There are a number of recruits in this class who are either from the surrounding area or have ties to WVU. That was by design, according to Brown.
“Our primary area always wants to be within a six-hour radius,” Brown said. “There’s underlying factors, now more than ever, why that’s where you spend your most time. They can get to your campus more frequently and then there’s not the draw to go home.”
Chief among the local signees was University High product Noah Braham, who Brown said will start out as a tight end but could find his way onto defense.
“His dad Rich has a great story,” Brown said. “A University High product, just like Noah, Rich walked-on here as a tight end and developed into one of the top offensive linemen who ever played here at WVU.”
Like Braham, receiver TJ Johnson (Chesapeake, Va.) is another legacy player.
“His dad, Tory Sr., played here, his mom, Tiffany, is a WVU grad,” Brown explained. “This dude bled Gold and Blue since the beginning.”
There’s also quarterback Sean Boyle (Charlotte, NC), who is not from West Virginia himself, but his mother is.
“His mom Michelle is a Morgantown native, a graduate of Morgantown High School and a WVU grad,” Brown said. “Even though he’s from Charlotte, he really grew up a West Virginia fan.
Finally, top-rated receiver Rodney Gallagher III (Uniontown, Pa.) grew up so close to the West Virginia border that he considers Morgantown home.
“The exit I get off at my house every single day says ‘Uniontown’,” Brown said. “(Gallagher) has a PA address, but he’s a local product.”
WVU signed five players from Pennsylvania, two from Ohio and North Carolina and one each from West Virginia, New Jersey and Kentucky. There were also four from Florida and two from Georgia.
“Not only during our time here, during the entire history of football in the modern era, you’re not really able to find all your needs within your six-hour radius,” Brown admitted. “Those other states have been really good to us. You have to fight to keep (players from transferring), but they’ve been really good to us and we’re not going to abandon those, the Floridas and the Georgias.”
Pass Rushers
To get to opposing quarterbacks, Brown brought in James Heard (Camden, NJ) and Josiah Trotter (Philadelphia, Pa.), both four-star recruits according to Rivals. The pair played together as juniors at St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia, but Heard went back home to New Jersey for his senior season.
“(Trotter is) the defensive leader in this class,” Brown said. “His family handled this recruiting process probably as good as anybody. His brother (Jeremiah Jr.) is having a tremendous career at Clemson, his dad (Jeremiah Sr.) was a long-time NFL player.”
Brown said he expects Heard to make an immediate impact next year as a freshman.
WVU also signed defensive linemen Oryend Fisher (Georgetown, Ky.) and Zachariah Keith (Douglasville, Ga.).
Big League Backs
Brown added to WVU’s already strong running back room with two signees, DJ Oliver (Port Saint Joe, FL) and Jahiem White (York, Pa.).
“The running back room is going to be really talented and I think the signs of a really good offensive coach is you take the pieces you have and you get the most out of them,” Brown said. “We’re going to have multiple pieces at running back and we need to get more than one running back on the field. To do that, you’ve got to have guys who can do different things.”
Brown said the 240-pound Oliver might be the steal of the class because he was under-recruited in a rural area of the Florida panhandle.
“DJ played for Tanner Jones, Tanner Jones was a quarterback for us at Troy when I was an assistant coach there,” Brown explained. “DJ moved a round a little bit and I don’t think he was really active (in recruiting). My understanding is he isn’t really active on social media, he didn’t take a ton of unofficial visits. He went down to a camp in central Florida and really impressed some of the schools down there.
“He’s a big lead back, he’s 240 pounds. He’s a state finalist in shotput, he’s a state finalist in the 100 meters and a state finalist in weightlifting. Kind of a steal late in the process.”
Always Working
The transfer portal means Brown’s job recruiting is never really done. After signing 17 high schoolers Wednesday, Brown said he is looking to add eight to 12 transfers this offseason as well.
“I think receiver is (a target) and we’re really pushing for a pass-receiving tight end,” Brown said. “We’ll never turn down an O-lineman or D-lineman. And then in the secondary, we obviously have secondary needs. Returner was important and we may add another specialist.”
The position Brown will not look for in the portal is quarterback. Brown emphatically said the Mountaineers will not be in the market for a transfer signal-caller this year, confidently sticking with returners Garrett Greene and Nicco Marchiol.
“We’re going with these two guys that we’ve got and then Sean will come in,” Brown said. “We’ve done the portal thing, we’ve done the transfer thing — we’re in the mode that we’re going to develop the guys we’ve got here and at this point in time, I don’t anticipate taking a transfer quarterback. It’ll be those two guys competing for the starting job in the spring and then Sean will join in.”
Early Enrollees
A number of signees from the 2023 class will graduate high school early and enroll at WVU for the Spring semester.
Those will be Boyle, Heard, Johnson, Trotter and White, along with cornerback Josiah Jackson (Fairfield, OH) and linebacker Ben Cutter (Denver, NC). Jackson’s twin brother, Jordan Jackson, also signed with WVU as a cornerback but will not enroll early as he is one of the top track athletes in Ohio and wants to participate in the upcoming season.
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