MAILBAG: Defensive Play-Calling, Lack of Adjustments, Grading the Season + More

Answering this week's questions from WVU fans.

Schuyler Callihan | Oct 28, 2024

West Virginia defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley / Christopher Hall

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West Virginia Mountaineers

It's that time of the week, folks. Let's open up the mailbag and see what kind of fun topics we'll dive into this week. Sorry, is the "fun" thing being overused at this point? Oh well, anyways...

From @wvufan2023:

Q: Why does the defense keep playing this badly every week after Coach Brown and Coach Lesley said they’d fix the mistakes? We just about lost this game tonight for that reason.

A: It's a great question. What's even more concerning is earlier in the week, Neal answered a question about the pass defense issues, and he said something along the lines of "We've tried it all." Really? You've tried everything?

If that's the case, then what does that say about their ability to recruit? What does that say about their ability to develop? What does it say about their ability to put guys in a position to succeed? The best coaches always find a way to do more with less. It's a big red flag for sure.

From @MrEd315:

Q: At this point of the season, what letter grade do you assign WVU football? And why?

A: Ooh, another great question. I guess I'd have to say C-. As poorly as they've played against quality football teams, I can't go lower than a C- because they have taken care of business against the teams they should beat. If they lost any of the four games they've won, then yeah, D+.

I've been as tough on Neal as anyone in the media, but this has been a challenging schedule. The Iowa State and Kansas State losses were ugly, and blowing the game to Pitt was abysmal, which makes it feel like C- isn't harsh enough, but the way I look at it is a C- in year six is unacceptable. And it's as close to a D+ as it gets.

From @goJohnnyA:

Q: The obvious…. How’s Lathan the closest defender on McMillan on multiple occasions downfield including a deep TD? I’m sure someone was out of place but why? If the scheme is that complicated how about base it up?

A: You guys are bringing the fire this week, I love it. That's something I'd love to ask. Trust me, if I didn't live in Charlotte, that'd be my first question to Jordan Lesley later this afternoon. Lathan has been solid in the run game and has been a pretty good blitzing backer, but has struggled early in his career dropping in pass coverage. Why in the world is he placed in that situation?

Maybe the better question is how does this happen TWICE? If it was indeed Tampa 2, that's just a horrible playcall. You can't have him responsible for deep centerfield there. I'm also curious as to why Garnett Hollis was in man-to-man coverage up top with McMillan on 3rd and goal early in the game. Why? You're just daring them to throw it that way.

From @Mountaineers80:

Q: Why do we continue to not make adjustments and allow these second half comebacks to teams that we should be beating?

A: Offensively, I think a lot of it is Neal tries to slow the game down and bleed out the clock instead of staying on the attack. That's not the case for every game, but I thought that was the case against Pitt and Arizona. Sometimes you have to just trust your quarterback to make a few plays and keep drives going.

Defensively, I hate to admit, but I really don't have an answer for you. I've spent all season trying to figure out the logic behind much of what Jordan Lesley is calling, the personnel he uses in certain situations, etc.

From @MountMamaLiving:

Q: What is the likelihood Jordan Lesley comes back next year?

A: If Neal is here, Lesley isn't going anywhere. I'm not saying I agree with it, but Neal has stated in the past that they've played "good defense here" under Lesley and that it's not a scheme or coaching problem. Again, we can agree to disagree, but that's just the reality of the situation. Brown is and always has been committed to those he's been around for several years. You could argue that's one of his biggest downfalls as a head coach. Sometimes you have to make tough decisions on people you've spent a lot of time with. There is no indication that Lesley would be gone with Brown still in charge. That could change of course, but unlikely.

From @bo_dnt_no:

Q: Why is our secondary coach still employed?

A: While Lesley won't be going anywhere, I do think there may be some tweaks made to the defensive coaching staff. Is it someone in the secondary? I don't know, but I seriously doubt you can just run it back with the same group in 2025. While that level of the secondary has played poorly, I blame a lot of this on the portal. On paper, these transfers looked like an immediate upgrade over what they had a year ago. But it's very obvious they don't fit this scheme or style of play.

From @markashaver:

Q: Do you have any details on the basketball secret scrimmage against Wake Forest?

A: I haven't heard a ton from it other than they were pretty pleased with how it went. I did hear defensively they had a really strong showing, but not sure whether or not they won the scrimmage. You'd be surprised at how difficult it is to get information from these things.

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