Neal Brown Believes He Has a Future Head Coach on Staff

Success leads to clues and WVU head coach Neal Brown sees something special in one of his assistants.

Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

It's no coincidence that the West Virginia Mountaineers were able to run the ball extremely well last year with running backs coach Chad Scott adding the offensive coordinator title to his role.

Sure, he may not call the plays during the game, but he has a big part in formulating the game plan throughout the week and has done an exceptional job of developing running backs at an incredibly fast rate. Last season, West Virginia led the Big 12 in rushing yards per game (228.9), while ranking third nationally and No. 1 among all Power Five schools.

WVU head coach Neal Brown gave Scott his flowers on Wednesday, explaining the execution of his job and how he has set himself up for a bright future.

“Chad runs every unit meeting. We meet every day in-season, he meets with the offense, every day in fall camp he meets with the offense. He does an excellent job of communicating in a team-setting what our standards are offensively, what our expectations are offensively, he’s really attention to detail, and he can motivate. He’s done a really good job of having relationships across the offensive (unit). And the other thing he does from an organization standpoint is he organizes everybody’s ideas. He’s done tremendous. I really believe that he’s going to be a head football coach and I think he’ll be one that’s really successful. It’s been kind of fun to watch his growth in this role over the last two years.”

To expand on his rapid development of backs...

CJ Donaldson came to Morgantown as a tight end and at the start of his first fall camp, Scott noticed something in him that led him to believe that Donaldson would make a good running back. He had never played the position before and you wouldn't have known it by his first-ever game where he rushed for 125 yards and a touchdown on seven carries against Pitt. Prior to his injury, Donaldson was on pace to set a couple of freshman program records. In seven games, he rushed for 526 yards and eight touchdowns on 87 carries - pretty good for a true freshman, and one that had never played the position.

In 2023, West Virginia fans saw another freshman back grow into a phenom with Jahiem White. After not seeing much playing time in the first half of the season, White flipped the switch and became one of the nation's most explosive running backs over the final five weeks of the season, racking up 842 yards and four touchdowns on 109 attempts.

MORE STORIES FROM WEST VIRGINIA ON SI

Quick Hits: Progress Report on Secondary & Receivers, Gallagher's Reps + More

Between The Eers: WVU's Most Underrated Players

Trey Lathan Lands on Comeback Player of the Year Watch List