Neal Brown, WVU Players Cite the No. 1 Reason for Immediate Success Under Jeff Koonz

The new West Virginia defensive coordinator couldn't have scripted a better start to his new role.

West Virignia University special teams and inside linebacker coach Jeff Koonz. / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

Interception, fumble, punt, punt, punt, end of half, punt, punt. That right there was how the second through ninth drives of the game went for the Cincinnati Bearcats last week. West Virginia allowed a touchdown on the opening drive and then settled in to play some of its best defense of the season.

The main common response coming from the players when asked about what led to their success was how quickly the defensive play calls were coming in. Jeff Koonz wasn't calling it based on formation and, instead, called it based on his personnel and then implemented some checks pre-snap if needed.

Koonz on getting the defense lined up quickly

“The film shows that. We got lined up. There was very few instances where we weren’t lined up and we weren’t ready to roll with good pad level, good stance, good demeanor. That gives you a chance. If you don’t have that when the ball is snapped, you’re catching up. I thought we had that. The guys did a nice job and a lot of that’s to their credit.”

This was evident on gameday, too. There didn't seem to be as much on-field confusion occurring, and all eleven were playing connected and flying to the ball. You want your defense to play fast and react, not think.

Through the first eight games of the season, there were several instances of guys in the back end trying to figure out their responsibility as the ball was about to be snapped, leading to many explosive plays.

Although it's only one game, it was quite the start for Koonz as a defensive coordinator. His unit helped manufacture 17 points, 14 of which they were directly responsible for with a pick-six and a scoop-and-score.

If you've ever been around Koonz or heard him speak before, you know he's never going to take the credit. He applauded his assistants and the players for the job they did.

Koonz discusses handling his first game as a coordinator

“I thought operationally, it was a smooth day. We’ve got a routine that we’ve been doing here for a long time on gameday. That’s how we meet, how we prepare in the last several hours leading up to the game. That hadn’t changed.

"Once we got into the game itself, it’s just a matter of really good communication during the day between coaches. Really good communication between players and coaches on the sideline and everybody has their role. Very few adjustments when it came to that. I thought it was very smooth.

"And the ebbs and flows of the game and just how our assistant coaches dealt with the players and interacted with the players and how they worked through things…games change. You can have a plan all you want and then the ball is snapped and then it’s different than it was. I thought they did a really good job of that as the game went on.”

Head coach Neal Brown was very pleased with how things went in Cincinnati and believes that level of play can continue in the final three games of the season. He even went on to say it was some of the best he's seen from this group in particular.

Neal Brown likes what he sees

“I thought our corners, that’s the best we’ve played all year. We were really tight on those guys. They completed some balls. I think that tight end is really good and we limited him pretty well. Hutchinson is a big, fast guy and I thought we did a nice job on him.

"We had the miscue where we didn’t cover the back out of the backfield, that hurt us. But I thought our corners did a nice job, but I thought KK (Tarnue) and Zae (Jennings) did a nice job at the spear in some coverage too.”

The Mountaineers will face another stiff challenge this Saturday against the Baylor Bears, who have really figured things out offensively since Sawyer Robertson took over as the starting quarterback. During their three-game winning streak, the Bears are averaging 44.6 points and 531 yards per game.

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