Neal Brown Explains Promoting Chad Scott to OC

West Virginia head coach Neal Brown is hopeful Chad Scott's success spreads throughout the offense

West Virginia head coach Neal Brown promoted running backs coach Chad Scott to offensive coordinator this offseason, and on Monday, he addressed the media and discussed the reasoning on the decision to promote from within.

“It’s a promotion that he earned,” said Brown. “Last year he held the title of 'run game coordinator’ and that wasn’t just a title on paper, he really coordinated our run game and I thought we showed a lot of growth. If you look at his position room, I think from ’20 on has really exceeded expectations and I think you can see it in the way his guys have produced, and he’s been our most consistent recruiter, not only at positionally but from an area standpoint, and he’s dynamic in front of the room – guys want to follow him.”

West Virginia rushed for over 2,058 yards last season, marking the first time the program rushed for over 2,000 yards since 2016.

Nov 12, 2022; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers assistant coach Chad Scott during the fourth quarter against the Oklahoma Sooners at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium / Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports

Last year’s rushing attack featured freshman sensation CJ Donaldson, who spent his high school career as a receiver before moving to tight end, then running back once arriving to Morgantown. Donaldson rushed for 100 or more yards in four of his seven appearances last year before a season-ending injury derailed his season.

Redshirt freshman Jaylan Anderson burst onto the scene in the season finale with a 54 and 57-yard touchdown runs in the season finale win at Oklahoma State, finishing the afternoon with 155 yards and the pair of touchdowns.

They started the season behind leading rusher Tony Mathis Jr. He had a team-high 135 carries for a team-best 562 yards.

Brown is optimistic the production from the running game will spread throughout the rest of the offense with Scott in control.

My expectation is that our skill overall offensively, it will give him the ability to get more involved in all of our skill positions from quarterback to receiver to tight ends and I think he can have some of the same effect as on those skills positions just like he has at running back from high school recruiting and from a development standpoint. 

Brown noted the play calling duties will be primarily handled by Scott during the spring practice period. However, they will evaluate the process following the spring period.  

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