Neal Brown: 'We Don't Have a Culture Problem Here'

West Virginia head coach Neal Brown assures culture is not an issue inside the football program

West Virginia head coach Neal Brown was visibly upset last Thursday during an impromptu press conference to inform everyone that his star defensive lineman, Akheem Mesidor, was entering the NCAA Transfer Portal.

“I hurt because of the investment, and more so just the relationship,” said Brown but also stated he’s not bitter.

Christopher Hall - Sports Illustrated: West Virginia

He had found out the news two days prior that Mesidor intended to transfer, and it came as a shock to the staff. Brown mentioned that they can generally tell if a player is attending to leave but nothing had changed in his behavior.

Mesidor is a string of recent Mountaineers defecting from the program. Understanding today’s environment, he expressed, “I’m more confident and more committed in my beliefs in how to run a program than I’ve ever been.”

Christopher Hall - Sports Illustrated: West Virginia

Following day six of the spring practice period on Saturday, he wanted to be clear there is not a culture problem.

“I can tell you very confidently and you can talk to the kids, we don't have a culture problem here,” Brown said confidently. "You know, if there was something was really sticking out, ya'll would notice it. You can't hide it, those things really stick out. And if you look at the sidelines, you look and see how the kids interact, and you look at the staff and the player interactions. Those are really clear to me.”

Christopher Hall - Sports Illustrated: West Virginia

“I think when you evaluate, you have to evaluate on all these unique situations because these kids are making situations and they're not thinking about the program as a whole, they're thinking about themselves individually, and I think they're all different. I think there's a lot of outside influences, some of them or get to them better than others, but there are outside influences. But I think you have to look at it from a 'each' situation. I'm very conscious of that these are young, young people. And so most of them have different reasons behind it. And what I've tried to do is really shelter them because there's been some instances where it's really clearly the best for that individual and for the program to separate. There's been some where their role was not exactly what they wanted, and I get it, I understand, and there's been some there's been very few that have left and I'm like, ‘I really wish they weren't. I think they have better opportunity here.’ I think you have to look at them each separately.

"We're going to continue, not only me personally but our coaching staff and our entire support services, we're going to pour into these guys and give them everything we got, and if we do that, there's going to be a lot more success stories."

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