Brown made an unscheduled appearance two days ago to announced that defensive end Akheem Mesidor had entered the transfer portal.
"Any time you don't see something that happens, or maybe catches you off guard, I'm a guy that likes to take some time, and I always self-evaluate before I evaluate anything else. I think that's the best way to operate," he said.
"Here's the thing, I was hurt by (Mesidor's decision to transfer) and I tried to say that in a way where it was understood that I was really hurt by what happened earlier in the week. You go back and you say, 'Why did it hurt?' Well it hurt because, man, I think the best way to go about this is to pour into the kids and give them everything that you can possibly give them from a personal investment, from surrounding them with infrastructure, and I still believe that's the right way to do it," he said. "That's the way we've been doing it and that's the way we will continue to do it."
Brown admitted his player-first approach is not always going to be enough to keep his entire roster intact the way college football is now structured.
"There are going to be instances in the world we live in in college football now where you are going to do everything you can for certain individuals and they're still going to leave. So you sit there and think, 'Well, we're doing all of this. Is it still worth it?' Absolutely, yes, it's worth it. We're going to have a lot more success stories than we are hurting from guys that you help grow and develop and they leave," Brown said.
The coach also addressed fan concerns about the number of players leaving the program – which is happening everywhere right now.
"I think with each situation, when somebody leaves, it's unique, first of all. I can confidently say, and you can talk to the kids, we don't have a culture problem here," he noted. "You've been to practice enough that if there was something really sticking out you'd notice it. Those things really stick out and if you look at the sidelines and you see how the kids interact and the staff and player interact, those are really clear to me. When you evaluate, you have to evaluate on all of these unique situations because these kids that are making these decisions aren't thinking about the program as a whole, they're thinking about themselves individually."
He continued, "I'm very conscious that these are young people and most of them have different reasons behind it, and what I've tried to do is shelter them because there's been some instances where it's clearly the best for that individual and the program to separate.
"There have been some where their role was not exactly what they wanted, and I get it. There have been a few that left, and I really wished they didn't because I think they would have had a better opportunity here."
Brown was asked if he's had any conversations with other coaches about how to better-protect their rosters moving forward. It was brought up that LSU basketball does not have a single scholarship player on its roster right now and has also lost all of its incoming recruits, so the team the Tigers put out on the floor next year will be entirely new.
That's an extreme case and is not really applicable to college football, but there is significant roster movement going on right now in the gridiron sport throughout the country.
"It's so new, and I think everybody is trying to figure it out and roster management now is different than it ever has been. The basketball coaches have been dealing with it so they are probably a little more advanced," he said. "LSU has an entirely new basketball team with all of its players transferring and all of its recruits getting released from their scholarships. This is unprecedented what is happening in college sports with basically unrestricted free agency now."
Brown said college basketball is now in a situation where it must build teams year to year, and college football is moving closer toward that reality as well.
"There is going to be a certain aspect of that in football," he admitted. "Obviously, you are not going to turn over a complete roster in football, but there is going to be a certain piece of that where you're building for each season rather than the length of a career.
"What this does is you have to reassess your thoughts on redshirting and you have to be more conscious and more intentional about playing guys earlier and finding roles for them," he added.
Brown said he's not against the transfer portal, because it has also benefited West Virginia as well. The team's starting right guard began his college career at Virginia Tech, it's No. 1 weakside linebacker is a Penn State transfer and one of its top four running backs came from Clemson.
Brown anticipates adding more guys to the roster from the transfer portal before the team begins fall training camp in August.
"I think there has to be boundaries," Brown said. "We have to look at it and assess that. We have free agency and it's 365, 24/7. Well, there is no other enterprise that has free agency 365, 24/7. We've got to have some time frames around the free agency.
"There are things that go around the portal that I don't think are right, but I don't think this is the forum to talk about it. There are other means to clean some of that up. My job is, 'Okay, here is what we're dealing with and here are the rules, how do we respond to them and play them into our advantage?' We've got to figure that out," he concluded.
Near the end of his 25-minute visit with the media, Brown also made mention of the impromptu social media fundraising drive that has already netted more than $45,000 for West Virginia's Time2Climb campaign established through the Mountaineer Athletic Club.
This was in response to what transpired earlier this week.
"Somebody sent me a couple of screen shots last night that they were raising money online, and I thought that was really cool. I think it really speaks to our fanbase," he said. "Whoever was involved in that I say thanks from us. This is a special place and my wife and kids have really enjoyed being around here because Morgantown is a great place to raise a family, and you want to coach at a place that matters.
"When you coach at a place that matters and things don't go right, you hear about it, and that's fair," he continued. "This is a place where it matters, and they get it. I don't know who all was involved in that, but it's noted and much appreciated, and I brought it to the attention of our team as well."
West Virginia resumes spring football work on Tuesday morning.
We have reached the $45,000 mark. Who will be the one to put us at the $50,000 goal of the weekend? ?? …and it's only Saturday #LetsGo #Time2Climb pic.twitter.com/vL48rwcWt5
— Mountaineer Athletic Club (@WVU_MAC) April 2, 2022
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