Photo courtesy of West Virginia Athletics
Morgantown, West Virginia – When Neal Brown hired Graham Harrell as the new offensive coordinator of the West Virginia Mountaineers, he was also named the quarterbacks coach of the team.
Sean Reagan, the former quarterbacks coach of the Mountaineers, was left without a job. Although most coaches would have lost their jobs following three very poor seasons, Neal Brown had another idea.
Instead of firing Reagan, Neal Brown decided to make him the new tight ends coach, despite having zero experience at that position.
Reagan, who has been with Brown at Texas Tech and Troy, has coached quarterbacks and running backs during his career, but he literally has no experience with tight ends. None. Not at any level. And yet he’s the new tight ends coach of the Mountaineers.
The Voice of Motown recently floated the idea of hiring former West Virginia Mountaineers great Stedman Bailey as the new wide receivers coach. Instead, Brown hired Tony Washington, an assistant coach with two years of experience as the wide receivers coach at Coastal Carolina.
Many argued that Bailey, one of the greatest wide receivers in the history of West Virginia football, couldn’t possibly be considered for the job due to his lack of experience. Bailey, his critics argued, would not necessarily be a great coach just because he was a great player.
But how about a coach with no experience coaching that position who also had no experience as a player? Reagan not only hasn’t ever coached the position, he has no experience as a player.
To his credit, Reagan was the lead recruiter for Nicco Marchiol, the prized quarterback recruit from Arizona. Marchiol is one of the top recruits West Virginia has landed in the last decade and perhaps Reagan remaining with the team was a condition for Marchiol to stay with the Mountaineers.
Ultimately, West Virginia has another assistant coach learning an entirely new position during a time when the coaching staff should be rock solid. But I guess that’s okay as long as you’re buddies with Neal Brown.
