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MORGANTOWN -- There was a video that went viral among West Virginia football fans this winter when head coach Neal Brown announced to his team that running backs coach Chad Scott had been named offensive coordinator, replacing Graham Harrell, who had left for a similar job at Purdue.
It was one of those cold January days and they had gathered for a team meeting when Brown made the announcement, and as the words came out of his mouth, the players went off in jubilation … maybe practicing a locker room victory celebration.
Certainly, they need practice.
As excited as the players were, so, too, was Scott, who was hit with that bolt from out of the blue.
"It was priceless," Scott beamed. "First of all, I had no idea."
Nothing like being rewarded for the work and loyalty you have put forth.
"One of the players said, 'Coach, I never saw you like that.' It was like a little bit of disbelief. It was awesome to see the reception when coach (Brown) announced it."
But it doesn't take long for reality to hit, and it's one thing to be a running back coach and quite another to be an offensive coordinator, sort of going from putting fenders on a car in the General Motors assembly line to becoming the production manager and having to widen our view into all areas of making an automobile.
So much comes up that you hadn't considered, as wrapped up as you were in your own little corner of the world.
As Scott spoke about it after his first official practice as offensive coordinator on Tuesday, he must have said, "here's the biggest adjustment for me," five or six times, each on a different issue.
The first time was when he was asked about what the biggest adjustment would be.
"Here's the biggest adjustment for me," he began. "I'm so used to being targeted on looking at the running backs and linebackers running around but now I have to see the whole picture and that's going to be the biggest adjustment."
And certainly, it is a huge adjustment, considering that he now had to worry about the design of the play, the tight end blocking, the quarterback carrying out his fake, the wide receiver blocking, etc.
With the departure of Jarret Doege and the quarterback competition beginning and expected to go on through the spring between Nicco Marchiol and Garrett Greene, two totally different style quarterbacks from Doege in that they offer mobility enough to add the zone read option to the offense, the scope widens for the coordinator.
"The biggest thing we have to do is learn the concepts of the pass game," Scott admitted. "We weren't as involved in the pass game last year. In previous years we were. I could have answered that better a couple of years ago when we had Leddie Brown."
Then there's the matter of positioning. In the past, he was worried about where his backs were lining up and where the defense was lining up.
Now he has the dilemma of where he will line up … on the sidelines or in the press box.
This is more significant than you may imagine and he's not sure how it will work out.
"I don't know," he answered when asked where he would be stationed. "That's something we have to work out. That's going to be tough."
See, Scott is completely involved in every play when on the sidelines. You may have noticed on long runs that he would be streaking down the sideline alongside the ball career.
"I've got to be in it. I'd rather be on the field," he admitted.
But his responsibility now is the big, overall picture of the offense and he may need to be an eye in the sky on that.
"That's going to be a big thing for me. It's one of the things I'm working on, seeing the big picture," he said.
But let's go back to the players' reaction when he got the job. He is a player's coach, the kind of coach who has always felt the emotion of the players, the kind of coach who can read who is the right player for the moment by looking into his eyes.
"I've always been this way; I've always had the ability to connect with all the guys at every position since I've been here," he said. "Me being able to impact those guys on and off the field is huge for me. I don't know if it would be good for me to go to the press box right now.
"One of the players asked me today when we broke a huge run, 'Coach, I'm used to seeing you running next to him. I didn't see you down there with him.' That was kind of weird and I told him, 'You've got to stop me if I'm running down the field.' I'll keep signaling the plays, but that's going to be one of the biggest adjustments for me."
Right now, it appears the play calling reverts back into Neal Brown's hands, something he did more and more toward the end of last season when things were not going well with Harrell calling the plays.
Scott can handle that because there's so much else involved in what he's doing.
"Calling plays is a big deal, but just the organization part of it is important. All the ideas put forth, to script it and run the plays. From late Sunday to late Monday, I've been in this office, just to run this practice."
Scott calls himself a detail-oriented man.
"I'm big about doing the little things right," he admitted. "I'm a high energy guy who pays attention to details. If we can do the little things right, we can make big things happen. We're a talented team, experienced team, veteran team outside of the receiver spot.”