MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — In a made-for-TV moment, the WVU football program secured the most high-profile verbal commitment in Rich Rodriguez’s second stint leading the Mountaineers.
On Tuesday’s edition of ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show, Harrisburg High School senior offensive lineman Kevin Brown offered his pledge to join the WVU football program. After making the announcement with the legendary WVU kicker/punter, Brown stepped outside to set a couch ablaze in a nod to storied celebrations in Morgantown.
“That was my mom’s idea,” said Kevin’s father Tim Brown. “A football coach here came through with the couch. Luckily, it was an old 70’s couch and was all polyester. It went up nicely.”
“I’M BRINGING COUCH BURNING BACK TO MORGANTOWN..
WE’RE BRINGING IT BACK” ~ @KevinHBrown07
HELLL YEAH #PMSLive https://t.co/Ef5Ud9uvNL pic.twitter.com/jqZfiX7l6L
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 18, 2025
Tim Brown concluded a decorated career at West Virginia in the 2004 season and he played four seasons for Rodriguez. Tim says the offense that is utilized by Harrisburg mirrors what he played in at WVU. He was a guest on Tuesday’s edition of Citynet Statewide Sportsline.
“Kevin is made to play in this offense. I was trained in this offense so I trained him in the image of that. From the way he vertical sets to the way he zone blocks, the way he down blocks, everything he does, and I didn’t know this but I was trying to get him ready for a Rod-style offense.”
Harrisburg (12-0) is preparing for a state quarterfinal game this weekend in the Pennsylvania 6A playoffs against Central York. 6A is the highest classification in Pennsylvania.
“He is lucky here. He has (Penn State commit) Messiah Mickens and (Rutgers commit) Elias Coke here. Both of them play left D-end right over the top of him in practice. So every day in practice, he is seeing D-I level talent. I think that’s why the jump isn’t going to be as great for him as for other people.”
Kevin is slated to play offensive tackle at the college level. Tim says he wanted Kevin to shed some weight to play on both sides of the ball in his high school season.
“He was 290, 295 when he came down to camp this summer for Rod. He ran a 4.9 40 [yard dash] at that time. But I made him lose weight because he is playing both sides of the ball here. I made him get down to 275.”
Kevin previously committed to play at Penn State. Those plans changed when head coach James Franklin was fired in the middle of the season. That move and Rodriguez’s return to Morgantown provided the opportunity for Brown to play at his father’s alma mater.
“Kevin is not the type of kid that once he commits, it is not like five million dollars is going to buy him. He is not that type of kid. When he commits, he commits and there’s no turning him around. Luckily, we were able to get him to go to camp this summer under Rod. I had to pull my dad card this summer and I was like, ‘You need to go to this camp this summer to see what it is like to experience a football coach in Coach Rod’.
“This is a dream. I just can’t believe it happened. I am so happy.”