MORGANTOWN – Jeff Koonz doesn’t look at his new job on the West Virginia University football coaching staff as a promotion. To him, it’s an obligation.

“This is an opportunity right now for us to play really good football in the month of November as a defense and as a team,” WVU’s new defensive coordinator said Monday. “And that’s the objective. That’s how I look at it.”

WVU head coach Neal Brown named Koonz defensive coordinator for the rest of the season last Tuesday, at the same time he announced the dismissal of former defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley. The WVU defense sits near the bottom of several defensive metrics nationally, part of the reason the Mountaineers (4-4, 3-2 Big 12) haven’t enjoyed the success they hoped to have this year.

Now West Virginia enters the home stretch of the regular season, starting with Saturday’s noon contest at Cincinnati (FS1). The Mountaineers want to finish the season strong like they did last year, when it won four of its last five regular season games and beat North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. To reach that level, both Koonz and Brown know WVU has to play better defense.

A key part of that process, Koonz said, is for WVU’s defense to be better organized and more consistent. Inconsistency is a term that has been used too often to describe the defense’s performance, he added, and that must change

“We’ve got to get lined up as fast as possible,” Koonz said. “We’ve got to make sure that all 11 guys on that field understand what the call is, how to execute the call, and what success they should expect after that call. And I say that the confidence that comes with understanding exactly what we’re trying to accomplish with each and every single call that is made is paramount right now. And that’s what we’ve got to make sure of on every play – when you’re up by 10, down by 10, doesn’t matter.”

WVU coaches hope that will help the defense improve in some crucial areas. It currently sits among the nation’s worst in categories like third- and fourth-down conversions allowed, plays of 30 yards or more allowed, passing yards allowed per game and passing yards allowed per attempt.

Brown said he’s confident Koonz, the Mountaineers’ inside linebackers coach, is up to the task. Koonz has succeeded in whatever leadership roles Brown has handed him, including that of WVU’s special team’s coordinator. Koonz has been a co-defensive coordinator at both Cincinnati and North Texas, calling the defensive plays at Cincinnati.

The big thing WVU’s defense must do, he said, is become less predictable. Predictability has been as much of a problem as inconsistency and disorganization.

“What we’ve got to do is we can’t give them the answers to the test,” Brown said. “We’ve got to do a better job of disguising, and whether it’s our movements up front or our coverages in the secondary, we’ve got to do a better job of that.”

Making such a significant change in the coaching staff doesn’t allow for wholesale changes to be made in the Mountaineers’ defensive system, Koonz and Brown said. The defense’s structure is its structure. The mission, Koonz said, is to make improvements within the structure that will allow West Virginia’s defense to play up to its potential.

“We have a resume of eight games right now,” Koonz said, “some really good, some not as good as we want, some not very good. How can we eliminate the negative and accentuate the positive right now and make sure we’re getting the strengths out of our best players and making sure we’re building a system right now that gives them an opportunity to do that?. With that being said, I have full and utter confidence in this system, this system of defense.

“Do I believe in what we’re doing and do I believe we have enough defense? One hundred percent,” he added.

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Brown said Monday that starting quarterback Garrett Greene would be “doubtful” for Saturday’s game against the Bearcats (5-3, 3-2 Big 12). Greene is still recovering from the head injury that knocked him out of the second half of WVU’s loss to Kansas State and kept him home for the Mountaineers’ win at Arizona. Nicco Marchiol started for WVU at Arizona and would start Saturday if Greene can’t play.

Also, Koonz’ will be missing a couple of starters in his first game as defensive coordinator. Spear Aubrey Burks and corner Ayden Garnes won’t be available Saturday. Safety Kekoura Tarnue should be back, as should left tackle Wyatt Milum.

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The Big 12 has announced that WVU’s Nov. 16 home game against Baylor will kick off at 4 p.m. on ESPN2.