Neal Brown
What CBS Sports Says…
Brown has to win — now. While the Big 12 is getting hipper, cooler, sexier under commissioner Brett Yormark, WVU would merely settle for a winning season. The program is coming off consecutive losing seasons for the first time since 1978-79. A third straight would mark the first trend since a four-year bender from 1976-79. WVU is better than this. For some reason, this Mike Leach disciple has only one winning season across four tries. Former AD Shane Lyons lost his job, in part, because he didn’t get rid of Brown. New AD Wren Baker has elected to keep Brown — for now. The buyout is a reported $16.7 million.
What We Say…
Brown is heading into his fifth season at West Virginia after coming over from the Troy Trojans. He won three-straight bowl games with Troy and finished 35-16 with a 23-9 mark in conference play.
Brown hasn’t finished with a winning record since the pandemic-shortened season of 2020 with a 6-4 record. In 2021, the Mountaineers followed that up with a 6-7 campaign where they lost the Guaranteed Rate Bowl against Minnesota, 18-6.
A third straight losing season could be the final nail in the coffin for the former Kentucky and Texas Tech offensive coordinator. Brown is 57-41 overall as a head coach in eight seasons.
Next, we check in on a Group of Five coach who must win now