MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — Neal Brown is still employed as the head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers, but many experts and people following the program believe that he is a “dead man walking” and will be fired at the end of the season, particularly if the Mountaineers falter down the stretch.
At 4-4, West Virginia likely needs to win at least 2 or maybe 3 of those games for Brown to be retained. Otherwise, the Mountaineers will go from 9-4 last season to a 6-6, 5-7 or 4-8 record, and that is simply unacceptable, regardless of how much money the university owes Neal Brown. With that said, projections about who West Virginia could pursue immediately following the season if Brown is fired. According to John Buhler at FanSided, one candidate stands above the rest as the ideal candidate to replace Brown in 2025.
“When West Virginia was at its peak as a program under Rich Rodriguez some 20 years ago,” Buhler wrote in an article published today called ‘West Virginia’s Ideal Replacement for Neal Brown Would be a Far Cry from Jimbo Fisher’, “the Mountaineers were running a high-octane, ground-centric offense. Fate would have it, Texas A&M is running just that under former Kansas State superstar quarterback Collin Klein. The Heisman Trophy finalist from way back in the day is firmly in his mid-30s now and has emerged as one elite play caller.”
Buhler went to argue why Klein would be a better choice than Jimbo Fisher, saying, “Given that Klein grew up in Colorado, starred in Kansas and has worked in Texas, it is safe to say that he is going to be able to recruit the type of players to win at a place like West Virginia. College football fans remember Klein as one of the most electrifying dual-threat quarterbacks of his generation. He is mature beyond his years and would not make it about himself as Fisher likely would if he took over.”
Klein, 35, is the current offensive coordinator/quarterback coach at Texas A&M, and was previously the offensive coordinator at Kansas State in the Big 12 Conference. According to his bio on the official Texas A&M website, “Klein took a Kansas State offense that ranked outside the top-75 nationally in 2021 to top-25 rankings in numerous categories in 2023. Total offense improved 83.8 yards per game over the two-year span averaging 362.3 yards per game in 2021 to 446.1 yards per game in 2023. Klein orchestrated one of the country’s highest scoring offenses in 2023, including a nation-leading 78.7-percent touchdown conversion rate in the red zone. His offense ranked No. 8 in third-down conversions (.494), No. 10 in scoring offense (37.8 ppg), No. 13 in rushing offense (198.7 ypg) and No. 23 in total offense (446.1 ypg), while also surpassing the 400-plus yard total in seven games, including five games of 450-plus yards.”
Klein is considered one of the brightest young offensive minds in college football today and has experience in the Big 12 Conference, and according to FanSided’s John Buhler, “Overall, Klein checks all the boxes of an up-and-coming head coach you would want to lead your team moving up from a coordinator position. Mature, bright, young, sharp and relatable. It may not be so simple, but Klein is the ideal head coach to take over at a program like West Virginia.”
Check out the article by John Buhler at FanSided below:
