Football

Morgantown, West Virginia - As the West Virginia Mountaineers (4-6, 2-5) prepare to take on the #15 ranked Kansas State Wildcats (7-3, 5-2), ESPN's College Gameday briefly discussed the game on the show this morning. "The Mountaineers, Pete Thamel reported this morning that they will start Garrett Greene at quarterback, who gave them a real jolt in that win against Oklahoma last week," Rece Davis said. "You know that Neal Brown is on thin ice there at West Virginia so perhaps they can get another win." Pat McAfee added, "The interesting thing here is that it's tough to win a game in Morgantown. No matter what the situation is. The athletic director was fired earlier in the week, there's a fresh energy there. Garrett Greene is a dog, this dude can run and do it all for West Virginia today." Check out the entire clip below provided by our friend Patrick Mason: https://twitter.com/patrickmason180/status/1593976718754201600?s=20&t=fUsSmxIYqib59VCKb-qX3Q

(Photo by WVU Athletics)    After leading WVU to a 23-20 victory over Oklahoma, quarterback Garrett Greene will be making his first career start against Kansas State today, according to Pete Thamel of ESPN. https://twitter.com/petethamel/status/1593970232225595393?s=46&t=tmKVNdTgDkqaJ5VyLt4kpQ Greene, who passed for 138 yards and rushed for 118 yards last week, has “earned” more playing time, per Neal Brown. J.T. Daniels, the teams starter through the first ten games, has struggled mightily over the last two weeks. He has completed 15 of 44 passes for 146 yards and one touchdown to two interceptions combined against Iowa State and Oklahoma. Greene has been used sparingly in the backup and wildcat role over the last three seasons. WVU and Kansas State kickoff at 2 p.m. with the game set to broadcast on ESPN+.

(Photo by WVU Athletics)    Tomorrow, the West Virginia Mountaineers (4-6, 2-5 Big 12) hosts #19 Kansas State (7-3, 5-2 Big 12) in their home finale. The game kicks off at 2 p.m. and will broadcast on ESPN+. West Virginia is in need of a win in order to keep their bowl hopes alive. While there may be belief in the locker room, there isn’t much hope for the Mountaineers nationally. ESPN’s FPI currently gives West Virginia only a 28% chance to claim victory against Kansas State. The Football Power Index is generated based upon ESPN’s Analytics. Based upon statistics, the Mountaineers have virtually no shot to ESPN. However, as we saw last week this really means nothing. West Virginia could easily sneak up on Kansas State and capture the victory on Senior Day. Crazier things have happened.

Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) Morgantown, West Virginia - Look, nothing is 100% certain, particularly in college athletics, but the odds of Neal Brown returning as the head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers next season are very, very low. When West Virginia University forced former director of athletics Shane Lyons to resign earlier in the week, that was essentially the death blow for Brown, too. Lyons and Brown were joined at the hip for the past four years and there isn't an athletic director in the country that is going to want to roll the dice with Brown moving forward. Brown has a tremendously large contract buyout, but the new director of athletics will negotiate the buyout and move forward with his/her new hire. The only way that Brown returns is if Shane Lyons puts a wig and fake mustache on, calls himself "Lane Syons" and somehow manages to be hired as West Virginia University's new director of athletics. That is the only person in the nation that would want to keep Neal Brown around. Nothing Brown has done over the past four seasons is deserving of another year. He's 21-24 overall, likely to be 21-26 after the final two games of the season, and the Mountaineers have shown absolutely no progress on the field during his tenure. The notion that the new director of athletics will be hired, say what a nice guy Neal Brown is and then give him some more time because "his predecessor left the cupboard bare", or because of COVID or NIL or any other ridiculous excuses that have been made for him for the past four years, is so utterly absurd that it's hard to believe that anyone in the state of West Virginia actually believes it. When the West Virginia Mountaineers take the field against the #15 ranked Kansas State Wildcats, it will almost certainly be the very last time that Neal Brown takes the field as the head coach of the Mountaineers in Morgantown. Soon all of the "Trust the Climb" signage will be gone around the stadium, a new, better coach will arrive and trust the climb and Neal Brown will be a distant, unfortunate memory for West Virginians.

(Photo by WVU Athletics)   Moments ago, the WVU Football team revealed their uniform for their matchup against Kansas State this Saturday. The Mountaineers will be wearing gold helmets, blue jerseys, and blue pants. https://twitter.com/wvufootball/status/1593385999719178246?s=46&t=Y9k0O89PRVMh9wZQYuiqyA West Virginia and Kansas State kickoff at 2 p.m. The game is set to broadcast on ESPN+.

Morgantown, West Virginia - West Virginia will soon be looking for a new head coach to replace Neal Brown, who has completely and utterly failed during his four seasons in Morgantown. While Brown’s contract buyout is certainly expensive and unfortunate, but keeping him is just not a viable option at this point. When the new director of athletics is hired, he/she will almost certainly want to immediately replace Brown as their major move and make a splash by hiring their new football head coach. With the contract buyout looming, and the money already owed to former director of athletics Shane Lyons, West Virginia will not likely be able to afford a coach like Jimbo Fisher, who currently makes over $9 million a season at Texas A&M. However, there is an obvious option who would completely transform the West Virginia football program and bring back the pride of the Mountaineers. Enter Jahmile Addae. Addae, a four year starter at West Virginia at defensive back, a two-time captain of the Mountaineers and two-time All Big East selection and former NFL player, is precisely who West Virginia needs to revitalize the program and bring the Mountaineers back to their former glory. He’s an outstanding former player, a terrific former West Virginia assistant who led the Mountaineers to one of the top defenses in the country when he was co-defensive coordinator for the team and he’s considered one of the top assistant coaches in college football right now as the secondary coach for the Miami Hurricanes. Addae was rated as the 2nd best recruiter in the entire nation for the 2022 class, has incredible rapport with players and since he would be returning to his alma mater for his first head coaching job, West Virginia could likely get him for less than what they’re currently paying Neal Brown. Jahmile Addae is a true Mountaineer. A former standout player, a West Virginia graduate, a coach who led the Mountaineers to one of the best defenses in the nation, and he’s the very person who could bring the West Virginia football program back to prominence. https://twitter.com/voicemorgantown/status/1593235622356885504?s=46&t=LtBzle-tMDa2pAIB3vE9Nw

(Photo by WVU Athletics)    With Neal Brown’s days in Morgantown likely numbered following the firing of Shane Lyons, many are speculating who the next head coach of the Mountaineers will be. While names like Hugh Freeze and Jimbo Fisher would carry a lot of weight with them, there is one man who deserves recognition, but isn’t getting much of it. That man is Tony Gibson. Now at NC State, Gibson was the defensive coordinator for the Mountaineers from 2014 to 2018. He put together some solid defenses at WVU with his unique 3-3-5 stack. His most notable coaching job came in 2015 when his defense put together two shutouts in 13 games (44-0 vs. Georgia Southern, 49-0 at Kansas). He has now carried that success over to NC State, being named a Broyle’s Award nominee for the 2022 season. https://twitter.com/packpride/status/1592902776140738560?s=46&t=_HcXSbpriFJ_sZZ7tgPUQQ Gibson, now 50-years old, seems primed to land his first opportunity at a head coaching gig in his career. Though many may believe it would be best for him to try the Group of Five waters first, the Van, West Virginia native could be just what the Mountaineers are looking for in their next head coach. First off, he would be a complete change of pace hire from the last two head coaches - Dana Holgorsen and Neal Brown. Both are descendants of the Hal Mumme tree, and have offense-first philosophies. Gibson would obviously bring a defensive focused attack with him. This could bring a complete shift in style of play for WVU…a change that they so desperately need right now. Quite possibly the best trait that Gibson brings with him is that his players love him. They play hard for him, and also play with a gritty toughness. If you can remember, he brought the “DAWGS” with him every game day. Defense Always Wins Games   That is an attitude, ladies and gentlemen, that could produce big results in the Big 12. Last but not least, let’s talk the most important quality of Gibson’s. HE IS A WEST VIRGINIAN! He knows what this program means to the state - he cares. It would almost certainly be his dream job. He would not be looking at WVU as a stepping stone, this would be his endgame. This would be the job that he would hope to bring him into retirement. This can’t be said about many of the potential candidates for the Mountaineers. He’s coached in a lot of games, he was Dana Holgorsen’s right hand man, he’s a West Virginian, and his guys play with an edge. Tony Gibson knows the Mountaineer program. This fit just makes way too much sense for the Mountaineers to just brush over Gibson and not give him a chance. In all honesty, this is the perfect fit for the Mountaineers. Like it or not, turning the keys over to someone like Tony Gibson who cares may be the best solution for the program.

Morgantown, West Virginia - Earlier today, former West Virginia star quarterback Pat White posted a message on his social media account, endorsing current President of the LSU Tiger Athletic Foundation Matt Borman to replace Shane Lyons as the next director of athletics at West Virginia University. We reached out to White to see if he also had a recommendation for who should be the next football head coach if/when Neal Brown is fired following the season. White, who is now an offensive assistant for the Los Angeles Chargers, believes that he knows the perfect person for the job. Chris Beatty. Beatty, 49, is the wide receivers coach for the Chargers alongside White and is a former assistant coach at Pitt, Maryland, Virginia, Wisconsin, Illinois, Vanderbilt and was the running backs/slot receivers coach for the West Virginia Mountaineers from 2008-2010. When asked why he would pick Beatty to replace Brown, White said the following: "A native of 757 (area code 757 is located in eastern Virginia and covers Chesapeake, Newport News, Portsmouth and Suffolk) that will recruit the best of the best and empower all the rest that want to be a part of magical Morgantown. You would be hard-pressed to find a player that has anything but positive feedback from interactions with Chris Beatty." White added, "Chris Beatty deserves to be at the top of everyone's list." Although Beatty has not been mentioned as a top candidate in early reports yet, getting an endorsement from the greatest player in West Virginia history will certainly raise some eyebrows around Morgantown.

  (Image from The Weirton Daily Times) Morgantown, West Virginia - Earlier today, Twitter sports phenomena Big Game Boomer released his newest poll ranking the "Top 50 Head Basketball/Football Coaching Duos." In this poll, he has WVU's duo of Bob Huggins and Neal Brown ranked 49th. https://twitter.com/BigGameBoomer/status/1593011808205701122?s=20&t=TJ2J4FEbO4Nrl_qag5r8Ng So what does this mean? This poll doesn't indicate very much, and it is all for fun, but it does display what the national sports audience thinks of Neal Brown. Bob Huggins is a Hall of Fame coach, having 919 total wins in his tenure as a head coach. That record and tenure as a head coach have been tainted by a football coach that has been very unsuccessful during his time at West Virginia. Why does this matter? West Virginia Football is currently seen as a laughing stock and a bottom dweller. Despite how good Bob Huggins is as a head coach, he cannot do everything, and Brown needs to carry his own weight. Football at this moment in time pays the bills, and if WVU wants any chance to help the new Big 12 gain more money, they have to do better. Big Game Boomer is just one example of what other people from other fanbases think of Brown. This football program was once one of the best in the country on a year-to-year basis. WVU could EASILY be in the top 20 of Boomer's poll if West Virginia had a competent coach steering the ship in football. What's to Come? WVU plans to hire a new Athletic Director in the coming weeks, and this AD needs to hire someone with a pulse. We are just ONE coach away from being in the spotlight again, and now is the best chance we have had since the Rich Rodriguez days.

Morgantown, West Virginia - Prior to Shane Lyons being "forced to resign", Neal Brown's job status as the head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers was described by ESPN's Pete Thamel as "in flux." Now, after Lyons' dismissal, Brown's seat went from being very hot to scorching! Although West Virginia hasn't named a director of athletics to replace Lyons and Neal Brown has not been fired yet, several head coaches have already been linked as possible replacements for Brown. Here are the current favorites and their odds right now to be the head coach of the Mountaineers next season: Tony Gibson - Many people feel that he should have been the choice when Dana Holgorsen left for Houston in 2018. An outstanding recruiter with major ties to the state and university, Gibson has been very successful as the defensive coordinator at NC State. Lots of smoke in the last week about the possibility of him returning home to lead the Mountaineers. +300  Shawn Clark - Clark, 47, is a relatively young, up-and-coming head coach who has been successful at Appalachian State and has proven that he can upset the big boys. Oh, and he’s originally from Charleston, West Virginia. +300 Jamey Chadwell - Chadwell, 45, was the 2020 AP College Football Coach of the Year. Over the past 3 seasons, Chadwell’s Coastal Carolina team has gone 31-4. +300  Hugh Freeze - In his 10 years as a head coach, Freeze, 52, has been successful everywhere he’s been. He is 83-41 overall and 6-2 in bowl games during his time at Arkansas State, Ole Miss and now at Liberty. Liberty is 8-2 this season and upset BYU and Arkansas. Although he just signed a massive contract extension at Liberty, his contract buyout is only $2.5 million if he decides to leave for a Power 5 Conference program. In addition, he recently said that he would listen if a few schools in "small college towns in the mountains" expressed interest.  +350 Curt Cignetti - He has been ultra-successful as a head coach (38-7 at James Madison, 105-33 overall), was a former assistant under Nick Saban at Alabama and played quarterback at West Virginia University from 1979-1982. +400 Tom Herman - Herman, 47, is not currently coaching anywhere and would certainly consider an incredible opportunity at West Virginia University. In his six seasons as a head coach, Herman was nothing short of spectacular. His first head coaching position was at Houston, where he finished 22-4 overall in two seasons. He was then hired at Texas in 2017 and went 7-6, 10-4, 8-5 and 7-3 in his four seasons with the Longhorns. Also, he is 5-0 in his career in bowl games. +450 Jahmile Addae - Young (38 years old), passionate coach with a ton of respect in the coaching field. He was rated as the #2 recruiter in the nation last year and has incredible rapport with his players. The Mountaineers had one of the best defenses in the country when he was a co-defensive coordinator at West Virginia and he has been successful everywhere he’s gone. +450 Rich Rodriguez - In his final three seasons in Morgantown, the Mountaineers were 32-5 and reached unprecedented heights. He’s 8-2 at Jacksonville State and at 59 years old, he has a lot of coaching time left in his career and a lot of people want him back on the West Virginia sideline. +500 Neal Brown - 21-24 in his 4th season with the Mountaineers, it's unlikely that a new director of athletics will keep Brown around. A new director of athletics will want to make an immediate splash with his own head football coach hire, but Brown does have a large contract buyout that gives him some chance to be back for another year. +500 Jimbo Fisher -  Although he is currently going through his worst season ever as a head coach, he won a national championship with Florida State, he’s 120-44 overall and 8-2 in bowl games during his career, and he loves his home state of West Virginia. His experience combined with success and love for the state makes him a home run hire if West Virginia could somehow pull it off. +500 Matt Rhule - The former Big 12 Coach of the Year (2019), Rhule showed that he was very capable of turning around a college program when he took a really bad Baylor team and turned them into an 11-3 team in his last year as a college coach. Although Rhule struggled as a head coach in the NFL (11-27 with the Carolina Panthers), he is just the type of proven head coach that West Virginia is looking for. +750 Deion Sanders - Potential program-changer who would give the university immediate attention from around the country. Sanders is an incredible recruiter who would bring major talent to Morgantown. In his 3rd season at Jackson State, Sanders is 21-5 overall, and Power 5 Conference athletic directors who have spoken to him were very impressed with his knowledge and preparation. +1000 https://twitter.com/voicemorgantown/status/1592922774519304193?s=20&t=y8NYHLNLmxEkytbg_G9YDA

Pat White, a legend in his own right in Morgantown, is very vocal when it comes to WVU Athletics. With the firing of athletic director Shane Lyons, White hasn’t been shy to chime in with his opinion on the matter. Earlier today, White even shared his choice of replacement for Lyons in the Athletic Director role. Matt Borman - President of LSU Tiger Athletic Foundation   https://twitter.com/ucpatwhite/status/1592914852405616640?s=46&t=PRVhwWJRozOXLxdbudCIzg For those of you who haven’t heard of Borman before, he brings with him a tremendous background. Not to mention he also has strong connections to WVU. For starters, Borman is a West Virginia University graduate. He received his masters degree in sports management in Morgantown. Borman also spent time as the executive director of the Mountaineer Athletic Club. Leading fundraisers, he was able to help garner record-setting donations for West Virginia University Athletics. White has certainly done his research on this candidate. It’s hard to argue this, as well. Borman certainly deserves a look from the Mountaineers.

(Photo by WVU Athletics)    During his weekly press conference today, Neal Brown did not name a starting quarterback for WVU’s matchup against Kansas State on Saturday. Following a bad start by J.T. Daniels, backup Garrett Greene entered the game last weekend and led the Mountaineers to a 23-20 win over Oklahoma. With this being WVU’s first victory over Oklahoma since joining the Big 12, and Greene putting together a triumphant performance, many fans are calling for him to start on Saturday. While this is certainly justified, Brown is making the right call by not naming a starting quarterback. This gives the Wildcats absolutely no advantage going into the matchup. They will prepare for both, yes, but they will not know what they’re getting from one series to the next. An interesting wrinkle Brown threw into the equation was the possibility of seeing Nicco Marchiol. The true freshman from Arizona has only seen the field once this season in a 65-7 win over Towson. Nobody will quite know what they would get out of Marchiol, and the opposing coaches may have more difficulty preparing for him, as well. So with no “official” starter, and now the possibility of a third quarterback, Kansas State will be pressed to be fully prepared for the game. Though Brown’s days in Morgantown may be numbered, he is showing why he was brought here in the first place. The man is playing chess.

Morgantown, West Virginia - West Virginia University will soon be on the search for a new head coach after Neal Brown is inevitably fired following the team's final two games of the season. At Texas A&M, Jimbo Fisher is going through his worst season of his 13 years as a head coach, and the fanbase there desperately wants to fire him. However, Fisher is owed over $85 million in his contract buyout, which makes firing him nearly impossible. Fisher has a 37-21 record at Texas A&M, but he's one of the highest paid head coaches in the nation and he's expected to produce more, like national championships. According to The Athletic, one agent had a very interesting idea to solve the problems at West Virginia and Texas A&M. "When speaking last week about the tenuous situation at West Virginia, an agent threw out a funny, not-all-that-realistic hypothetical: How about Texas A&M boosters pool together $20 million-plus to pay the Mountaineers for Shane Lyons’ and Neal Brown’s buyouts and to take West Virginia native Jimbo Fisher off their hands?" While this situation could potentially fix the issues at both schools, one of the schools would still have to come up with the $85+ million that he's owed by Texas A&M. If the buyout wasn't an issue, Fisher to West Virginia makes an awful lot of sense for the university right now. Fisher is a proven winner at the highest level of competition, has won a national championship and as a Clarksburg, West Virginia native, he loves the state of West Virginia and understands the importance of winning for the school. Although it's unlikely that this will ever happen, like Jimbo Fisher recently said when asked about possibly returning home to coach the Mountaineers: "Home is home and you never say never."

Morgantown, West Virginia - With Shane Lyons out as the director of athletics at West Virginia, it is only a matter of time before West Virginia Head Coach Neal Brown follows suit. Sitting at 21-24, it is expected that Brown will be relieved of his duties following the 2022 season, regardless of the outcome of the team's final two games. The Athletic, a very well known outlet nationwide, has listed potential replacements for both Lyons and Brown respectively. Here is their list of replacements: Shane Lyons  Pat Chun - Washington State AD  Troy Dannen - Tulane AD Eddie Nunez - New Mexico AD Matt Borman - LSU Athletic Foundation President It should be noted that none of these candidates have any real ties to the state of West Virginia and have not been mentioned by any other outlets. Neal Brown Jason Candle (52-30 at Toledo) Sean Lewis (23-30 at Kent State) Jeff Monken (61-49 at Army)  Scott Satterfield (24-23 at Louisville)  Rich Rodriguez (7-2 at Jacksonville State) Candle, Lewis and Monken are highly-regarded coaches, but West Virginia will likely pursue a more proven head coach at the Power 5 level, particularly after the past four seasons under Brown. Rodriguez is almost certainly too divisive among the West Virginia fanbase to be hired and Satterfield's 24-23 record at Louisville is less than impressive. Overall, these five potential candidates don't appear to be outstanding replacements for Brown at West Virginia. If the university wants to fix the current situation within the football program, they will need a proven leader who has a history of turning around programs and being successful at the highest level of competition.

Morgantown, West Virginia - For the first since Shane Lyons was "forced to resign" as the director of athletics at West Virginia University, head coach Neal Brown spoke to the media and discussed the situation. Brown, who appeared to be very somber when talking about it, had the following to say about Lyons: "You know, what's often lost in situations like this, is that there are real people and families that are affected by this. I will say this: Shane Lyons and his family have served this university well and I really appreciate him giving me an opportunity here." Brown was asked if he has spoken to Lyons and he said the following: "I talked to him yesterday, briefly. I like to keep those conversations between us, but yeah, I spoke to him for a bit yesterday." Although Lyons served the university since 2015, he will be remembered for the contract extension that he gave Neal Brown after an 11-11 start following the 2020 season. That contract extension and buyout will likely cost West Virginia University millions of dollars when Neal Brown is inevitably fired following the season.