MORGANTOWN, WV – Neal Brown is now 22-26 as the Mountaineers head coach and has started the last three season with a loss. Since his tenure as the Mountaineers coach, Brown has only produced one winning season and that came during the coronavirus-shortened 2020 campaign.
The offense has consistently ranked in the lower half of the Big 12, and the defense allowed nearly 33 points per game in 2022.
The defense allowed 38 points to seventh ranked team in the country in the loss.
The only positive from the Mountaineers loss to Penn State was the offensive line. They held blocks, got penetration against Penn State and allowed Garrett Greene to at least not run for his life over 90 percent of the game.
However, everything else, probably minus the running game, is a question mark for me. Sure, they play Duquesne next week and will win by double-digits which will give them momentum going into the backyard brawl against Pitt.
I was very optimistic when I said WVU would win eight games. I’m sure by the end of the year I’ll be eating my crow on that as well. But, by now Brown should have a team ready to compete in a big game — and he didn’t. And he won’t.
I’ll say it.
Brown is a Group Five coach coaching a Power Five program. And it shows. The success he had at Troy has not successfully made its way to Morgantown. He was 35-16 and (23-9, Sun Belt) from 2015 to 2018. Since being hired in at WVU he is 14-21 in the Big 12 and 1-1 in bowl games.
For that, Neal Brown won’t be the head coach going into the 2024 season. He may make it to the end of the year, but he won’t be on the sidelines in 2024. That is unless they do manage to win eight games.
Brown’s hot seat meter: 8.5 out of 10. Firing is highly likely.
