MORGANTOWN, West Virginia – Neal Brown opens the season with one of his toughest opponents yet since joining West Virginia in the Penn State Nittany Lions. The Nittany Lions are ranked number five overall in Wayne Staats way-too-early college football rankings for 2023.
Not only does Brown open the season against a hot team, he also opens the season under a major microscope in which some fans are already calling for his head before the season even kicks off. Not only that, but some in the media even speculate that if Brown and West Virginia start off 1-2, that would be losses to Penn State and Pitt and a sole win against Duquesne, then he should be relieved of his duties prior to the Texas Tech game.
Brown was not happy when the Big 12 media projected his Mountaineers to finish last in the conference. Brown let everyone know just how unhappy he was, and that he guaranteed the Mountaineers would not finish last in the Big 12.
Brown was also ranked as the worst head coach in the Big 12 according to Athlon Sports.
Sure, Brown can survive going 1-2, but the fans won’t like it if he is on the sideline come Texas Tech game. The simplicity is this; if the Mountaineers start off 1-2 they are already on the backside of winning football as their schedule gets tougher with Texas Tech and TCU, two teams who could win the conference. Then WVU plays Houston and most are projecting that game as a loss for WVU.
Lets face it — a 1-2 start ultimately can decide the future of Brown’s tenure as the head coach of the Mountaineers. A 1-5 start to the season is doom day for Brown.
Brown’s hot seat meter: 6.5 out of 10
