MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — The West Virginia Mountaineers fired Neal Brown last Sunday and hired Rich Rodriguez to replace him earlier today. Brown, who was 37-35 overall and 25-28 in the Big 12 Conference in six seasons with the Mountaineers, is now once again on the search for a new position.
In an interview with Hoppy Kercheval days after being fired, Brown said that he would like to coach again in 2025. “I want to coach. I think there’s a lot of positives from a personal perspective and professionally and there’s some really good jobs open. There’s jobs that are resourced well in leagues that you can go win, and so my anticipation is that I will, but time will tell.”
One possible destination for Brown could be the place where Rich Rodriguez just left. According to AL.com, Brown is one of several candidates who will be pursued to replace Rodriguez as the head coach of the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. In the article “Candidates to Replace Rich Rodriguez as Jacksonville State’s Head Football Coach”, the author makes the case for Brown to replace Rodriguez:
“While it’s not too common that a fired head coach steps directly back into leading a program shortly after his departure, a head coach swap could be on the table for West Virginia and Jax State. Brown was reportedly in the mix for a handful of positions, with Football scoop reporting he was a candidate for the Applachian State and Charlotte jobs. Should he immediately step back into leading a program, Jax State could certainly be on the table for the experienced coach.”
It would certainly be an interesting development for Brown to swap jobs with Rodriguez, but it also makes an awful lot of sense. Brown coaches in Alabama at Troy and is still widely respected there. Although Brown didn’t have success in the Big 12 Conference, he did quite well in the Sun Belt and would likely be an outstanding fit in Conference USA.
The other candidates mentioned as possible replacements for Rodriguez at Jacksonville State were Bill Clark (former UAB head coach), Todd Bates (Oklahoma co-defensive coordinator), Bryant Vincent (Louisiana-Monroe head coach), Rod Smith (current Jacksonville State offensive coordinator who will likely follow Rich Rodriguez to WVU), Lance Taylor (Western Michigan head coach), Casey Woods (SMU offensive coordinator), Joe Craddock (Tulane offensive coordinator), Rod McDowell (Jacksonville State running backs head coach) and Bryan Ellis (Alabama tight ends coach). With these candidates being considered, Neal Brown actually seems like a very quality option for Jacksonville State in 2025.
