MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — At 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the Big 12 Conference through 5 games, the West Virginia Mountaineers are on track to have an incredible season. What was once seen as a very difficult schedule to start the season now appears to be relatively…easy.
West Virginia could now potentially finish 8-4, 9-3 or even 10-2 in Neal Brown’s 5th season in Morgantown. Let’s say the Mountaineers win 9 games this season. Brown, who is currently 26-26 overall at WVU, would have a 31-28 record (53% winning percentage) in a tough Big 12 Conference while dealing with many challenges along the way.
Neal Brown checks off a lot of boxes
Considering that Brown, 43, is very young and now experienced at the top level of college football, it would not be shocking at all for a program searching for a head coach to attempt to lure him away from West Virginia. This, of course, is shocking, because the fact that Brown still even has a job at West Virginia is absolutely baffling considering his previous four seasons. However, four years of mediocrity is easy to forget when a team like West Virginia, which was predicted to finish 14th out of 14 teams in the Big 12, shocks the football world with a turnaround season. When West Virginia hired Brown, they said he checked off a lot of boxes for the university. He was young and successful and was easy to sell to fanbase. With a winning season this year, he would still be all of those things and more.
Neal Brown is a great representative of a school and won’t embarrass you
You don’t have to worry about Neal Brown getting drunk at a casino. You don’t have to worry about him cheating on his spouse or getting arrested or saying something stupid. His image is spotless and pristine. A university hiring a new head football coach wants a guy like Neal Brown to represent their school. He says and does all the right things. He’s an easy hire for a school that doesn’t necessarily care about making a splash and who is willing to make the safe hire.
Neal Brown has gone through a lot over the last 5 seasons and might want a fresh start
Brown isn’t going to leave for just any opportunity. It would have to make sense for him. But let’s say a Kentucky comes knocking, he’s going to answer and it would likely be very difficult for him to say no. Mark Stoops is entrenched as the head coach there now, but Brown is just one scandal or head coach firing away from being up for a job like Kentucky. Brown played there, he coached there, he’s from Kentucky and they play in the top division in college football (SEC). He couldn’t possibly turn down a job like that.
And Kentucky isn’t the only job that could become available. There will be several openings this offseason and a 43 year old, clean cut Neal Brown coming off a 9-3 or 10-2 season would suddenly look like a real prize to a team desperate for a head coach.
