Morgantown, West Virginia – West Virginia’s performance this season is unacceptable. The complete lack of discipline and effort by the Mountaineers points to one thing and one thing only…
Poor coaching.
It’s no longer a matter of whether Neal Brown should be fired or not. He should be. He has a 19-21 record with no clear sign of improvement.
Perhaps Brown has succeeded as a recruiter, but the results on the field do not warrant him continuing as the head coach of the Mountaineers.
With that said, West Virginia does not have another game until Thursday, October 13th at home against Baylor, and this is really the perfect opportunity for Shane Lyons to fire Neal Brown and move on from this mess. Yes, it will cost West Virginia an astronomical amount of money to do it, but there are no other options at this point. It needs to be done and it needs to be done now.
Contract Concerns
West Virginia will owe Brown approximately $20 million, but remember, this buyout can be negotiated to a reduced amount and it can be paid over multiple years, rather than a lump sum. In addition, West Virginia donors reportedly already put the money together following the Kansas loss to pay for the contract buyout. Firing Brown now
Why NOW is the Right Time to Fire Neal Brown
Now is the perfect time to do it because the Mountaineers have a bye week and this will give them plenty of time to hire current offensive coordinator Graham Harrell as the new interim head coach, get the coaching staff in order and mentally prepare the team for a tough game against a really good team in Baylor in two weeks.
Allowing Brown to continue as the head coach would signal to the West Virginia fanbase that they don’t deserve more, that this is what is expected from the West Virginia football program, and that expectations are at an all-time low.
Firing Brown now does the opposite. It tells the West Virginia fans that what we’ve seen this year and the previous three years is unacceptable, that we deserve better and that the people in charge – namely director of athletics Shane Lyons and university president Gordon Gee – will do whatever it takes to make the West Virginia football program great again.
— The Voice of Morgantown (@voicemorgantown) October 2, 2022
If Shane Lyons is going to fire Neal Brown, this would be the right time with a bye week upcoming. #WVU doesn’t play again until Thursday, Oct. 13. This would be plenty of time to name Graham Harrell interim head coach and move on from this mess.
— The Voice of Morgantown (@voicemorgantown) October 2, 2022
