Morgantown, West Virginia – Neal Brown has had a tumultuous first three seasons and four games of his career as the head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers. His arrival in Morgantown had so much promise, but unfortunately he has not yet lived up to expectations or to the precedent set by his predecessors (Rich Rodriguez, Bill Stewart and Dana Holgorsen, namely).
In his first 39 games at West Virginia, Neal Brown has been the definition of average, with a 19-20 overall record. In addition, Brown has compiled a list of reasons why his seat should be very, very warm right now.
1. No Big Wins: Brown’s “signature” wins so far at West Virginia have been at the 24th ranked Kansas State Wildcats in 2019, again against then-16th ranked Kansas State at home in 2020 and at home against #15 Virginia Tech and then-#22 ranked Iowa State. Although those are certainly quality wins, they fall very short of being program-defining, big wins.
2. No Winning Streaks: West Virginia has had two game winning streaks five different times under Brown, but they have never won three games in a row. West Virginia has currently won two in a row – at home against Towson and on the road against the worst Virginia Tech team in decades – and will have an opportunity to get three in a row this Saturday at Texas.
3. Losing Record: It really doesn’t matter how nice someone is or what a great recruiter they are or how good the culture of the program is if the team is not winning. 19-20 is unacceptable anyway you look at it. While coaches are typically given a few years to build their team, Brown is now in his 4th season. With a very challenging schedule looming, it’s unlikely he will have an above .500 record with the Mountaineers after this season.
4. No Top 25 Appearances: Perhaps most unbelievable about Brown’s time at West Virginia is that the team has never, not once, even sniffed the Top 25. During the tenures of Rich Rodriguez, Bill Stewart and even Dana Holgorsen, West Virginia was routinely a Top 25 team. When a fanbase becomes accustomed to that level of success, falling short of it for four consecutive seasons becomes very disheartening and frustrating.
#WVU has not been in the Top 25 since Neal Brown has been the head coach of the Mountaineers. pic.twitter.com/O4rbq7oDho
— The Voice of Morgantown (@voicemorgantown) September 26, 2022
