Morgantown, West Virginia – Two big SEC programs have had vacancies at head coach this offseason and Neal Brown was mentioned for both. Although it is uncomfortable and unsettling for West Virginia fans, it’s something that this fanbase will need to get used to.
Neal Brown, 40, is a prototypical coach for schools to look at to lead their football program. He’s young, he has no personal blemishes that would be embarrassing to a school, he has proven that he can beat the best teams in the nation with lesser talent, and he has now shown this year at West Virginia that he can recruit.
Neal Brown is golden and that’s precisely why he’ll continue to be brought up for coaching vacancies. Brown made an excellent point when he denied interest in the then-open South Carolina Head Coach position: “I guess it’s good because it means people realize we’re doing something good.”
Athletic Directors around the country realize how lucky West Virginia is to have Neal Brown as the Head Coach of the Mountaineers. Although he has an overall record of 10-11 at West Virginia, he was left with a difficult situation after Dana Holgorsen’s sudden departure to Houston.
A 5-7 record in his first season in Morgantown was surprisingly good considering the incredible loss of talent. 5-4 this season is a bit underwhelming, but the Mountaineers were within one possession of winning in many of those losses, particularly at the beginning of the season, and have a chance to finish a very respectable 6-4 with a bowl game win.
There has been improvement in virtually every area of the football program this season. Offensively, defensively, in the area of recruiting, the Mountaineers are far better off than they were at the beginning of Brown’s tenure.
Instead of fearing Brown’s potential departure to a bigger and better opportunity elsewhere, we should appreciate what we have here in Morgantown right now.
