What Neal Brown Must Accomplish to Keep His Job

Morgantown, West Virginia – At 17-18 overall in three seasons as the head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers, Neal Brown has been underwhelming during his time in Morgantown.

We can sugarcoat it all we want – we can blame the roster that he was left with when Dana Holgorsen left, blame it on the COVID year, blame it on players transferring – but ultimately it comes down to wins and losses, and Brown just has not gotten the job done.

Entering his 4th season, expectations are particularly high after former five star quarterback JT Daniels committed to play for the Mountaineers.

What Neal Brown must do to keep his job

1. West Virginia absolutely must beat Pitt in the season opener in the Backyard Brawl. This is more than a rivalry game and with an extremely challenging schedule in front of them, beating the Panthers in Pittsburgh is critical.
2. Seven or more wins. Brown will keep his job if he wins at least seven games this season. Winning eight games or more would be a successful season, but he must win at least seven games to stay off the hot seat. Anything less than seven games won in his 4th season would certainly be considered failure and West Virginia’s Director of Athletics, Shane Lyons, would have to re-evaluate Brown’s future with the team.
3. Continue to recruit at a high level. Remarkably, Brown has done exceptionally well bringing in high-level recruiting classes.
4. Keep top talent in Morgantown. Not only does Brown have to recruit big-time recruits to West Virginia, he has to find a way to keep them here. The recent transfer of Akheem Mesidor was a huge loss for Brown for a number of reasons. Mesidor was West Virginia’s top, most dominant defensive player and he was the first major Brown recruit who left the program. Keeping talent will be a top priority for Brown and his staff moving forward.

Although Neal Brown appears to be a high-character coach who has good intentions, coaches must win games in college sports. Brown is out of excuses. He has a five star quarterback, he’s had plenty of time to build his program with his own players and it’s time for him to deliver wins.