West Virginia is ready to fireplace sixth-year coach Neal Brown, the college introduced Sunday. Brown's ouster comes on the heels of a devastating 52-15 loss at Texas Tech to drop the Mountaineers to 6-6 on the season and Brown to 37-35 total in Morgantown.
In the end, Brown's undoing was a product of that mediocrity; his groups had been hardly ever outright dangerous, however they had been even much less prone to hit. The Mountaineers have at all times received a minimum of three Massive 12 video games and reached a bowl recreation in 4 of his final 5 seasons, however West Virginia has posted greater than six wins solely as soon as in that span. West Virginia joins Texas Tech and Rutgers as the one Energy 4 groups not ranked within the AP Prime 25 at any level in 2019.
“Coach Brown is a superb individual and has served as an incredible ambassador for West Virginia College,” athletics director Wren Baker mentioned in a press release. “He has led our program with class and integrity and has at all times put within the exhausting work essential to allow success. We’re grateful to Neal, his spouse, Brooke, and their kids for his or her contributions to our college, neighborhood, and state, and we want them the perfect of their subsequent endeavor.”
Towards Texas Tech, the wheels lastly flew for the Mountaineers. The Purple Raiders took a 35-Three lead within the first half and rolled up 569 whole yards, together with 188 yards and three dashing touchdowns from star quarterback Tahj Brooks. It was the third lack of 5 or extra touchdowns within the final three seasons.
Brown tried to cease the bleeding earlier this season by firing defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley, who has been with Brown since his days in Troy. Nevertheless, the Mountaineers nonetheless went 2-2 after Lesley and gave up a mean of 36.5 factors per recreation.
“We're going to maintain our concentrate on the unbelievable younger males in our program and prepare for the bowl recreation,” Baker added. “Our nationwide seek for WVU's 36th head soccer coach is already underway. I’m assured that with the robust alignment between the College's management, our passionate supporters, our proud historical past and our willingness to speculate , we may have a exceptional variety of candidates.”
2024-25 FBS Teaching Carousel
| College | The brand new coach | The earlier coach | Convention | Anticipated wage vary |
| Ball situation | Mike Neu (Fired) | Mid-American | ~600,000 | |
| Central Michigan | Jim McElwain (fired) | Mid-American | ~1 million | |
| Charlotte | Biff Poggi (fired) | American Athletic | 1 million | |
| East Carolina | Blake Harrell (was interim) | Mike Houston (Fired) | American Athletic | 2-Three million |
| Florida Atlantic | Tom Herman (fired) | American Athletic | 1 million | |
| Florida Worldwide | Mike MacIntyre | USA convention | $700,000 | |
| Fresno State | Jeff Tedford (resigned) | West Mountain | 1-2 million | |
| Kennesaw State | Brian Bohannon (fired) | USA convention | ~$500,000 | |
| North Carolina | Mack Brown (fired) | Atlantic coast | 5 million | |
| Purdue | Ryan Walters (Fired) | Massive Ten | four million | |
| Rice | Scott Abell (Davidson) | Mike Bloomgren (fired) | American Athletic | 1 million |
| Sam Houston | KC Keeler (left for Temple) | |||
| southern woman | Will Corridor (fired) | The photo voltaic belt | <$1 million | |
| Temple | KC Keeler (Sam Houston) | Stan Drayton (fired) | American Athletic | 1-2 million |
| Tulsa | Kevin Wilson (fired) | American Athletic | < $2 million | |
| UCF | Gus Malzahn (resigned) | Massive 12 | four million | |
| UMass | Don Brown (fired) | Unbiased | <$1 million | |
| Utah State | Blake Anderson (Fired) | West Mountain | 1-2 million | |
| West Virginia | Neal Brown (fired) | Massive 12 | Three million |
In the end, Brown's incapacity to land punches proved to be his largest shortcoming with the Mountaineers. West Virginia has misplaced 10 straight towards ranked opponents, together with losses towards no. eight Penn State, no. 11 Iowa State and no. 17 Kansas State in 2024, all averaging 20.Three factors per recreation.
Brown agreed to a contract extension this offseason that saved him in Morgantown by way of 2027. Nevertheless, the extension truly lowered his wage whereas including a 12 months to the contract. The price of firing him after the 2024 season ought to drop under $10 million.
West Virginia hasn't fired a coach since Invoice Stewart in 2010, which got here after Dana Holgorsen was named “coach-in-waiting” for this system. Holgorsen, nevertheless, has reached seven profitable seasons in his eight campaigns, main this system. Brown solely performed profitable groups twice.