West Virginia fired football coach Neal Brown on Sunday as the Mountaineers continue to flounder in the Big 12.
Athletic director Wren Baker announced Brown’s firing in a statement. Baker said he wishes Brown and his family “the very best in their next endeavor.”
Brown went 6-6 this season and had an overall record of 37-35 in his six seasons. His teams never competed for a Big 12 championship or were ranked in the AP Top 25 poll. They lost nine consecutive times to ranked opponents.
Brown is due to receive a $9.5 million buyout for the last three years of his contract.
Brown had been fighting to keep his job for quite some time.
In November 2022, following back-to-back losing seasons, Brown was retained on the same day that Baker was hired as West Virginia’s AD. A year ago, Baker issued a similar vote of confidence as his predecessor, then gave Brown a contract extension in March following a 9-4 finish.
But a return to mediocrity and mounting problems were too much for Brown to overcome.
West Virginia’s offensive production suffered significantly despite returning dual-threat quarterback Garrett Greene and running backs Jahiem White and C.J. Donaldson. The defense was one of the worst nationally in passing yards allowed. West Virginia lost four times at home this season and was outscored in the second half in 10 of 12 games.
Brown had the worst six-year stretch under one coach at West Virginia since Gene Corum went 29-30 from 1960-65. Except Brown’s teams showed flashes of brilliance one week, then stumbled the next. The Mountaineers were especially vulnerable on the road, going 13-20 with 11 losses by at least 17 points. Brown also went 1-2 against rival Pittsburgh.
“Our record at the end wasn’t what we’d hoped for,” Brown said after a 52-15 loss at Texas Tech on Saturday. “I thought that over the course of the year, there were times when people were counting us out and our guys bounced back and did some good things.”
After a home loss to Iowa State, fans became especially agitated when Brown was asked to explain why they should keep showing up to games.
“I get that they want to win, but what I would say is, did they have a good time?” he said. “You know what I mean? Like, did they enjoy it? It was a pretty good atmosphere.”
He acknowledged later that he could have answered the question better and simply asked fans to come support the team.
Instead, billboards calling for Brown’s firing went up in Morgantown. Brown fired defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley on Oct. 29 after the defense gave up 45 points to Kansas State and surrendered a pair of touchdown passes in blown coverage in a 31-26 win at Arizona. In Jeff Koonz’s first game as interim defensive coordinator, West Virginia beat Cincinnati on the road, then lost two of its final three games.
West Virginia hasn’t won a league title since 2011, which was the last of its six Big East championships over a nine-year period before moving to the Big 12 in 2012.
The 44-year-old Brown was in his first major-college head coaching job after leading Troy to a 35-16 record over four seasons, including the 2017 Sun Belt championship.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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