Director of Athletics Wren Baker recently confirmed that Neal Brown will return to the helm of the West Virginia University football team in 2024.
Brown’s tenure has certainly been polarizing among Mountaineer fans. Even with the debate, I believe keeping Brown as the head coach is the right thing to do.
WVU is coming off an 9-4 season and just finished 6-3 in the Big 12 and a bowl game win. It was not perfect by any means, but let’s not act like any Mountaineer fan would not have taken that record in a heartbeat before the season began.
He helped lead a team that was predicted to finish last in the Big 12 and instead led it to being in the mix for the Big 12 Championship late into conference play.
This team has talent and potential. Just look at the amount of freshman contributors on this roster. Jahiem White, Hudson Clement, Traylon Ray and Rodney Gallagher III all made plays this year, and that is just on offense. On defense, linebacker Ben Cutter stepped in and was a steady player after Trey Lathan had a season-ending injury.
Whether or not fans are bought into “the climb,” the players are. There is talent on this team, and they regularly express their love for playing for Coach Brown.
With such a special freshmen class and good returning players, do you really want to fire the coach they are here to play for, especially after an 9-4 season? Do you think the players will just stick around if that happens? I’m no fortune teller, but based on what happens every time a team fires a head coach, a good portion of the roster would leave, and you would have to rebuild.
This team has promise, which is more than you could say for previous Mountaineer squads. That does not happen by players magically falling from the sky. It takes recruitment and building a culture, which Brown appears to have succeeded in. Now, especially with Oklahoma and Texas leaving the conference, Brown deserves the chance to see this through.
Winning games takes more than talent. Like it or not, Neal Brown played a huge role in the eight wins this year.
Take the Backyard Brawl. Garrett Greene goes down with an injury. In that very second, the head coach had to change the entire offensive game plan. And he did.
Brown put Nicco Marchiol in a position to go out and lead the team to victory. He did that, not just once, but again the next week against Texas Tech. He molded the strategy to the players he had available and won those games.
Were they pretty wins? Of course not. However, it takes good coaching to win games like those. Without good preparation and coaching, WVU does not win those games.
Speaking of putting players in the best position to win, he helped the Mountaineer offense establish something it did not have before this year: an identity.
Running the football and wearing down opponents became a staple for this team. A healthy running back rotation of CJ Donaldson and White, along with some designed runs for Greene, was the primary option for this team in many games. This also helped open up the passing game for Greene.
The climb has not been easy. I know, for many fans, it has been a grueling journey to have a season as successful as this one. However, it might be paying off. The only way to know is to keep climbing and not turn around and start from the bottom.
Just accept the fact that Neal Brown is going to be the head coach of the 2024 Mountaineers. You will find much more inner peace than whining for Jimbo Fisher.
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