Things can change rapidly in the world of big-time college sports.
It wasn’t even 10 months ago that West Virginia gave head football coach Neal Brown a contract extension through the 2027 season.
On Sunday, West Virginia fired Brown after a 6-6 regular season that ended with an ugly 52-15 loss at Texas Tech on Saturday.
The Mountaineers are bowl-eligible and will likely play a postseason game, but they have yet to announce an interim coach for that game.
Sunday’s decision ends a mostly mediocre six-year tenure by Brown, where the team went 37-35 (and just 13-20 on the road, with 11 of those losses coming by 17 points or more) and won more than six games in a season just one time. That was during the 2023 season when West Virginia won nine games, including the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. That season was not only enough for Brown to keep his job for at least one more year when he was already seemingly on the hot seat, but it was enough to get another year added to his deal.
The regression that happened this season was simply too much for West Virginia to overlook.
It was a pretty big failure across the board, as well. West Virginia’s offense took a big step backward despite the return of dual-threat quarterback Garrett Greene, while the defense was one of the worst in the country. It was especially bad against the pass.
Now, the question becomes where West Virginia goes next.
Jason Candle (Toledo) and Tim Albin (Ohio) are two up-and-coming coaches in the MAC who have produced strong results in rebuilding programs, while Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki figures to be a top candidate for head-coaching jobs, given what he has done in turning around Penn State’s offense this season.