MORGANTOWN — Last week we explored where West Virginia and the Mountaineers fit into the changing college football landscape, and now we’ll complete our “Summer of Change” investigation by discussing how Coach Neal Brown has changed both personally and as a football coach over the past five challenging years.
Flash forward to January 5, 2019, when Neil Brown was named head coach, replacing Dana Holgorsen.
There was some skepticism surrounding then-athletic director Shane Lyons' selection, as it was a step up from mid-major school Troy (Alabama), where he had great success over three years.
But many fans were looking for a proven coach at the Power 5 level, and overall, he seemed like the logical choice that would also be a good financial fit.
No one could have foreseen the minefield that lay ahead for Holgorsen, who had urged fans to “trust the climb,” but the climb turned out to be much steeper than he had imagined. Holgorsen left the team in a weakened state, especially offensively.
Then came the COVID-19 pandemic and Brown's forced divorce from his longtime defensive coordinator, both of which acted as unseen obstacles that slowed the team's progress.
It wasn't until last season, when West Virginia won nine games, that Brown's culture and football system aligned with his job, leading to a contract extension through 2026.
With that in mind, we asked him how he's changed, not just in his approach to football, but in his approach as a person — how he's changed as a person. He spoke candidly about where he's been, where he is now and where he's going.
“When I first got here, we had success at Troy and that's where I wanted to come back to when I got here,” he said.
He was referring to his five-year stints at Kentucky and Texas Tech, where he was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach before leaving the school, where he was an assistant.
That led to a four-year stint as head coach at Troy, where he went from 4-8 in his debut season as head coach to 10-3, 11-2 and then 10-3, including an upset win over No. 25 LSU in Baton Rouge that ended the Tigers' 46-game winning streak in non-conference home games.
He led Troy to a top 25 finish and attracted the attention of major universities across the country.
But winning football games at Troy and winning football games at West Virginia University are two entirely different things.
“Coming here, everything was different. There were a lot of changes. There was COVID-19. There was a lot going on,” he said.
The NIL was in place, the transfer portal was in place, the Big 12 was changing, and the patience of WVU football fans was being tested.
But football wasn't the only thing changing.
“For me, it was probably the biggest underestimate of the change in my life,” he said. “I was sitting in Troy and my kids weren't that big yet and there wasn't a lot of activity.
“Right now, I'm going into sixth grade. My 16-year-old daughter (Adalynn) is going into her senior year of high school and has played softball all over the country. My 13-year-old son (Ansley) is going into eighth grade and has played soccer, softball and middle school basketball. My 9-year-old son (Dax) is interested in a lot of different things.
“You're in a new phase of your life. You need to get your priorities in order. Something has to change, right?”
Not winning just complicated everything.
“When you don't have the success that you want or think you should have, I think you have to take a look at yourself and say you have to reset,” he said.
And that's what he did last offseason.
“I realized the most important thing for me and for this program is to focus on what I do best,” he said.
That led to some soul searching and it's what got him here.
“My strengths are on the offensive side of things — game planning, coaching, being involved in the offense,” he said.
And he pointed out that his second best quality is relationship building: he's a social person.
With that in mind, he developed a plan that would take a “30,000-foot view of the overall state of the football program.”
“That means figuring out how we're going to approach the calendar year, what the composition of our board will be, what are our strengths, and if it's not a strength, then we're going to get experts in that field and give them the creativity to excel in their areas,” he said.
Part of the reason for this can be seen in the fact that when he was negotiating his contract extension, his main financial demand was for more funding for staff so as not to disrupt ongoing work.
While appearing on The Pat McAfee Show, Rich Rodriguez claimed that West Virginia had made a similar mistake before, and that he moved to Michigan not because they had lost to Pittsburgh, but because the university refused to give him an extra $50,000 to distribute to his assistants.
“Sometimes you just take a step back,” Brown said. “That's kind of what we've been doing. And sometimes you've got to focus on what you need to focus on, and right now that's zero.”
Recruiting players and financing their names, images and likenesses has taken up far more of his time than he previously imagined.
“It's money coming in and money going out,” Brown said. “You have to be able to raise the money and you have to have a plan for how you structure payments to the players.”
When it comes to recruiting players, Coach Brown has placed an emphasis on acquiring quality personnel as well as quality players, hoping to minimize disruptions due to behavioral or academic issues.
“You have to invest time in recruiting because it's so important to have the right people,” he said. “Then, something I knew before I joined but now understand better now that I live here, is the public relations side of the job, which is crucial.”
“People say we don't have professional sports teams, but it's a lot like being a politician. You have to make sure you're there for your constituents and spend time with them,” Brown said. “It's important to manage your schedule. I've said no more than I used to, and I think that's something you need to do.”
Saying “no” sometimes allows you to make time for what's important.
Brown summed it all up:
“How have I changed? Well, I focus on my strengths and what I need. If I'm lacking in either of those two, I make sure I put the right people in place to lead in that area.”
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