Two Big 12 schools are now looking for new head coaches.
West Virginia announced Sunday that it has fired coach Neal Brown. The Mountaineers finished the season 6-6 after a loss to Texas Tech on Saturday.
“Coach Brown is a great person and has served as a great ambassador for West Virginia University,” athletic director Wren Baker said in a statement. “He led our storied program with class and integrity and always provided the hard work necessary to make success possible. We are grateful to Neal, his wife Brooke and their children for their contributions to our university, community and state, and we wish them all the best in their next endeavors.”
The Mountaineers took a step back in 2024 after a 9-4 campaign in 2023. Last season marked the first time West Virginia won more than six games in a season during his tenure.
Overall, West Virginia was 37-35 in Brown’s six seasons in Morgantown. Outside of 2023, the team has only been above .500 once. That season came in 2020 when WVU went 6-4.
The Mountaineers went 5-4 in the Big 12 this season, though they lost two of their last three games. WVU lost 49-35 to Baylor before beating UCF by 10 in the penultimate week of the season. On Saturday, Texas Tech jumped out to a huge lead in the first half before eventually winning 52-15.
Brown signed a one-year contract extension in March, extending his contract through the 2027 season. However, the new deal included a $300,000 pay cut from what he was expected to earn in 2024. The school said this spring that Brown’s pay cut was so the salary pool would be larger for his assistant coaching staff.
West Virginia’s move to change coaches comes a day after Gus Malzahn resigned from UCF. Malzahn is traveling across the state to become the offensive coordinator at Florida State.
It’s worth noting that former Texas A&M and Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher is a native of West Virginia and will likely be a very popular candidate among parts of the fan base. Fisher, 59, is a Clarksburg native who played college football at upstate Salem University before spending a season at Samford.
