Neal Brown

[WVAPPeer]

If I remember correctly some of you guys thought pretty highly of Brown when at Troy? - I have been underwhelmed with his job at WVU. Now, I will say, I am much happier he is there instead of Holgerson, but ... He has probably the best defense in the Big 12 but his play calling offensively leaves much to be desired - He has a top RB, a QB who is better than average and WRs all over the place - their OL isn't the most experienced but they have some good guys there. They absolutely cannot score TDs in the redzone - they have way too many penalties, etc. --- I really didn't pay much attention - still don't - to other SB coaches (other than Elliott) - What were some of your opinions of Brown?

[GoBoone]

I’d say with a little time he’ll have the mountaineers in or near the top 10. Always felt like he was the real deal.

[NavyApp]

I think this is what Neal Brown is. Coach of a top 30 program, he may have a year where they are great and finish in the top 10. But they will never be championship contenders, their ceiling is an appearance in the Big12 championship game.

[asu66]

Patience, WV Nation. The guy is playing with another coach's chess pieces. Reevaluate two seasons from now.

[asu66]

Patience, WV Nation. The guy is playing with another coach's chess pieces. Reevaluate two seasons from now.

[WVAPPeer]

Thanks, but it really isn't the talent level. Most of these guys are his in the sense that he made some changes last year and played"his" guys. It is the problem with the offensive play calling. They go up and down the field until the red zone and they freeze. As I said the defense is probably the best in the big 12 and I have no doubt he will do fine. I was just wondering if anyone saw similar problems with his Troy teams? You aren't going to win many games in the big 12 even with a good defense only scoring around 20 points.

[EastHallApp]

I thought he did a really good job at Troy. Earned his P5 shot. Beyond that, who can ever really tell.

I don't play close attention to WVU, but it seems like he's doing OK, not great, so far. I'm sure their fans were hoping to be great instantly, but I mean, let's be honest: It's not like WVU is a blue blood program. It's like the wide swath of P5s in between a few elites and a few weak links - you CAN win at a high level there, but there's no particular reason to expect it as the norm.

[WVAPPeer]

Thanks - the fans will give him plenty of time - they pretty much despised Holgerson because every year he was looking for another job - his last season he had probably the most talent WVU has had in a long time and just couldn't beat the teams he needed to beat - Again, let me say, I think Brown will be fine - what I was looking for any insights into his offensive prowess at Troy, I don't remember Troy putting up a lot of points against APP - of course, our defense was top notch, but he won't win in the Big 12 without scoring A LOT of points ---

[EastHallApp]

Thanks - the fans will give him plenty of time - they pretty much despised Holgerson because every year he was looking for another job - his last season he had probably the most talent WVU has had in a long time and just couldn't beat the teams he needed to beat - Again, let me say, I think Brown will be fine - what I was looking for any insights into his offensive prowess at Troy, I don't remember Troy putting up a lot of points against APP - of course, our defense was top notch, but he won't win in the Big 12 without scoring A LOT of points ---

A good reference for team stats like that is https://www.teamrankings.com/ncf/stats/.

I think Brown's Troy teams were kind of like App - solid offense, but what set them apart from the rest of the league was physicality and pretty good D. When everyone else is trying to win a pinball game, being able to stop people is a pretty good differentiator.

Whether he can replicate that approach with the same success at WVU, I don't know. It's probably worth a try, though; going to be tough to consistently win shootouts with the likes of OU, Texas, etc.

[t4pizza]

To me the jury is still out on Brown. I was never as sold on him at Troy as most were. He seems to be an ok coach that will win more than he loses, but I don't ever see multiple championships in his future on any level. I mean, he took over an established, albeit down, Troy team and never mustered an outright Sun Belt title while the new comers in the league have dominated. I think if he was as good as many think he is that he would have more titles to his name.

[WVAPPeer]

To me the jury is still out on Brown. I was never as sold on him at Troy as most were. He seems to be an ok coach that will win more than he loses, but I don't ever see multiple championships in his future on any level. I mean, he took over an established, albeit down, Troy team and never mustered an outright Sun Belt title while the new comers in the league have dominated. I think if he was as good as many think he is that he would have more titles to his name.

Your take is pretty close to mine - I was never overly impressed - solid coach but not a Satterfield - which brings me back to the thought that if someone else had taken the Louisville job I do believe Satterfield would have been the Man in Morgantown. Now as a WV fan I do wish that would have happened but for Coach Satterfield he is in a better place to win --- When Brown was named the coach at WVU several of my WV buddies called and asked about him - really all the could remember telling them was that he had a solid program but could never beat APP but the plus side was that he was able to lead Troy to some wins over Name teams - like at LSU -

[EastHallApp]

To me the jury is still out on Brown. I was never as sold on him at Troy as most were. He seems to be an ok coach that will win more than he loses, but I don't ever see multiple championships in his future on any level. I mean, he took over an established, albeit down, Troy team and never mustered an outright Sun Belt title while the new comers in the league have dominated. I think if he was as good as many think he is that he would have more titles to his name.

Conference titles can be affected by things like unbalanced schedules, uneven divisions, etc. In Brown's last three years at Troy, they were a combined 31-8 overall, 20-4 in the Sun Belt; App was 30-9, 21-3. Troy also had the huge win at LSU. Both teams were 3-0 in bowl games, and they split two H2H meetings.

Point is, App and Troy were running neck-and-neck, and pulling away from the rest of the conference. (And however "established" Troy may have been as a program in the past, they were absolutely awful by the time the previous coach left.) Thankfully we've managed Satt's departure much better than Troy managed Brown's.

[Black Saturday]

Patience, WV Nation. The guy is playing with another coach's chess pieces. Reevaluate two seasons from now.

3rd season is almost on him.