Realistic coaching options for 2025...

[AppState89]

For me it comes down to his stint at Troy. He took a team at our level that hadn't had a winning season in 5 years. Had 1 rebuild year then won 10+ games 3 straight seasons. Also won 3 straight bowls in the Sun Belt and has a 5-1 all time bowl record, which tells me, when he has time to plan he can out scheme other teams, but maybe hasn't always had the best talent to scheme with at WVU. Recruiting and NIL is now king in college sports. If we can nail the recruiting coordinator role and get enough $$$$ flowing, I think Neal is more than capable when he has the right pieces as he proved at Troy.

It's been pointed out ad nasuem over the past several months that the buck stops with the head coach when it comes to recruiting. So if Brown hasn't had the best talent to scheme with, it seems that would fall on him. Is he all of a sudden going to recruit better at App?

Are you telling me he is going to have more resources at App than he had at WVU?

I'd rather have given Clark another year with a clean house mandate than hire Brown.

You know I think what would be fair to compare is “where does WVU sit among its peers vs where does App State sit among ours?”

I’d argue that App State is THE premier program in the Sun Belt. You could make some argument for Marshall or maybe JMU, but otherwise I think we comprehensively dust any one else.

Where does WVU fall in the BIG12? Mid tier? Top 8?

He may not have more resources at App than he had at WVU, but he will also be running a different race.

And I say that as someone that’s fairly ambivalent towards his hiring, should it happen. Though the financial component is wildly appealing.

Pretty much what I was trying to type in my comment. My WVU friend doesn't think they have the same resources that other Big 12 teams have and that's why they will NEVER win a Big 12 championship and be mid tier. <<---- coming from their mouth, not mine.

[appdaze]

https://247sports.com/college/west-virg ... 13/?page=1


"As someone else said, he will make over $30 million for 6 years work (with $9,525,000 more coming over the next 3 years) where he had:
- a losing conference record
- a losing record against FBS schools
- never beat a school that finished the season ranked
- never had WVU football ranked even 1 week in 6 years
- never won a homecoming game
- never won a big game
- had 2 winning seasons in 6 years
- had gaffes during press conferences regularly when he went off script from the constant cliches that were forehead smacking when you heard them
AND
- *cursed and behaved out of control on the sidelines towards Referees in a manner that reminded me of Dana Holgorsen (but Dana won quite a bit more and was much more successful).
*The irony is the same people who have called Neal classy called Dana embarrassing.

For that compensation for that resume’ he should tattoo the flying WV on his and every family member’s body and sing Country Roads daily. This was his lottery ticket.

Mr Brown is the most unique person to be a WVU HC for football I have ever seen, and I hope there is never another one like him."



Sure will get the App fanbase excited if we bring him to town. We like people who can't cut it in the big leagues since we are just the little guys eating scraps from the table.

[Apptiger]

I'll be behind any one Gillin hires. Most of his hires have been good ones and he and staff have a lot more inside knowledge than we will ever have.

[ASUPATCH]

In reference to Neal Brown, he had a 51% win percentage at his first P5 stop while trying to learn and navigate NIL. You know who had a 58% win rate(0-3 in bowls) at their first P5 stop......Nick Saban at Michigan State. Not sayin Neal is NIck, just trying to put his stay at WVU in a little perspective. A NFL example would be Bill Belichick who was miserable in his first head gig with the Browns. It could be said that the 2 best to ever do it, didn't exactly light the world on fire when they both got their first big shot. Sometimes you gotta learn how to fail to come back better.

[appdaze]

The more I read the WVU boards the less I would want Brown at all.

Stating thay he couldn't put together a solid staff, would only hire his own cronies, wouldn't change strategies to make things work, couldn't recruit, the list goes on and on.

I guess we will just see. If DG hires him I will always put my support to App State and I hope he is able to change his ways and build a program. If not, we will be in for another 5 years of mediocrity.

[ASUFan4863]

The more I read the WVU boards the less I would want Brown at all.

Stating thay he couldn't put together a solid staff, would only hire his own cronies, wouldn't change strategies to make things work, couldn't recruit, the list goes on and on.

I guess we will just see. If DG hires him I will always put my support to App State and I hope he is able to change his ways and build a program. If not, we will be in for another 5 years of mediocrity.

Sounds a lot like the criticism we gave Clark. To be fair to both Clark and Brown - some of it may be true but some of it may also be fans over exaggerating.

[WASU 93]

I'll be behind any one Gillin hires. Most of his hires have been good ones and he and staff have a lot more inside knowledge than we will ever have.

Understood. But, for those who are hoping for Neal Brown, what excites you about him? I'm asking an honest question. Looking for insight.

[ah59396]

The more I read the WVU boards the less I would want Brown at all.

Stating thay he couldn't put together a solid staff, would only hire his own cronies, wouldn't change strategies to make things work, couldn't recruit, the list goes on and on.

I guess we will just see. If DG hires him I will always put my support to App State and I hope he is able to change his ways and build a program. If not, we will be in for another 5 years of mediocrity.

They are only considered “cronies” if he doesn’t win. Had he won, he’d be considered a “someone with deep connections across a broad network of skilled coaches”.

No different than our friend Biff Poggi in Charlotte. He loses, and all his sleeveless shirt nonsense looks ridiculous (and is). He wins? He’s an “eccentric trend setter” and then you’ve got other programs hiring rich guys with no sleeves.

[DenverOfTheEast]

I'll be behind any one Gillin hires. Most of his hires have been good ones and he and staff have a lot more inside knowledge than we will ever have.

There is more sports knowledge on this board than in that athletic department, they just have power and access to agents and search firms, you guys would have that access if you had DG's title.

So Appetizer(tiger) and all that liked the above post don't sell your self short.

DG hired a search firm to hire Kerns, hell he coulda got on a 3 way with McMahon(Kerns bff) and Kerns had him hired in 10 mins.

It aint that hard fellas.

[AppinVA]

The more I read the WVU boards the less I would want Brown at all.

Stating thay he couldn't put together a solid staff, would only hire his own cronies, wouldn't change strategies to make things work, couldn't recruit, the list goes on and on.

I guess we will just see. If DG hires him I will always put my support to App State and I hope he is able to change his ways and build a program. If not, we will be in for another 5 years of mediocrity.

They are only considered “cronies” if he doesn’t win. Had he won, he’d be considered a “someone with deep connections across a broad network of skilled coaches”.

No different than our friend Biff Poggi in Charlotte. He loses, and all his sleeveless shirt nonsense looks ridiculous (and is). He wins? He’s an “eccentric trend setter” and then you’ve got other programs hiring rich guys with no sleeves.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NY1UbVXzhZE

Think classy, you’ll be classy.

[EastHallApp]

I'll be behind any one Gillin hires. Most of his hires have been good ones and he and staff have a lot more inside knowledge than we will ever have.

Understood. But, for those who are hoping for Neal Brown, what excites you about him? I'm asking an honest question. Looking for insight.

I wouldn't say I'm hoping for him exactly, but I think he'd be a solid hire. My short answer would be that he has a demonstrated track record of turning around a struggling program and winning big and consistently in the Sun Belt. The two top-line things we need our next coach to do.

I also remember the battles we had with his Troy teams, and they were a tough bunch.

[EastHallApp]

The more I read the WVU boards the less I would want Brown at all.

Stating thay he couldn't put together a solid staff, would only hire his own cronies, wouldn't change strategies to make things work, couldn't recruit, the list goes on and on.

I guess we will just see. If DG hires him I will always put my support to App State and I hope he is able to change his ways and build a program. If not, we will be in for another 5 years of mediocrity.

I would challenge you to go to any message board of a team that just fired their coach and find fans who are saying lots of good things about him.

Of course, you could say "that's why we shouldn't hire a coach who got fired," as some have. I just don't find that to be that big a deal. If he'd just gotten fired for going .500 at Troy, I'd feel differently.

[WASU 93]

Serious question: What is it that excites you about Neal Brown?

Troy was our equal in a much weaker Sun Belt in 2016-2018 and he never had a breakout year at West Virginia. Even in his best season, 9 wins, they were blown out by the two ranked teams they played. 37-35 at WVU.

He knows how to run a program and Doug needs a safe pick here. Too much margin for error with an Assistant that’s never done it before. His tenure at a P5 wasn’t great but he has experience with working with limited resources versus Woods at SMU.

He wasn’t a viable candidate but he was mentioned here but Browns record as a P5 coach is better than Satt’s, whom some would take back in a heartbeat.

That's a fair response. But, that still doesn't answer the question. What excites you (whoever cares to answer) about Neal Brown?

If we are a premier G5 program (we are), shouldn't excitement be a part of the hire? Sounds like we are filling a role for a CPA at this point.

[AppState89]

The more I read the WVU boards the less I would want Brown at all.

Stating thay he couldn't put together a solid staff, would only hire his own cronies, wouldn't change strategies to make things work, couldn't recruit, the list goes on and on.

I guess we will just see. If DG hires him I will always put my support to App State and I hope he is able to change his ways and build a program. If not, we will be in for another 5 years of mediocrity.

I would challenge you to go to any message board of a team that just fired their coach and find fans who are saying lots of good things about him.

Of course, you could say "that's why we shouldn't hire a coach who got fired," as some have. I just don't find that to be that big a deal. If he'd just gotten fired for going .500 at Troy, I'd feel differently.

I agree. Has anyone see the App State football "Today I Give My All Group" and others? You would think Clark is horrible.

[diehardapp18]

The case for Brown is an easy one. He’s won everything there is to win in this conference and got a win in Death Valley. While Troy certainly has a history of success I still think just about anyone would agree we are a better situation than Troy. If he can win there, surely he can do it here. He’s also still 44, maybe there’s a world where he comes here and starts winning and gets comfortable once he’s seen how things can go when taking a “bigger” job. Also by all accounts he ran one of the cleanest programs in the nation at WVU.

My concerns are similar to the ones I had when we kicked around the idea of bringing Satterfield back. This is a different sport than it was when he was at Troy. Can he rebuild a roster through the portal? Can he deal with significant roster turnover and still be a yearly winner? We haven’t seen that yet. WVU is a tough job, and maybe that’s why it didn’t work out for him. But maybe he’s just not a good fit for the new era of the game.

This hire would get a solid B from me. It might feel a bit boring when announced because it’s so fun to be entranced with what else could be out there, but I wouldn’t blame Gillin at all if this is the route we go.

[NattyBumppo'sRevenge]

There’s never a guarantee with any new hire, but think whatever option we end up will be an improvement

[NewApp]

Jerry “ the cast off “ Moore. It was his third job and he was around .500 or worse as I recall, when we hired him.

And only had one losing season in his two decades at App/

[AppSt94]

Serious question: What is it that excites you about Neal Brown?

Troy was our equal in a much weaker Sun Belt in 2016-2018 and he never had a breakout year at West Virginia. Even in his best season, 9 wins, they were blown out by the two ranked teams they played. 37-35 at WVU.

He knows how to run a program and Doug needs a safe pick here. Too much margin for error with an Assistant that’s never done it before. His tenure at a P5 wasn’t great but he has experience with working with limited resources versus Woods at SMU.

He wasn’t a viable candidate but he was mentioned here but Browns record as a P5 coach is better than Satt’s, whom some would take back in a heartbeat.

That's a fair response. But, that still doesn't answer the question. What excites you (whoever cares to answer) about Neal Brown?

If we are a premier G5 program (we are), shouldn't excitement be a part of the hire? Sounds like we are filling a role for a CPA at this point.

Of the five folks that we intially spoke with, none of them, including Brown were guys that generated excitement. I feel better about Brown than the other four. There were red flags for all of them but Brown is the safest guy for me. He is the “been there, done that, got the t-shirt” guy which creates the best chance for stability.

Who would be the names that you feel would generate excitement?

[AppYosef!]

Neal Brown seems to be the name all the buzz is about right now and maybe the selection has already been finalized other than ink on paper. I can get behind Brown if we go the route of someone with head coaching experience. But, if we are looking more for an up and coming Coordinator at a successful program, then maybe we should consider either DJ Smith (Co-Defensive Coordinator at Mizzou & a former App State & NFL player) or Casey Woods (Offensive Coordinator & Chief of Staff at SMU and son of former ASU coach Sparky Woods). Both names have been mentioned in various places. It may be difficult to lure either of these Coordinators though especially with their current teams still playing.

[AtlAppMan]

How many successful G5 coaches have moved up to Px level and been ultra successful in recent times?

Satterfield
Brown
Napier
Malzahn
Chris Petersen
DeBoer