Neal Brown Aims to Connect with WVU’s Fanbase Through Social Media

Like with most professions, correctly utilizing social media has become a necessity for college football coaches. West Virginia head coach Neal Brown is one of the best coaches in the country in that regard.

According to SkullSParks, a digital design branding company that partners with college athletics programs, Brown had the seventh-most interactions on his Twitter during the month of July of any Division-I head coach.

College football head coaches generating the most interactions on their Twitter accounts in July 2020. pic.twitter.com/JCg3PwQeEu

— SkullSparks (@SkullSparks) August 25, 2020

Brown ranked seventh with 19,440 engagements on his Twitter account @NealBrown_WVU.

With just over 75,000 followers, Brown’s Twitter account is actually one of the smallest in the top-10. Brown’s follower count is comparable to those of Oregon’s Mario Cristobol (74K) and Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi (75K), but is dwarfed by those like Penn State’s James Franklin (249K) and Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly (188K). Brown ranked so high, in part, because he tweeted so much. Brown’s 44 tweets in July trailed just Franklin (86) and Ole Miss’s Lane Kiffin (62) inside the top-10.

On Saturday, Brown said he sees social media as a way he can connect with WVU’s fanbase, even during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think it’s good to give our fanbase some insight about what goes on,” Brown said. “We’re in unique times, not allowed to have outside people at practices, media can’t come and watch like they normally would and so just trying to give the fanbase some behind-the-scenes look at how we’re operating.”

Last week WVU Football released a five-part video series of a day in the life of Brown on its social media channels. Titled “The Reel Neal” Brown said the series came about because WVU’s director of creative media, Austin Gaines, followed him around with a camera all day.

The series proved popular, with the first episode garnering over 36,000 views on Twitter at the time of writing.

In this multi-part series, see what it's like to be the Mountaineers' Head Coach.#TrustTheClimb pic.twitter.com/3ZgisUl9j7

— WVU Football (@WVUfootball) August 24, 2020