Neal Brown Details Mindset While at WVU, How He Views Tenure

West Virginia’s Neal Brown era is over and done with. Brown is now back in coaching at North Texas and WVU is looking to take a big step towards returning to national contention in 2026 after a rough first season with Rich Rodriguez back at the helm.

But with neither side able to go back in time and fix the past, Brown did offer some thoughts about why his tenure as leader of the Mountaineers didn’t work out like many hoped it would when he arrived.

“It wasn’t that we necessarily failed. We were okay. We just never got over the hump,” Brown told Mike Craven of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football.

He then opened up about his mentality, most notably early on, in his six-year run in Morgantown.

“At the start of my tenure, I treated the West Virginia job just like Troy. And what I mean by that is, I was really involved in everything. There are two issues with that. One, the job is bigger so you have more responsibility. Two, my life was evolving and my kids were getting older and that was my first priority. And so, as a father, I couldn’t do all those things.”

West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Neal Brown calls a timeout during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, in Morgantown, W.Va. (WVSN photo by William Wotring)

After success at Troy, which included three-straight 10 plus-win seasons and a staple victory over LSU, WVU hired Brown to be the program’s 35 the head coach in 2019.

Unfortunately for Brown, he was never able to achieve anything close to that with West Virginia. The Mountaineers went 37-35 in six seasons under Brown with only three bowl game appearances. The high point of Brown’s tenure was a nine-win 2023 season that finished with a victory in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl over North Carolina.

Following a year on the Texas staff as an assistant to Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian, Brown accepted an offer from the Mean Green to return to the sidelines in December.

West Virginia head coach Neal Brown watches his team play against Cincinnati on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (WVSN photo by Cody Nespor)

In the same interview, Brown also explained what he learned during his year away from the pressure of being the man in charge and why he felt North Texas was the right fit.

“It really helped me take a breath,” Brown said about the 2025 season. “Now, for this job, I’m ready to go and I have a new perspective. I’m seeing it through the players’ eyes. I’m seeing it through the assistant’s eyes. And maybe I didn’t at the end of my tenure at West Virginia.”

“I really felt like the American Conference is where my landing spot was going to be,” said Brown. “And so, you start looking at places and doing research. As the season progressed, (North Texas) was having the best season in school history so you start paying more attention.”

West Virginia head Coach Neal Brown fist bumps offensive lineman Doug Nester at Milan Puskar Stadium. (WVSN photo by Kelsie LeRose)

Before he ended up at North Texas, WV Sports Now heard through multiple sources close to Brown that he would only take a Group of 5 job if he felt the situation was perfect, both in location and program.

Brown turned down a couple head coach offers from Group of 5 level programs in the offseason of his dismal by WVU and was later in rumors to be the offensive coordinator at Ohio State and Virginia Tech, although WV Sports Now can confirm through a source the Virginia Tech rumors were wildly exaggerated.

Find more coverage of Neal Brown at WV Sports Now.