Neal Brown Managed to Get WVU Football Discussed on ESPN’s ‘Around the Horn’

To truly show how viral what Neal Brown said about WVU fans has become, one of ESPN’s longest running shows discussed it. “WVU Football” was on the Around the Horn ticker on Wednesday, but not for any reason any West Virginia fan can be proud of.

And when the two remaining panelists Mina Kimes and Jen Lada were faced with talking about Brown’s comments, they didn’t hold back.

“This is not the play. You do not tell a fanbase that was expecting your team to win the Big 12 and be in the College Football Playoff that they should just be happy that they’re having fun out there. It’s a really bad look,” said Lada.

Neal Brown getting crushed on Around the Horn today.

I certainly am gonna have a great time tailgating Saturday in Morgantown. Win or lose, don’t matter to me but Morgantown always wins. pic.twitter.com/ikO8QUR5nH

— C Wade 3 (@cgatorwade) October 16, 2024

Kimes then agreed and jumped into bring up how rough Brown’s overall tenure has been and argue the fans expectations were maybe too high entering the season.

Host Tony Reali closed the conversation by shouting that Amos Zereoué (random Zereoué shoutout), Major Harris and Pat White are not walking through the door to save the Mountaineers.

You know it’s a big story if a show like Around the Horn is still talking about days after the fact….

The Neal Brown backstory….

For those somehow unaware what started all of this, Brown responded to a question asked by WV Sports Now’s Mike Asti for WVU fans after the team squandered another big game. Brown then offered a bizarre answer that angered Mountaineer Nation even more.

Below is what Brown said in its entirety. Based on what’s on all of the graphics and social media posts, it’s possible you haven’t seen the entire thing.

Brown was asked if he had a message to fans to convince them to show up after another disappointment.

“I get that they want to win. But what I would say is – did they have a good time? Did they enjoy it? It was a pretty good atmosphere. I’m assuming they had a pretty good time tailgating, so if they’re in the deal for enjoyment then I would come back. I looked at the weather and it’s going to be nice again,” said Brown.

He then continued. “I get they’re frustrated that we didn’t win. We’ve played a tough schedule. Everybody that’s beat us hasn’t lost. But that’s no excuse, that’s just the truth and the games in our league are going to come down to the fourth quarter and I don’t think this one on Saturday is going to be any different. We need them to help us. I do get their frustration.”

For a related story, WV Sports Now’s Mike Asti explained how Neal Brown should’ve handled the question.