Neal Brown Ranked as Worst Big 12 Coach by Major Publication

It’s no secret Neal Brown is on a very hot seat at WVU. As he enters his fifth season as West Virginia’s head coach, the amount of people still trusting the climb has drastically decreased compared to at any other point in his tenure and he can’t afford to do anything but win from now on. He has a losing record of 22-25, only two bowl appearances and only one bowl victory.

Brown’s tenure has been among the worst periods for the Mountaineers since the 1970’s. None of that is opinion or piling on, it’s just the fact of the situation right now. The schedule has been a bit more difficult than some of his peers at similar programs, but it’s also not getting any easier in 2023.

Asti: Dissecting Good, Bad, Ugly of Neal Brown’s Tenure at West Virginia

But no matter who WVU plays and what challenges exist, Brown is coming off a disappointing 5-7 season in 2022. And no matter how much Wren Baker keeps saying he won’t put a win total bar on his evaluation of his football coach, Brown has to post a winning record in 2023 if he hopes to continue working on the program’s climb.

With all of that said, Athlon Sports ranked the Big 12’s head coaches as far as where they stand heading into the 2023 season. Not too surprising based on what was said above and where West Virginia is projected to finish, but Neal Brown is ranked dead last at 14.

To his credit, Brown has professed a confidence his team will surprise its critics.

1. Chris Klieman, Kansas State

2. Sonny Dykes, TCU

3. Lance Leipold, Kansas4.

4. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State

5. Matt Campbell, Iowa State

6. Steve Sarkisian, Texas 

Any Pressure on Neal Brown Pales in Comparison to What Steve Sarkisian Feels at Texas

7. Gus Malzahn, UCF

8. Dave Aranda, Baylor

9. Kalani Sitake, BYU

10. Joey McGuire, Texas Tech

11. Brent Venables, Oklahoma

12. Dana Holgorsen, Houston 

Holgorsen will face WVU for the first time since leaving Morgantown for Houston after the 2018 season this year. Much like Brown, his tenure with the Cougars, which was heavily hyped up initially, hasn’t delivered the results. Obviously, and unlike Brown, Holgorsen does have success at the Power 5 level on his resume. WVU fans are learning the Holgorsen era may have included some disappointing moments, was pretty successful overall and did offer contention more often than not. Unfortunately for Holgorsen, his Orange Bowl title with the Mountaineers from a decade ago doesn’t mean anything to Houston fans.

To have the “Holgorsen returns to West Virginia” moment, he will have to get things back on the right track in Houston.

13. Scott Satterfield, Cincinnati

14. Neal Brown, West Virginia 

Brown appeared with our Mike Asti on a show to discuss the past regrets, the offseason work, the upcoming season, recruiting and more.