What Has Neal Brown So Fired Up About West Virginia in 2024?

Neal Brown is fired up. In fact, WVU’s head coach admitted to being more fired up at the start of fall camp this year than any other year since he’s been in Morgantown.

“I’ll start with this, I’m fired up about this group. So this is year 22 for me as a coach, year 10 as a head coach, and probably as excited as I’ve been,” said Brown while kicking off fall camp on Wednesday.

“I really feel comfortable with our staff, and it’s layered. Everybody can coach, which I think is a good rule. I think that’ll help us especially in fall camp, and within our development guys once we get into season. Our support areas are really strong right now, academic strength conditioning, nutrition, sports psych, athletic training, our medical group. I feel like they were really strong in those support areas. I really liked the leadership of this team. If you look at the guys that have been here and grown through our culture, really pleased where that’s at,” he added.

WVU HC Neal Brown: “Back at it. Really fired up about this group. I’m as fired up as I’ve been.”

— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) July 31, 2024

It makes sense for Brown to be fired up, too. In addition to bringing back most of his key contributors from 2023, WVU was able to add some quality transfers and the new College Football Playoff format offers easier access and a defined path to win a championship.

“So 12 are getting in and you’re probably looking anywhere from 20 to 25 that are probably alive for those spots heading into the middle of November, which has never been the case,” said Brown while appearing on “the Oklahoma Breakdown” podcast with hosts Gabe Ikard and Teddy Lehman.

Brown feels more playoff teams will lead to more excitement towards the end of the season, but he also knows it offers easier access to the Mountaineers.

Neal Brown Explains What New College Football Playoff Format Means for West Virginia

“And it gives access. We have two guaranteed spots in the Big 12, and depending on how the league goes, we could have three or upwards of four that are getting in the playoff. And so it definitely adds another dimension. But I think that’ something that’s not getting talked about is just access. It gives real accessibility to that playoff,” explained Brown about his mindset with this playoff format.

Brown also detailed why he truly believes the new rules of the College Football Playoff create a better chance for the West Virginia Mountaineers to compete for a national championship.

“And in the playoffs, it’s no different than March Madness, no different than college baseball where we see teams go on runs at the end of the year. Once you’re in the tournament, anything can happen. Because you don’t have to be the best team overall, you just got to be better that night.”

With all of that said, Neal Brown went from the hot seat to earning a contract extensionthanks to a successful 2023 season, but how much job security does he actually have now?

While Brown is no longer at the top of the odds for the coach most likely to be fired first, his name still appears on the list. The betting odds for Brown as the first to be let go currently stand at 14/1, according to BetOnline.

For a related story, Garrett Greene has only one goal in mind for the 2024 season.