WVU HC Neal Brown on State of College Sports: ‘You Either Eat or Get Eaten’

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – You either eat or get eaten.” That’s how WVU head coach Neal Brown summarized his overall thoughts on the state of college sports.

Just days after professing his confidence in Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark and saying he trusted the conference and West Virginia are now in a position of power, Brown was once again asked about the latest developments in conference realignment.

“I’ve been really impressed with Commissioner Yormark since he took over. I think he’s been aggressive,” said Brown. “Commissioner Yormark’s had a plan since the beginning. And now, we’re sitting at 16 teams, and I think that for the last several months we’ve been in a position of power.”

Brown also said he supports the additions of Arizona, Arizona State and Utah joining the conference before going on a rant about the change in college athletics.

“Different doesn’t mean bad. I think sometimes we get used to things. We get used to watching TV a certain way, we get used to certain rules within college athletics, we get used to certain conferences and I think in general people don’t like change. But just because things are different doesn’t mean they’re necessarily worse.” He then continued on by describing the uniqueness of the fan experience in college sports compared to the professional ranks.

But Brown, just like most people at this point, knows this is all just about one thing – money. He had some advice for those refusing to embrace the new landscape of college sports.

“That’s the long answer, the short answer is we got here because of money,” Brown said. “That’s what it is. We can bitch and complain about the money piece, but the last I checked, most things are like that. It’s a business. The NFL is making most of their decisions around the bottom line too.”

WVU HC Neal Brown offers sound advice to those refusing to embrace the new landscape of college sports.

“The short answer is we got here because of money. We can bitch and complain about the money piece, but the last I checked, most things are like that. It’s a business. The… https://t.co/ILK1DMuGge

— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) August 6, 2023

Brown closed with the perfect summary. “You either eat or you get eaten. At least right now, from a West Virginia standpoint, we’re in the group that’s eating.”