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Neal Brown is pulling a Jordan Belfort. He isn’t leaving.
According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, West Virginia plans on keeping Brown for the 2023 season. Brown will be going into his 5th season after being hired away from Troy in 2019.
Brown struggled once again in Morgantown, failing to make a bowl game after a 5-7 campaign. This marks the 2nd time in 4 years that the Mountaineers will miss a bowl bid, and just the 3rd time since 2002. In 4 years, Brown has posted a 22-25 record, with his only winning season coming during the all-Big 12 schedule season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sources: West Virginia plans to keep coach Neal Brown for the 2023 season. The current administration made the decision after discussions with Wren Baker, the new athletic director hired today.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) November 30, 2022
West Virginia officially announced the hiring of North Texas athletic director Wren Baker to the same position on Wednesday morning. Following the news, it was speculated that Brown’s job would be safe, and later confirmed by Thamel and several close sources.
Prior to his arrival in Denton, Baker worked in other athletic departments, including having an extensive role at Missouri and Memphis. During his time at North Texas, the Mean Green would go to 5 different bowls and 2 Conference USA championship games.
Baker will take over for Shane Lyons, who was fired after 7 seasons earlier this month.
The Mountaineers did pull off upset wins this year over Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Baylor, all of whom were favored in their respective matchups.
Cole Thompson is a freelance writer for Saturday Football who has covered college football and the NFL for multiple websites. Thompson is currently based in Houston, Texas, and also can be heard daily on SportsMap National Radio's 'Just Sayin It' from 3am-6am.
