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Neal Brown

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For those of a similar name, see Neil Brown. For the Wisconsin legislator, see Neal Brown (Wisconsin politician).
Neal Brown
Brown during a press conference
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamWest Virginia
ConferenceBig 12
Record5–7
Biographical details
Born (1980-03-11) March 11, 1980 (age 44)
Danville, Kentucky
Alma materUMass
Playing career
1998–2000Kentucky
2001–2002UMass
Position(s)Wide receiver
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2003UMass (TE/AOL)
2004Sacred Heart (QB/WR)
2005Delaware (WR)
2006–2007Troy (IWR)
2008–2009Troy (OC/QB)
2010–2012Texas Tech (OC/QB)
2013–2014Kentucky (OC/QB)
2015–2018Troy
2019–presentWest Virginia
Head coaching record
Overall40–23
Bowls3–0
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Sun Belt (2017)
Sun Belt East Division (2018)
Awards
Sun Belt Coach of the Year (2017)

Neal Harmon Brown (born March 11, 1980) is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at West Virginia University.[1] Brown was previously the head coach at Troy University from 2015–2018. Brown has also previously served as the offensive coordinator at Troy (2008–2009) and Texas Tech University (2010–2012) and the University of Kentucky (2013–2014).

Early years

Brown attended Boyle County High School in Danville, Kentucky, where he was an all-state wide receiver, baseball, and basketball player.

He played football at the University of Kentucky under head coach Hal Mumme and his assistants, Mike Leach and Tony Franklin, before transferring to the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Coaching career

Early coaching career

Brown started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at UMass. Before joining Larry Blakeney's staff at Troy to work under Tony Franklin, he spent one-year assistant coaching stints at UMass, Sacred Heart, and Delaware. Following Franklin's departure to Auburn at the end of the 2007 regular season, Brown was promoted to offensive coordinator at Troy. When he was hired, he became the youngest coordinator in all FBS football.

Texas Tech

On January 12, 2010, Brown was announced as the offensive coordinator at Texas Tech under new Red Raiders head coach Tommy Tuberville. During the 2010 football season, the Red Raider offense performed well. During his tenure at Texas Tech, Brown perfected his NASCAR spread offense. The offense created by Brown focused on players running to the line immediately after the play and quickly snapping the ball before the defense could get set. The offense requires speed at every position to be run the way Brown envisions it. The focus of the offense was to snap the ball 8 seconds after the previous play. The 2010 Red Raiders ranked 15th in the country in total offense, 6th in passing offense, and 72nd in rushing offense.[2]

For his coaching performance during the 2011 41–38 upset victory over the then-ranked #3 Oklahoma Sooners, he was recognized by Rivals.com as National Coordinator of the Week.[3]

Brown was considered for the head coaching job at his alma mater, UMass, following the 2011 season.[4] Brown was also considered for the school's head coaching job when it opened following the 2008 season.

Kentucky

On December 9, 2012 it was reported after several weeks of speculation that Brown would return to his home state to coach the offense at Kentucky under new coach Mark Stoops.

Troy

Troy announced Brown's hire on Sunday, November 30, 2014.[5] In 2015, Brown's Trojans posted a 4–8 record.[6] Troy was ranked for the first time in the AP top 25 on November 13, 2016, they became the first team from the Sun Belt Conference to be ranked in the Top 25 and finished the year with a record of 10–3.[7] This was Troy's first 10 win season since joining FBS in 2001. Troy capped of the 2016 season by winning the Dollar General Bowl in Mobile, Alabama.

In Brown's third season at the helm in 2017, he led Troy to a 3–1 start to begin the season. In the fifth game of the season on September 30, Troy faced #25-ranked LSU. With Troy leading in the third quarter by a score of 24–7, LSU began to mount a comeback in the fourth quarter by scoring 14 unanswered points and trailing just 24–21 with less than 30 seconds left in the game. LSU began to move the ball down-field before having only 8 seconds left on the clock. The very next play became an interception for Troy, which sealed the upset victory. The win over LSU snapped the Tigers' 46-game non-conference home winning streak, which was the longest such streak in the country at the time. The Trojans became Sun Belt co-champions after defeating Arkansas State in a thriller, 32–25. Troy's 10–2 overall record is the programs best regular season finish since joining the FBS in 2001.

West Virginia

Brown was announced as the 35th head football coach for West Virginia University on January 5, 2019.[8]

Personal life

Brown is a member of the Boyle County Baseball and Football Hall of Fame. He is married to Brooke Brown (née Stewart), and the couple have two daughters, Adalyn and Anslee, and a son, Dax.

He is also a committed Christian and has worked with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) throughout his career.

During a speech at the 2016 FCA Athletes of the year awards banquet, Brown was quoted saying, “Your life is your testimony. Who you are, what you’re about, how you live is your testimony.” Additionally quoted from the same speech, “Your principles must stay the same in the high times and low times,” he said. “Consistency creates trust.”

Head coaching record

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs
Troy Trojans (Sun Belt Conference) (2015–2018)
2015 Troy 4–8 3–5 T–5th
2016 Troy 10–3 6–2 T–3rd W Dollar General
2017 Troy 11–2 7–1 T–1st W New Orleans
2018 Troy 10–3 7–1 T–1st (East) W Dollar General
Troy: 35–16 23–9
West Virginia Mountaineers (Big 12 Conference) (2019–present)
2019 West Virginia 5–7 3–6 T–7th
West Virginia: 5–7 3–6
Total: 40–23
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

References

  1. ^ Schlabach, Mark (January 4, 2019). "Mountaineers hire Neal Brown to be new coach". ESPN. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  2. ^ http://espn.go.com/college-football/statistics/team/_/stat/total
  3. ^ Huguenin, Mike (October 23, 2011). "Doege was key in Raiders' upset victory". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  4. ^ http://www.masslive.com/umassfootball/index.ssf/2011/12/umass_ad_john_mccutcheon_meets.html
  5. ^ Thamel, Pete. "Troy hires Kentucky's Neal Brown to be next football head coach".
  6. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 3, 2016. Retrieved December 4, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ "Troy becomes first Sun Belt team ever in AP Top 25". November 13, 2016.
  8. ^ "2018 WVU Football Guide". Retrieved January 17, 2019.
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