Issues can change quickly on the earth of big-time school sports activities.
It wasn’t even 10 months in the past that West Virginia gave head soccer coach Neal Brown a contract extension via the 2027 season.
On Sunday, West Virginia fired Brown after a 6-6 regular season that ended with an unpleasant 52-15 loss at Texas Tech on Saturday.
The Mountaineers are bowl-eligible and can seemingly play a postseason sport, however they’ve but to announce an interim coach for that sport.
Sunday’s resolution ends a principally mediocre six-year tenure by Brown, the place the staff went 37-35 (and simply 13-20 on the highway, with 11 of these losses coming by 17 factors or extra) and gained greater than six video games in a season only one time. That was through the 2023 season when West Virginia gained 9 video games, together with the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. That season was not solely sufficient for Brown to maintain his job for at the very least yet another yr when he was already seemingly on the recent seat, nevertheless it was sufficient to get one other yr added to his deal.
The regression that occurred this season was merely an excessive amount of for West Virginia to miss.
It was a reasonably large failure throughout the board, as nicely. West Virginia’s offense took a giant step backward regardless of the return of dual-threat quarterback Garrett Greene, whereas the protection was one of many worst within the nation. It was particularly unhealthy in opposition to the go.
Now, the query turns into the place West Virginia goes subsequent.
Jason Candle (Toledo) and Tim Albin (Ohio) are two up-and-coming coaches within the MAC who’ve produced robust ends in rebuilding packages, whereas Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki figures to be a prime candidate for head-coaching jobs, given what he has carried out in turning round Penn State’s offense this season.
