-
Chris Low, ESPN Senior Writer
West Virginia has hired football coach Neal Brown after six seasons, it was announced Sunday.
Brown’s firing comes on the heels of a 52-15 blowout loss to Texas Tech on Saturday, leaving the Mountaineers 6-6 on the season. He received an extension after winning nine games last season, and he went 37-35 during his tenure in Morgantown.
He will be owed $9.775 million from WVU for the final three years of his contract, a source told ESPN.
“Coach Brown is a great person, and he has served as a tremendous ambassador for West Virginia University,” athletic director Wren Baker said in a statement. “He led our storied program with class and integrity and always put in the hard work necessary to allow for success.”
West Virginia’s offensive production suffered significantly despite returning dual-threat quarterback Garrett Greene and running backs Jahiem White and C.J. Donaldson. The defense was one of the worst nationally in passing yards allowed. West Virginia lost four times at home this season and was outscored in the second half in 10 of 12 games.
The Mountaineers were especially vulnerable on the road under Brown, going 13-20 with 11 losses by at least 17 points.
Brown, 44, came to West Virginia from Troy, where he won 10 or more games in each of his final three seasons there. He had two winning seasons in six seasons at WVU and went 25-28 in conference play.
Brown, who ended his playing career at UMass and started his coaching there, is expected to be a candidate for the UMass head coaching job.
One of the names that will be connected to the West Virginia job is former Texas A&M and Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher, who’s from Clarksburg, West Virginia.
“I am confident that with the strong alignment among the university leadership, our passionate supporters, our proud history and our willingness to invest, we will have an outstanding pool of candidates,” Baker said in a statement.
West Virginia hasn’t won a league title since 2011, which was the last of its six Big East championships over a nine-year period before moving to the Big 12 in 2012.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.