West Virginia head coach Neal Brown was fired on Sunday, one yr after a breakthrough 2023 season wherein he led the Mountaineers from final place within the preseason Big 12 ballot to a 9-4 end. Brown, who gained nationwide notoriety due to a profitable run at Troy, misplaced 4 of his final seven video games, all by double-digits, with three of these defeats coming in Morgantown. He went 37-35 in six seasons and bought West Virginia bowl eligible this yr, however college brass was greater than able to make a change.
Brown had change into often known as one of many extra considerate voices amongst FBS head coaches, however the sense you usually bought from former West Virginia gamers was that he wasn’t an awesome match with this system’s DNA. He was very totally different from predecessor Dana Holgorsen, a reality which appealed to directors on the time of the rent, however to some extent the sting to Holgorsen’s strategy extra carefully matched the flavour of this system, very similar to Rich Rodriguez did when this system was actually rolling.
Holgorsen and Rodriguez ran totally different modern offenses, however their management kinds match the vibe round Morgantown on a raucous Saturday. West Virginia had misplaced a few of that vitality in recent times. Mountaineer soccer has lengthy nurtured a rugged underdog mentality, and pretty or unfairly, people across the program didn’t suppose they nonetheless had that beneath Brown. Late this season, they had been introduced with their alternative to maneuver on from him.
Now, the query is who can carry that again to WVU within the Big 12? This program has at all times thrived on native expertise blended in with recruits from Florida, New Jersey, the DMV space and Ohio. This search may get very fascinating due to a few West Virginians who determine to get consideration and will have robust assist from some key people.
The most intriguing — and maybe most polarizing — title on this search is Rich Rodriguez, presently the pinnacle coach at Jacksonville State. Rodriguez is a proud son of West Virginia who performed defensive again at WVU and later turned the Mountaineers right into a contender with top-of-the-line offenses in school soccer as head coach from 2001 to ’07. He crushed it on the booster circuit, and in his final three seasons in Morgantown, the Mountaineers posted three top-10 finishes and went 32-5.
His departure for Michigan sparked a nasty feud that spiraled right into a messy authorized battle, however massive WVU booster Ken Kendrick has remained in his nook. Quite a lot of the cash folks there nonetheless love the man. It additionally doesn’t damage that the largest voice in sports activities media proper now, former West Virginia and Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee, is a giant believer in Rich Rod and is aware of how he runs issues, having performed for him for 3 years.
Rodriguez has at all times been an excellent offensive coach, and he has at all times proudly known as his applications hard-edged. At a time when some coaches could also be reassessing how demanding they are often with their gamers, Rodriguez has not anxious about guys leaping into the portal as a result of issues had been getting powerful. Unsurprisingly, the 61-year-old has carried out an outstanding job at Jacksonville State, going 26-10 and 18-3 in league play. Jacksonville State will play for the Conference USA title at house in opposition to Western Kentucky on Friday. The Gamecocks lead the nation in dashing performs of 10-plus yards with 102 and are eighth within the nation in purple zone landing proportion (75.6).
Three different profitable Group of 5 head coaches taking part in in convention title video games this week are anticipated to get consideration for this job.
UNLV’s Barry Odom has carried out a tremendous job turning across the Rebels in two years. He has made shrewd hires, giving alternatives to 2 younger coordinators in OC Brennan Marion and DC Mike Scherer, and each have produced excellent leads to Vegas. Odom is 19-7 general at a spot that hadn’t received greater than eight video games in a season in 40 years, and the 10-2 Rebels are taking part in for the Mountain West title Friday night time. His groups have been pressured to show to backup QBs for lengthy stretches of each seasons and haven’t missed a beat. Odom, 48, went 25-25 at Missouri, his alma mater, and clearly has realized quite a bit since then. The Oklahoma native additionally is aware of the Big 12 footprint nicely.
Army coach Jeff Monken has carried out a outstanding job turning across the soccer program at West Point. Army had one successful season from 1997 till Monken’s hiring from Georgia Southern in 2014, a 7-6 marketing campaign in 2010. Since then, they’ve received no less than eight video games six instances and are 10-1 this yr. The 57-year-old can be an fascinating rent in that he has led Army to eye-popping success regardless of not with the ability to make the most of the switch portal or the title, picture and likeness market. Monken’s offense may very well be a serious ache within the butt for Big 12 defenses, however do the Mountaineers wish to go all-in on a coach making the transfer from service academy soccer? It’s a query many Power 4 athletic administrators most likely have contemplated in recent times solely to again away.
Ohio coach Tim Albin, one other Oklahoma native, spent over a decade because the Bobcats’ offensive coordinator earlier than taking up for Frank Solich. After a 3-9 debut season in 2021, Albin has issues rolling, posting consecutive 10-win seasons and main the Bobcats to a 9-3 common season and a spot within the MAC title recreation. His time recruiting in Ohio and all through the area would make some sense if West Virginia had been to widen its search.
One Power 4 coordinator to keep watch over is Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki. It’s been a robust first season for Kotelnicki in Happy Valley. Penn State leads the Big Ten in yards per play at 6.80 and can play for a Big Ten title this weekend. It marks the third yr in a row Kotelnicki’s offense has led its convention in yards per play. The Nittany Lions have gone from No. 54 within the FBS in third-down offense to No. 14.
At Kansas, Kotelnicki’s offenses led the Big 12 in yards per play in 2022 and ’23, giving the Mountaineers matches. The Jayhawks beat West Virginia 55-42 two years in the past, and this season the Nittany Lions got here to Morgantown and averaged 7.62 yards per play (essentially the most anybody had in opposition to WVU this season) in a 34-12 Week 1 romp. The 43-year-old from Minnesota has an easy-going, affable character that most likely would play very nicely round Morgantown. Expect him to get an in depth look.
Another Penn State assistant who is likely to be in play is Nittany Lions assistant head coach/co-OC Ja’Juan Seider. A former West Virginia quarterback who bought his begin in school teaching at WVU earlier than returning there because the operating backs coach on Dana Holgorsen’s workers for 4 seasons, Seider is a well-regarded coach with deep ties round Florida, which has incessantly been a key recruiting space for this system. Players actually reply to him, and Seider is aware of from all his time in Morgantown what actually works for the Mountaineers. He additionally has some former gamers and cash folks pushing for him to get within the combine.
The greatest potential wild card within the search may very well be Jimbo Fisher. He was fired a few yr in the past from Texas A&M, taking house a buyout north of $75 million. Like Rodriguez, Fisher is a local son with deep ties within the state. He grew up about an hour from Morgantown. He has at all times had a robust popularity as a recruiter and led Florida State to a BCS nationwide championship earlier than this system actually backslid in his ultimate years in Tallahassee. He had one wonderful season at Texas A&M, going 9-1 in 2020, however fizzled out from there. West Virginia doesn’t have wherever near the sources of Fisher’s final two stops, however relying on how hungry he’s at this level, he is likely to be intriguing for the Mountaineers to no less than test in on.
(Photo of Rich Rodriguez: Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)
