What Now For WVU Football?
MORGANTOWN, WV—- Let’s face it, the loss to rival Pitt (3-0) in the Backyard Brawl was disastrous in many ways. The Mountaineers (1-2), as predicted, have big problems on the defensive side of the ball. No sense calling for Neal Brown to be fired after only three games, because it won’t happen. No sense calling for defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley to be fired because that would be unlikely at this point of the season. No one could really step in right now to take his place. ShaDon Brown could possibly step in but that is also unlikely.
With a poor defense, it’s hard right now to predict WVU winning eight or nine games to recover from the poor start to the season. Everything would have to be near perfect to accomplish having a 9-3 or even a 10-2 regular season. If WVU can recover and win eight or even nine games, Brown won’t be fired and deserves to stay as head coach. But 6-6 or 5-7, he will no doubt be leaving town. It may be impossible to win the Big 12 now but who knows. Big 12 play starts this Saturday with the Kansas Jayhawks coming to Morgantown. This game will no doubt tell us how the remainder of the season will go.
I for one am rooting for this team. I’m rooting for the coaches. I’m rooting specifically for Neal Brown because he is a great ambassador for West Virginia and WVU. He is a family man and a great guy. I want to see these players rebound and have the season we were all hoping for just a few weeks back. There is still time to turn this around.
If we get to the end of the season and we end up at 6-6 or 5-7 with this team, I will join the rest of you in saying goodbye Neal Brown.
The Kansas game will start at noon on ESPN2.