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Big 12 Media Days: West Virginia 'Upset' About Being Picked Last; 'We Won't Finish There'

Mountaineers coach Neal Brown said his vacation was mentally cut short when the poll came out last week, and he immediately went home and addressed it with his team.

John E. Hoover

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ARLINGTON, TX — Neal Brown was on a beach last week when his phone chirped.

“Made the mistake of looking at it,” he said.

The text was from his media relations director, Mike Montoro, a missive giving him some news.

West Virginia had been picked to finish last in the Big 12 Conference race — 14th out of 14 teams — despite the addition of three Group of 5 members and one independent.

“Upset about the media poll,” the Mountaineers head coach said in his opening statement Thursday at Big 12 Media Days. “Definitely do not agree with that.”

WVU finished 5-7 last season, one of just two Big 12 schools with a losing record in the regular season. The Mountaineers were 3-6 in Big 12 play.

Still, Brown said he likes his team to finish — well, not last.

“This is why I disagree,” he offered. “First of all, belief in our staff, belief in our players. We beat Oklahoma. ... And we have 132 starts on the offensive line. We've got four freshmen All-Americans.

“And defensively, we're gonna be one of the most improved teams in the league if not the country. And we've added talent and experience in the secondary through the transfer portal.”

Brown expressed that despite more time on the beach, his vacation ended when his phone beeped. He said he immediately flipped back to football mode.

And while most coaches slough off preseason predictions one way or the other, he said he immediately addressed it with the team when he got back to Morgantown.

“I think we’re past, in this day and age of media information, of being able to ignore anything,” Brown said. “You confront it.”

In addition to returning players and transfers, Brown said the coaching staff has honed in on some specific areas that need to be better in 2023, such as offensive efficiency, more explosive plays and fewer errors on offense, and limiting big plays and creating takeaways on defense.

“We have a clear vision what we have to improve on,” he said.

"The good thing, the positive, is that the media has not been, as far as predicting the Big 12, has not been successful in recent years, so I think that bodes well for us.

"Looking forward to proving everybody wrong on that front. We won't finish there."

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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