Neal Brown Says Firing was 'Probably Best for Both Parties'

The former WVU head coach speaks publicly for the first time since his firing.

West Virginia University head coach Neal Brown. / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

It's been a handful of days since West Virginia Director of Athletics Wren Baker made the decision to part ways with head football coach Neal Brown. On Tuesday, he explained his reason for making the coaching change.

This morning, Brown was able to give his side of the story during an interview with Hoppy Kercheval on MetroNews' Talkline.

“Really grateful for our time here. Thankful to the people of West Virginia for welcoming us six years ago. The tenure here felt like a short amount of time, but our kids have grown up here. We’ve made lifetime friends. I’m quick to note nobody died. This isn’t a funeral. It’s part of the profession. It’s a lot harder on the kids than probably me, but we’ll get through it. A lot of families are dealing with a lot worse things.”

“No, I don’t think so," Brown stated when asked if he was surprised by the move. "We played so poorly on Saturday afternoon, and I think there’s reasons behind that. No reason to get into it now, but we just played poorly. And I’ll say this, I love Wren Baker. And I know that’s a weird thing to say fresh off getting fired, but we have a great relationship. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him as a person and as an administrator. That’s a friendship that will go beyond West Virginia. I’m not bitter. And we had open dialogue throughout. There was a path forward. There’s some things we got to get fixed. There was a path forward, but we played so poorly on Saturday the negativity just kind of steamrolled. I don’t think this is what Wren wanted to do, but it got to a point where it’s probably best for both parties.”

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