Neal Brown Sits at Bottom of Athlon Sports' Big 12 Coach Rankings

That chip on the shoulder continues to grow.

Athlon Sports becomes the latest publication to rank West Virginia head coach Neal Brown as the "worst" coach in the Big 12 Conference.

"Brown sits squarely on the hot seat going into the '23 season. Although his hire was considered one of the best after a 35-16 stint at Troy (2015-18) in the '18-19 carousel, he's just 22-25 in Morgantown. After guiding the team to back-to-back bowl games in 2020-21, Brown followed it up with a 5-7 mark last fall. The Mountaineers have not won more than six games or finished with a winning record in Big 12 play under Brown's watch." 

In Neal's defense, this isn't the same job he signed up for in 2019. There are several new challenges that he faces that put West Virginia at a disadvantage in some aspects. But at the end of the day, it's a results-oriented business. Neal understands that and has been honest about the team's shortcomings during his tenure.

Despite WVU being picked to finish in the same place as his spot in the Athlon's head coach rankings, he feels good about the group he has entering the 2023 season.

"Upset about the media poll - definitely do not agree with that," said Brown. "The positive is, the media, as far as predicting the Big 12, has not been very successful in recent years, so I think that bodes well for us."

The full rankings:

1. Chris Klieman, Kansas State

2. Sonny Dykes, TCU

3. Lance Leipold, Kansas

4. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State

5. Matt Campbell, Iowa State

6. Steve Sarkisian, Texas

7. Gus Malzahn, UCF

8. Dave Aranda, Baylor

9. Kalani Sitake, BYU

10. Joey McGuire, Texas Tech

11. Brent Venables, Oklahoma

12. Dana Holgorsen, Houston

13. Scott Satterfield, Cincinnati

14. Neal Brown, West Virginia

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