Neal Brown
Followed Dana Holgorsen. Neal Brown slid West Virginia from Power Program III to National Program I in 6 seasons.
In his own words
Awaiting signal — no quotes collected from this staff yet this cycle.
Career arc
His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.
Reached National Program in his 5th career season — faster than 14% of the 675 FBS coaches who have ever reached National Program (rank #547 of 675 by seasons-to-arrival).
Style position and drift
Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.
Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.
The big-game ledger
How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.
3–3 against his rivals. Just 1–4 against Mike Gundy.
His own effect, isolated
A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.
Model fit as of 2026-09-04.
Coaching career
7th-best North Texas tenure of 16 by the numbers.
Followed Eric Morris (2023–2025).
A portal-built roster.
Brings in smaller-than-position-typical players than most.
Recruits older, more experienced transfers than most.
6th-best West Virginia tenure of 16 by the numbers.
Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.
Followed Dana Holgorsen (2011–2018).
| Season | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||||
| Record | 5–7 | 6–4 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 0–1 | |
| Postseason | — | W bowl | L bowl | — | W bowl | L bowl | |
| Recruiting rank | #48 | #37 | #40 | #35 | #48 | #46 | |
| Style — pass rate | |||||||
| Pass rate | 57.6 | 52.8 | 49.7 | 48.9 | 37.0 | 41.7 | |
| Coordinators | |||||||
| OC | Chad Scott / Matt Moore | Chad Scott / Gerad Parker | Chad Scott / Gerad Parker | Graham Harrell | Chad Scott | Chad Scott | |
| DC | Vic Koenning | Jordan Lesley / Jahmile Addae / Jeff Koonz | Jordan Lesley / ShaDon Brown | Jordan Lesley / ShaDon Brown | Jordan Lesley / ShaDon Brown | ShaDon Brown / Jordan Lesley (5th season; first 8 games) / Jeff Koonz (interim; after week 9) | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | |||||||
| Offense | 10 | 32 | 37 | 52 | 83 | 58 | |
| Defense | 52 | 80 | 62 | 47 | 35 | 3 | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only) | |||||||
| 1st-down pass% | 56.0 | 56.1 | 49.1 | 52.0 | 38.7 | 36.0 | |
| Red-zone pass% | 49.4 | 57.6 | 49.6 | 45.4 | 31.7 | 35.3 | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | 30.8 | 36.1 | 40.8 | 46.2 | 54.1 | 61.2 | |
A typical amount of portal roster-building.
Brings in bigger-than-position-typical players than most.
Recruits older, more experienced transfers than most.
11 NFL Draft picks: Will Grier (2019), Yodny Cajuste (2019), Gary Jennings Jr. (2019), Trevon Wesco (2019), David Long Jr. (2019), Kenny Robinson (2020), Colton McKivitz (2020), Tony Fields II (2021) + 3 more
2 player-seasons honored (All-America / national award): Darius Stills (2020), Wyatt Milum (2024)
5th-best Troy tenure of 7 by the numbers.
Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent on offense and outperforms his recruiting talent on defense.
Followed Larry Blakeney (2001–2014) · succeeded by Chip Lindsey (2019–2021).
| Season | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||
| Record | 4–8 | 10–3 | 11–2 | 10–3 | |
| Postseason | — | W bowl | W bowl | W bowl | |
| Recruiting rank | #117 | #98 | #96 | #98 | |
| Style — pass rate | |||||
| Pass rate | 52.3 | 50.4 | 52.8 | 43.6 | |
| Coordinators | |||||
| OC | Kenny Edenfield | Kenny Edenfield / Matt Moore | Kenny Edenfield / Matt Moore | Sean Reagan / Matt Moore | |
| DC | Vic Koenning | Vic Koenning | Vic Koenning | Vic Koenning | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | |||||
| Offense | 35 | 16 | 74 | 45 | |
| Defense | 44 | 60 | 93 | 69 | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only) | |||||
| 1st-down pass% | 54.5 | 46.5 | 47.7 | 46.6 | |
| Red-zone pass% | 42.7 | 43.3 | 45.2 | 44.9 | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | 21.9 | 39.5 | 41.5 | 33.3 | |
1 NFL Draft pick: Antonio Garcia (2017)