Neal Brown

Head coach · North Texas
1st season · since 2026 · West Virginia before

At North Texas6-2since 2026 · 6-2 this seasonHot seatCool0% · 120th of 132 jobsLast gameW 48-41vs Florida Atlantic · Oct 29Nextvs RiceSat Nov 7 · 4 pm ET · ESPNU
This week · as of Wed Nov 4

6-2, won 5 straight, on track for 9-3 in the regular season.

Now

Career arc

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerFBS medianTroyWest VirginiaNorth TexasSouth AlabamaSouth AlabamaPittsburghPittsburghPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelTroy when he took over: 16.7 (Regional Program III), its final 2014 readingtook overTroy, 2015: 4-8, Regional Program IIITroy, 2015: 4-8, Regional Program III20154-8Troy, 2016: 10-3, Regional Program III201610-3Troy, 2017: 11-2, Regional Program II201711-2Troy, 2018: 10-3, Regional Program ITroy, 2018: 10-3, Regional Program I201810-3+6.8West Virginia when he took over: 42.5 (Power Program III), its final 2018 readingtook overWest Virginia, 2019: 5-7, National Program IWest Virginia, 2019: 5-7, National Program I20195-7West Virginia, 2020: 6-4, National Program I20206-4West Virginia, 2021: 6-7, National Program I20216-7West Virginia, 2022: 5-7, National Program II20225-7West Virginia, 2023: 9-4, National Program II20239-4West Virginia, 2024: 6-6, National Program IIWest Virginia, 2024: 6-6, National Program II20246-6-7.3North Texas when he took over: 15.6 (Regional Program III), its final 2025 readingtook overNorth Texas, 2026: 6-2, Regional Program IIINorth Texas, 2026: 6-2, Regional Program III20266-2+0.1best: 2019gray dashed: rival programs · ○ the program when he took over · Dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Bowls and playoffs: 5-1

Troy2016Dollar General BowlW 28-232017New Orleans BowlW 50-302018Dollar General BowlW 42-32West Virginia2020Liberty BowlW 24-212021Guaranteed Rate BowlL 6-182023Duke's Mayo BowlW 30-10

This week Wed Nov 4

  • Last gameW 48-41 vs. Florida Atlantic Thu Oct 29
  • This season6-2 won 5 straight
  • On track for9-3 regular season
  • Nextvs. Rice Sat Nov 7
  • Stature98th of 138 FBS programs

What the result changed

  • Playoff odds 1% → 2% CFB Zeitgeist forecast, before and after

Saturday: vs. Rice

Sat Nov 7, 4 pm ET ESPNU · Rice is 1-7 · First meeting between Brown and Scott Abell as head coaches · North Texas’s chance to win: 90% (the site’s model)

His week

Mean Green Sports · 196 views by Wednesday

One headline named him in the last 7 days

85th of 138 FBS head coaches

The headlines, Oct 30–Nov 4

What they are talking about, week and season

Fans are feeling good about North Texas

TALARICO HAS WON DENTON https://i.redd.it/g7r5nfrgxhzh1.png title

Go Vote!! Today’s the day! Election Day: Tuesday, Nov. 3 from 7am - 7pm. If you are in line at 7pm, STAY IN LINE! You will be allowed to vote if you are in line, stay there! Have any questions? Send us a DM or call/text us on our hotline to talk to a person: 469-708-7050, we’re here to help you!

Heisman of Week 9 Bill Connelly finally gets around to noticing Tayven and throws Jaheim White in the mix as well... this is the kind of pub that you need if you want to be ranked https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/50359490/heisman-week-9-lanorris-sellers-darian-mensah

Fan mood · last 3 weeks · more upbeat than 3 in 4 FBS fan bases

Offense: 1st of 138 per play. Defense: 46th.

Offense, per play1stPassing offense3rdDefense, per play46thPass defense124thWorstBest
Offense, per play1st of 138Passing offense3rd of 138Defense, per play46th of 138Pass defense124th of 138WorstBest
Through 8 games. Each tick is an FBS team, adjusted for opponent strength (CFB Zeitgeist model); the dot is North Texas. The other two rows are where North Texas stands furthest from the middle. Early-season numbers move a lot.

4 games left

  1. Sat Nov 7vs. Rice (1-7)ESPNU90%
  2. Sat Nov 14at UTSA (7-1)ESPNU35%
  3. Sat Nov 21at Tulane (4-4)67%
  4. Sat Nov 28vs. UAB (4-4)71%

Percent: North Texas’s chance to win, from the site’s model. Records are through today. Networks as announced; the rest are set closer to kickoff.

How the season got here

Where North Texas stood among 138 FBS programs by stature after each game (1st is the highest; the CFB Zeitgeist ledger).

95th101st107thPreseason100thIndiana L 16-52Indiana L 16-52L 16-52Indiana103rdUNLV W 44-6UNLV W 44-6W 44-6UNLV103rdTexas State L 35-49Texas State L 35-49L 35-49Texas State103rdHouston Christian W 63-14Houston Christian W 63-14W 63-14Houston Chris…103rdTulsa W 45-44Tulsa W 45-44W 45-44Tulsa102ndCharlotte W 50-10Charlotte W 50-10W 50-10Charlotte102ndNavy W 49-39Navy W 49-39W 49-39Navy100thFlorida Atlantic W 48-41Florida Atlantic W 48-41W 48-41Florida Atlan…99th
  1. Oct 26–Nov 1W 48-41 vs. Florida Atlantic3 headlines · 70th of 138Despite standard set by Eric Morris era, UNT is on 'its own journey' under Neal Brown The Dallas Morning News
  2. Oct 19–25W 49-39 at Navy1 headline · 81st of 138
  3. Oct 12–18No game0 headlines
  4. Oct 5–11W 50-10 vs. Charlotte2 headlines · 70th of 138North Texas Gameday: UNT aims to jump into American title race against Neal Brown’s old friend Denton Record-Chronicle
  5. Sep 28–Oct 4W 45-44 at Tulsa2 headlines · 75th of 138Former WVU Football Star Is Having Dream Season With Neal Brown Yahoo Sports
  6. Sep 21–27 · rebuiltW 63-14 vs. Houston Christian1 headline · 83rd of 138

Each week as this page showed it at the time. Weeks marked rebuilt came before this page existed: they were built afterward from only what was known by the end of that week.

Watch the biggest plays from North Texas’s games, ranked by how much each moved the chance to win.

Poach watch

This winter

12%chance he leaves this winter for a head-coaching job elsewhere, or an NFL coordinator jobNoticed12th-highest of 132 FBS head coaches
0%50%+

Our poach model, on his record so far, the win chances for every game he has left, his program, his pay and his background. Ranked against the 132 FBS head coaches this season. The zone words describe the market’s interest; none of them says he is leaving.

What drives his number

The biggest factors in his profile, each against the typical FBS head coach today. The games he has left are priced into the number, not listed here.

  • ▼ Lower
    His first season at North Texas
  • ▲ Higher
    His team is 6-2, outscoring opponents by 11.9 points a game
  • ▲ Higher
    No record for him here before this season · his first year in the job
How good is this number? It ranks a head coach who leaves for another head-coaching job ahead of one who stays 78 to 82% of the time, and its average came within a point of the share who actually left. What it can’t do

Tested on every FBS head coach from 2012 through 2025, each season scored by a model fit only on the seasons before it. From three games on, given one coach who left for a head-coaching job elsewhere or an NFL coordinator job and one who stayed, it ranked the one who left ahead 79 to 82% of the time; in a season’s first two games, 78%. Its average chance came within a point of the share who actually left. It counts a move a coach makes while he still holds the job; when his school ends it, that doesn’t count, even if another school then hires him.

  • The live number prices the games he has left with the power model’s ratings from this season. The test priced them with each team’s rating from the season before, because ratings made during past seasons were not kept, so this live version could not be replayed.
  • Programs new to FBS have no FBS record before this season in the data it reads, so their coaches are scored without one.
  • It is frozen: it learns nothing from 2026 until a deliberate refit.
  • A coach hired in December needs his background (age, alma mater, the state he was born in) added before his first game, or he shows as not rated.