MORGANTOWN, WV — For a variety of reasons, the word “rebuild” is becoming taboo in college athletics. This could mean the coaching staff admits they made a mistake, and with the transfer portal now at each school's disposal, there is a belief among fans that any team can reload its roster and compete each year. It is hoped that this will happen.
WVU head football coach Neil Brown won't put a label on the Mountaineers' change in ideology following a disappointing 5-7 record in 2022, but admits there has been a change. . Not every coach gets a second chance, so Brown felt he needed to encourage some change in the hallways of the Milano Pusker Center in the spring and summer of 2023.
“After the ’22 season where I thought I underachieved, I hit the reset button on a lot of things,” he said. “When we came here, we probably didn’t have a six-year plan for when we go into our sixth year in the spring.”
During Brown's first four years at WVU, the Mountaineers averaged 5.5 wins a season and never exceeded the six-win mark. They failed to finish with a conference record above .500 in any of those four seasons.
Last year, WVU went 6-3 in the Big 12 and finished fifth in the recently expanded 14-team league.
“We just changed a lot of what we do,” he said. “We just had a big reset in our program. So I think right now he's in his 16th month since the restart and he's making progress.”
From a scoring standpoint, WVU was second-worst in both offense and defense in the Big 12 in 2022, with opponents averaging more points per game (32.9 points) than the Mountaineers (30.6 points). By the end of last season, WVU was allowing the fifth-most points per game (31.5 points) and seventh-fewest points per game (26.2 points) in the Big 12.
WVU also allowed the fewest sacks on offense (10) and the most sacks on defense (33) in the conference. He also touted the most potent rushing attack in the Big 12, gaining 228.9 ground yards per game.
“We want to be a disciplined, tense, tough, smart team. All of those traits don't require any talent,” Brown said.
Last year, the annual Big 12 preseason poll projected WVU to finish last in the conference. Considering WVU will have 8-9 returning starters on offense and 6 returning starters on defense this summer, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Mountaineers pick to be in the top half of the conference. .
“I'm happy with where we are now, 16 months later,” he said. “But we haven't arrived yet.”
