Gee 'Takes Pride' in 5-7 Record Due to 'Competitive Environment'
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Neal Brown is safe for now, but that doesn't mean he won't have a short leash with new athletic director Wren Baker at the helm.
Baker said all the right things during his introductory press conference on Monday, stating that he is anxious to work with Coach Brown and help eliminate any hurdles that are preventing him from being successful. However, Baker's boss, university president E. Gordon Gee, didn't necessarily say all the right things when asked about why he chose to retain the head football coach.
"We had a challenging football year, as we all know," said Gee. "One of the things that I started realizing is the fact that we really did put our football coach in a very challenging position because we played two Power Five teams right off the bat. The other thing is, the recent process came out noting that we had the toughest football schedule in the country. And the fact that we've gone 5-7 in a very competitive environment has been something that obviously I take a lot of pride in because given everything, I think we played rather well."
Played well? Take pride in going 5-7? What in the world is going on here? Look, I understand Gee wanting to stick up for Brown because he remains the head coach and is expected to receive more help from the AD, but that doesn't mean he should be content with how things have gone under Brown's reign.
Some of West Virginia's losses this season came in blowout fashion, i.e. Texas Tech, Texas, and Iowa State. They weren't even remotely competitive. So how is it that they played well given a tough schedule? Those three teams finished with a combined record of 19-17. It's not like they were three top 10 teams. Instead, two of them finished in the middle of the Big 12 and the other? Uh, yeah. Last place.
This was a prime opportunity for Gee to publicly state that this program has higher standards that must be lived up to. And he could have went about it in a way that didn't come across as putting pressure on Neal Brown. A simple, "5-7 record is not acceptable" statement would have been the proper way to begin the answer to the question. It's stating the obvious, but it's also showing that the administration is not willing to settle for mediocrity.
I understand that Brown may have been handcuffed in terms of financial resources and that's why Baker is now in charge of the athletic department, but if Gee takes pride in a five-win season, what is the breaking point for him? Is it a two-win season? A three-win season?
Look, I get it. Due to the shift in timelines in college football, it made the most sense to bring Brown back. You don't want to put your program in a spot where a ton of kids are entering the transfer portal, recruits are decommitting and so forth. So, yes, the hope may be there now but if WVU endures another five or six win season in 2023, will Gee feel the same way?
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