Lyons Remains 'Optimistic' About the Direction of WVU Football

Is Neal Brown on the hot seat in Morgantown? It doesn't appear so.

When Neal Brown accepted the head football coaching job at West Virginia, he knew he was entering an uphill battle. It was going to be a multi-year rebuild to get the program not just back on its feet but in a position to be a contender in the Big 12 Conference on a regular basis.

Through three seasons, Brown has guided the Mountaineers to a 17-18 overall record, going 1-1 in bowl games. Despite there being pressure from the fan base at times throughout his tenure, there is no lack of job security for the fourth-year head coach. 

Last week at Big 12 Media Days in Dallas, Texas, voice of the Mountaineers, Tony Caridi, asked athletic director Shane Lyons about his thoughts on the current state of the program.

"You know, as I said even right after last year, this is a process and we're building off of that process," Lyons said. "Again, I think we'd look back last year, we would all like more wins. Neal knows that, I know that, the fan base wants that and that's what we're building off of. At the same time, those things don't happen overnight. So if you look at the program as a whole, I still feel that we're heading in the right direction. 

"We got the right kids in the locker room. The culture is very good. They're all bonding together. You know, but at the same time we've got a tough schedule coming up and we are one of a few institutions that are playing 11 Power Five institutions, along with one FCS institution. So, you know, we have a challenge in front of us. But if we can keep everybody healthy, we've got Graham Harrell now on the offensive side of the ball and I feel good about the players that we have on the offense. Same thing with the defensive side of the ball. I think we have 33 new players that come in, that are going to contribute that are hungry to show their talents. So, I'm optimistic about what we're going to do as a program and they continue to build off of that."

Brown has just one winning season in his first three years on the job, but he and his staff have done terrific work on the recruiting trail which has many, including Lyons, believing that the program has a bright future. 

"I think there's a formula to win big here and that's to play great defense," Brown said following last year's loss to Oklahoma. "I think that fits us. We've got to get more explosive on offense, we've got to continue to make strides on defense and we've got to get deeper on defense. But I think we're developing a standard that we're going to play defense at a high level. There have been people that try to outscore everybody. Not here, I'm just talking about in our league in general. I think that's a tough formula when you're playing the Oklahoma's of the world. We felt like if we could establish great defense, play great special teams, and be really efficient on offense, and recruit some difference makers, that's the formula."

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