See Where CBS Sports Ranked Neal Brown Among Power Five Coaches

Earlier this week, Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports ranked every Power Five head football coach 1-65. West Virginia's Neal Brown came in at No. 41 on that list which puts him just ahead of Bret Bielema (Illinois), Eli Drinkwitz (Missouri), Mike Norvell (Florida State), Steve Sarkisian (Texas) Scott Frost (Nebraska), and Clay Helton (USC).

Considering that Brown is 11-11 in his first two seasons, ranking the Mountaineer head coach No. 41 is in the right ballpark. However, there are a few coaches ahead of him on this list that I believe should be lower than Brown such as Dave Doeren (NC State), Lance Leipold (Kansas), and Pat Narduzzi (Pitt). Both Doeren and Narduzzi have been at their respective programs for several years now and have never truly competed for an ACC Conference Championship on a yearly basis. Neal Brown is only two years in but the trajectory of the WVU program seems to be one that will easily pass NC State and Pitt in the coming years.

Not to mention, Brown came into a very tough situation with a massive departure of seniors from the 2018 season which left him with very little depth in his first year on the job. The other two aforementioned coaches have had an abundance of talent and depth over the last two years and have failed to do anything with it. As for Leipold, he's been a terrific head coach but this is his first Power Five head coaching job and it is Kansas after all. Not sure how a first-time Power Five head coach at a terrible football school is ranked several spots (six) ahead of Neal Brown.

At the end of the day, these rankings will likely change drastically following the 2021 season and if the Mountaineers finish within the top three or four in the Big 12, Brown could be viewed as a top 40 Power Five coach, maybe a little higher.

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