Sunday Morning Thoughts: It's Time to Take the Next Step

If the Mountaineers do what they did this weekend next Saturday at Baylor, they'll finish the season 8-4 with conference record of 6-3. That would tie the 2018 team for the 2nd-most league wins for WVU since they've been in the Big 12. It also presents an opportunity for a nine-win season which is something that hasn't happened since 2016 when they won ten.

What I'm getting at here is West Virginia is well past due to make that jump from an average Big 12 team to one that is competing for a league title on a more consistent basis. Part of that thinking is that Oklahoma and Texas are departing for the SEC next summer, which will open the door for two programs to make that jump as a consistent "top-tier" team and there's no reason why WVU can't be one of those two.

Again, assuming WVU wins next weekend in Waco, Neal Brown will be back coaching the Mountaineers in 2024. That doesn't necessarily mean that he's 100% guaranteed to make it to the end of his contract, though. Winning eight or nine games raises the expectations for next fall, as it should, especially when you bring back as much as they will barring unforeseen portal losses.

Next year's schedule isn't exactly the easiest, but it's also hard to forecast who will be good and who won't this far in advance. Regardless of how that pans out, Brown can't take a significant step back. He has to build off of a potential 8-9 win season, using that as the floor. After four years of struggle, it's hard for many fans to fully jump on board with "The Climb." Put two good years together in a row and now we're talking. Doing so solidifies that this season wasn't an anomaly or a product of an incredibly weak schedule.

Brown isn't in the position to fall back to a six-win campaign after one good year and think he's safe to make it to '25. Coaches can have a "down" year every now and then, it happens. But when the first four years of his tenure were average at best, reverting back to that would show that this is more of the norm for this staff.

I'm not writing this to drag all the fun out of a 42-21 win over Cincinnati or a good season for that matter. It's about putting this season into perspective and how it should be the start of something special. Assuming the staff remains, this will be the first time in which they will have a chance to retain the core of its top playmakers in consecutive seasons AND already have an answer at the most important position with Garrett Greene set to return at QB. With a stronger NIL situation, WVU should be able to hang on to their top players in addition to adding higher quality talent in the portal.

It's time, folks. It's time for West Virginia to make its surge and winning these final two games will be the first step in taking the "next" step.

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