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Rising college football power hires former West Virginia head coach Neal Brown

Alex Weber|
Former West Virginia head football coach Neal Brown
Former West Virginia head football coach Neal Brown | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

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West Virginia Mountaineers

A former Big 12 coach is back on his feet after 45-year-old Neal Brown reportedly took a job in the American Conference this week following the end of the 2025 college football regular season. Brown was last a head coach at West Virginia but was let go following the 2024 campaign. After a year spent next to Steve Sarkisian at Texas, Brown now appears to be re-entering the head coaching fray at the FBS level.

The final weekend in November and the first week December has and is shaping up to feature a hectic few spins of the CFB coaching carousel. The SEC just ransacked the American Conference over the weekend as Memphis, Tulane and USF all lost their head coaches to SEC schools while North Texas already lost Eric Morris to Oklahoma State.

However, the Mean Green appear to have found their new man in none other than Neal Brown. On Tuesday evening of this week, North Texas' X account posted news of their new hire, plus a searing green graphic of Brown. Take a look:

North Texas is certainly stepping up in the world. The Mean Green just completed their third and most successful season as part of the American Conference, finishing 11-1 in the regular season before gearing up for a matchup with Tulane in the league title game; and UNT still possesses an outside shot at the Playoff. All this success meant a tax: Losing brilliant head coach Eric Morris. But Morris' work done in Denton, TX laid the groundwork for North Texas to stay on the cutting edge of arguably the fifth best college football conference in America.

Background, quotes on Neal Brown

Former West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Neal Brown shakes the hands of coal miners
Former West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Neal Brown shakes the hands of coal miners | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

As mentioned, Neal Brown is a former head coach in the Big 12 with West Virginia. In fact, he's got a full decade of being a head coach at the FBS level under his belt after four years at Troy followed by the six in Morgantown with the Mountaineers. Prior to that 10-year run of leading his own programs, Brown came from the Mark Stoops coaching tree as he was offensive coordinator at Kentucky for some early Stoops teams.

"We are thrilled to welcome Neal Brown as our next head football coach," UNT athletic director Jared Mosley said in a statement regarding the hire, according to the Mean Green athletics website. "Neal is a proven leader who builds programs with integrity, vision and an unwavering commitment to developing student-athletes on and off the field. His history of elevating rosters, developing talent and producing results in highly competitive leagues makes him an ideal fit for North Texas."

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Alex Weber
ALEX WEBER

Born and raised in the state of Kentucky, Alex Weber has published articles for many of the largest college sports media brands in the country, including On3, Athlon Sports, FanSided, SB Nation, and others. Since 2022, he has also contributed for Kentucky Sports Radio, one of the largest team-specific college sports websites in the nation. In addition to his work in sports journalism, Alex manages content for a local magazine named ‘Goshen Living’ and coaches cross country and track.

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