Neal Brown out at WVU: 5 replacements for Mountaineers, including familiar faces

This was a firing several years in the making. Neal Brown should have been relieved of his duties after the 2022 college football season. When his former boss in Shane Lyons was out, I thought he was a goner two years ago. Somehow, Brown delayed the inevitable under his new boss Wren Baker. After benefiting from the Dino Babers dead cat bounce last year, Brown has been terminated after 2024.

West Virginia can finally move forward as a football program after being stuck in neutral ever since Dana Holgorsen walked away from the job years ago. Brown was a great Group of Five head coach at Troy previously, but everyone not named Gerad Parker wins at Troy. He could be a candidate to replace Don Brown at his alma mater of UMass, or potentially join on Mark Stoops' Kentucky staff.

To me, this firing was all about how poorly Brown's teams played down the stretch for years. Fate would have it, another pantsing at the hand of emerging rival Texas Tech was enough to do the trick. This will be Baker's first big hire, and he better not miss. While Brown's buyout of $9.7 million was not that much, it just goes to show that West Virginia could not be more done with him as a head coach.

To see Pete Thamel's tweet go across my screen made me feel cathartic about the entire situation.

Now that Brown is out of Morgantown, here are a list of serious candidates I think could replace him.

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5. Former Texas A&M Aggies head coach Jimbo Fisher

Jimbo Fisher is out there somewhere collecting checks Texas A&M after getting bought out around this time a year ago. He may hail from Clarksburg, but I am only listing him here because he is a big name, he has ties to the state and he is available. Fisher has seen the game pass him by over and over because he refuses to let his quarterbacks lower their arms when they are scrambling for yardage.

Truth be told, I think a fat slice of humble pie or sliced bread or whatever may have done Fisher's gigantic ego some good. He may supposedly want this job, but West Virginia is not some joke of a program. They are arguably the greatest program in the history of the sport without ever having claimed a national title. Fisher at least elevates this program's profile, so it is something to consider.

This hire has more of a downside than any real upside, so I am not in favor of WVU hiring Fisher here.

4. UNLV Rebels head coach Barry Odom

At some point, Barry Odom is going to leave the bright lights of Las Vegas behind for another stab at being a Power Four head coach. While he failed at his alma mater of Missouri, the Tigers were in rough shape in the wake of Gary Pinkel retiring and Odom replacing him. In the years since, he has done a remarkable job reinventing himself as one of the better defensive-minded coaches in FBS.

In a way, WVU feels like a great re-entry point for Odom into the Power Four. To me, I think he needs to go to either an ACC or Big 12 job before trying his luck again in the SEC or over in the Big Ten. The right job will emerge for him. I am just not entirely sure if that gig is openig up this season. All I know is he is having a fantastic time as the head coach of a team who could be into the playoff with a victory.

Of the available Power Four jobs, Odom is more likely to take the vacancies at North Carolina or UCF.

3. Jacksonville State Gamecocks head coach Rich Rodriguez

Reaching into one's past is rarely a good idea. But you know, it just might work for West Virginia... Huzzah! After failing at Michigan and Arizona, Rich Rodriguez has reinvented himself as a strong Group of Five head coach at Jacksonville State. He has elite job security there, but who says the prodigal son cannot come home? He played for Don Nehlen and then replaced him to great success.

How it ended for Rodriguez in Morgantown left a sour taste in everyone's mouth. The Michigan job opened up after Lloyd Carr devolved into a pumpkin. It was not until the end of the Jim Harbaugh era years later that Michigan was worthy of talking about. To me, Rodriguez is only a slightly better candidate over Jimbo Fisher because he has been humbled and is coaching now, but not by much...

West Virginia re-hiring Rich Rod would set all of Morgantown ablaze like a runaway partytime couch.

2. Tulane Green Wave head coach Jon Sumrall

Once again, it is so incredibly good to be Jon Sumrall's bank account. Either Tulane agrees to pay their head coach a massive new extension or he is going to walk. He could be a candidate at UCF, maybe even at North Carolina. For my money, if Kentucky moves on from Mark Stoops, he becomes the Wildcats' top choice. The only candidate standing between him and alma mater will be Ryan Day.

Where I think West Virginia would have trepidation hiring Sumrall is he used to work at Troy. That should not matter, but it will create some level of pause because that was Brown's previous post, one where he was quite successful at, too. Whoever hires Sumrall is getting the next rockstar head coach in the profession. It could be West Virginia, but I am not entirely sure Mountaineers pull the trigger.

If West Virginia fails to hire Sumrall and he goes to another Big 12 team, what is Baker even doing?!

1. Liberty Flames head coach Jamey Chadwell

Finding the right head coach to lead West Virginia in the wake of Brown being fired is easier said than done. Yes, Fisher and Rodriguez are huge names with great success previously. And yes, Odom and Sumrall are great up-and-comers out of the Group of Five. However, I think it might finally be the time for somebody in the Power Four to take a chance on Group of Five legend Jamey Chadwell at Liberty.

He may have as much coaching experience in the Power Four as you and I combined, but Chadwell can really coach! Chadwell has won everywhere he has been before. It might come down to preferences and resources if he were to be offered either the North Carolina or West Virginia jobs. Those feel like the two jobs in this cycle Chadwell would potentially leave Liberty four after two years.

Since North Carolina and West Virginia's candidate pools are quite similar, this could go either way.