Forgive and forget? WVU's ideal Neal Brown replacement could open some old wounds

At the end of the day, Wren Baker did not hire Neal Brown. Shane Lyons. Now that Baker is fully into his second year as West Virginia's athletic director, we have to wonder if he will indeed pivot off Brown in favor of something better. Brown may have WVU going to a bowl game, but he still has not elevated the Mountaineers football program since taking over for Dana Holgorsen after doing so well at Troy.

While much has been made about native West Virginian Jimbo Fisher potentially coming home, there is a college football head coach out there who not only has stronger ties to WVU than Fisher but is kicking some serious tail right now. You guessed it? That would be Jacksonville State head coach Rich Rodriguez. His Gamecocks are one of the best teams in CUA and aren't slowing down just yet.

Let's assess the pros and cons of Baker bringing back Rich Rod to Morgantown, for better or worse.

Rich Rodriguez returning to West Virginia could reopen a can of worms

To be quite frank, West Virginia has not been the same program since Rodriguez left for Michigan to replace Lloyd Carr. Bill Stewart and Holgorsen had their moments, but the death of the Big East as a football conference led to the Mountaineers scrambling to find a new league. They went to the Big 12 over the ACC, which would have been a far better geographical fit for the Mountaineers program.

Under Rodriguez, the Mountaineers ran one of the most exciting offenses in college football. With guys like Pat White and Steve Slaton holding court, West Virginia nearly played for a national title in 2007. That was Rodriguez's final season leading his alma mater. He then went to Michigan and failed, before going to Arizona, having very fleeting success and failing again. Tuscon felt like rock bottom.

Over the last three years, Rodriguez has led the Gamecocks to eight or more wins in each campaign. It may be a different level of competition, but keep in mind that the Gamecocks did make the move up from FCS to FBS rather seamlessly. Given that Rodriguez has coached in the Big East, the Big Ten and the Pac-12 before, I would say that re-entering the Power Four with the Big 12 may be rather breezy.

However, I wonder if the West Virginia faithful will give Rodriguez the time of day if he were to return. Kansas State welcomed back Bill Snyder with open arms, but he was beloved. Louisville had fleeting success with Bobby Petrino the second time around, mostly because of Lamar Jackson. Fate would have it, on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, North Carolina fired its best head coach Mack Brown.

I think what I am getting at is reaching into one's past rarely brings out the best in you or I or anyone. Then again, nostalgia is one helluva drug. Just ask the fine folks in the Watchmen universe about that. Right now, I would say that it would serve Baker to put out feelers to Rodriguez's and Fisher's representations about seeing if they would take over at WVU before possibly moving on from Brown.

There is a lot more variance with Rich Rod as a head coach, but Brown has become bland at WVU.