Neal Brown, North Texas Agree to Contract, What You Need to Know About New HC

Neal Brown is headed to North Texas.

Brown and Mean Green agreed to a contract to make him their next head coach on Tuesday, the program announced.

The news comes after ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that North Texas was "finalizing" a five-year deal for Brown to become its next head coach.

Brown, 45, has had previous head-coaching stints at Troy (2015-18) and West Virginia (2019-24). He went 35-16 with the Trojans and 37-35 with the Mountaineers.

While Brown led Troy to three straight double-digit win seasons, he posted just one winning season at West Virginia, and the Mountaineers fired him last December. He spent the 2025 season on the Texas coaching staff as a special assistant under head coach Steve Sarkisian.

Meanwhile, North Texas finished its season 11-1 and will face Tulane in Friday's American Athletic Championship Game. Head coach Eric Morris was hired by Oklahoma State in late November, though he will coach North Texas through the AAC Championship and the College Football Playoff (if they earn a berth) before heading to Stillwater.

"I want to express our deep gratitude to Eric for everything he has done for Mean Green Football over the past three seasons," UNT athletic director Jared Mosley said in a statement in late November. "He took over at one of the most chaotic times in college athletics and brought great success on the field, including two bowl-eligible seasons and the program's first national ranking in over six decades, while our student-athletes excelled in the classroom and in the Denton community."

That leaves Brown with big shoes to fill, especially if the Mean Green win the AAC and reach the CFP.