West Virginia Hires Neal Brown to Be Head Coach After Dana Holgorsen Departure

Troy coach Neal Brown will be the next head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers, the school announced on Saturday. 

Yahoo Sports' Pete Thamel first reported the move on Friday.

Brown compiled a 35-16 record in four seasons at Troy, winning 10-plus games and earning bowl victories in each of the past three seasons.

Per ESPN's Mark Schlabach, Brown is just one of six FBS coaches to record double-digit wins in each of the past three seasons.

Prior to Brown's arrival, Troy had enjoyed limited success since moving up to the FBS in 2001. The Trojans topped out at nine victories under Larry Blakeney from 2001-14 and had recorded just two bowl victories in five appearances.

Although Brown's first season resulted in a 4-8 record, he was taking over a program that had won just three games in the previous season and had not posted a winning record since 2010.

Brown quickly made Troy relevant in the Sun Belt Conference. An 11-2 performance in 2017 not only earned the Trojans a conference title and a New Orleans Bowl victory, but it also resulted in Brown being named the Sun Belt Coach of the Year.

Brown was previously the offensive coordinator at Texas Tech and Kentucky before Troy gave him his first opportunity to be a head coach.

West Virginia is coming off an 8-4 season under ex-coach Dana Holgorsen. After going 61-41 in eight years on the job in Morgantown, Holgorsen left West Virginia for Houston for a five-year, $20 million contract, with terms detailed by the Houston Chronicle.

The Mountaineers have not won a bowl game since the 2015 campaign and had just two bowl victories in eight seasons under Holgorsen.