WVU wasn’t a hard sell for Brown.
There were a lot of positives about the
opportunity to move to Morgantown that
not only aligned with his professional
goals but with his family’s needs as well.
“The first positive was WVU’s geo-
graphic location,” he says. “At Troy, we
were about nine hours away from home.
Both my parents and my wife’s parents
live in Danville, KY, so we cut travel time
down by about half in coming here. An-
other positive was the people. I think the
people in Kentucky and West Virginia
are very similar. I also thought being in
Morgantown was a great opportunity for
our kids from an educational standpoint.
From a work perspective, WVU is the
14th winningest school in college football
and has had a ton of success. The coaches
here have had long tenures, and that’s
something I felt was important. There
are no professional teams or Power Five
schools here, which means the fanbase
and level of importance put on the football
program here were definitely intriguing.
Also, the Big 12 Conference was a factor.
I’ve been an offensive coordinator at Texas
Tech, so I have been in this league for three
years and have an understanding of it.”
All of these reasons combined made
for a great sales pitch, but the deal closer
was Brown’s visit to Mountaineer Field
on January 6.
“I remember meeting Coach Nehlen
first,” he recalls of the visit. “I thought it
was really cool of him to come and greet
me. Seeing the welcome graphic that was
put up on the scoreboard and knowing
WVU has a ton of tradition and is one of
the rowdier atmospheres in college foot-
ball, I stood there and tried to imagine
what it would be like on game day. That
first time on the field was definitely some-
thing to remember.”
While his family—his wife, Brooke;
daughters, Adalyn and Anslee; and son,
Dax—are adjusting to life in Morgantown,
Brown is in preparation mode for the 2019
season. His focus is on reinventing the
program, a process the staff and players
are calling the climb.
“Climb is kind of our motto this year,”
he explains. “I’ve been saying this for a
while: we are going to be great here. It’s
a matter of when, not if. We are climbing
and trying to get better every single day
and achieve higher results. I’ve talked to
the players this summer about just trust-
ing the climb. It’s really hard for this age
24
WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE
group of 17-23 year olds to understand
there is a process for everything you go
through, and for most things in life, you
are not going to get instant gratification.
I want them to understand that there is a
process of work and there are steps you
have to take to achieve where you want
to get to.”
Brown has built his career around foot-
ball because he believes football is the
best team sport. He credits most good
things in his life to the sport and sees the
importance of the lessons to be learned
by the players.
“Football is where you accrue the most
adversity,” he says. “Some of that is be-
cause it is a physical sport in nature, and
some of it is because some of your hardest
practice times are when it is the hottest.
Football players learn to overcome adversity
and develop mental toughness. The best
aspect of the sport, though, is teamwork.
Regardless of the position you play, you
have to be dependent on someone else.”
Using those life lessons as well as his
wealth of experience, Brown and his staff
are building a new program around three
objectives: developing men, graduating
student-athletes to place in the workforce
and winning.
“The things we are changing are not
just for the sake of making changes or
to say how things done in the past were
wrong,” he says. “We are making changes
culturally more than anything so we can
go in the direction of our goals. The most
important job I have as the head coach
is to create an environment where our
staff and players can be successful, so
I’m probably spending more time on that
than anything right now.”
He’s also looking forward to building
a relationship with the students, much
like he and his wife did at Troy.
“When Brooke and I went into the
program at Troy, we created a lot of pos-
itive change,” he says. “Not only did we
win games, but we set attendance records.
We spent a lot of time on campus and
really got to know the students, and in
turn they came out and supported us and
created a fun environment that even more
people wanted to be a part of. My hope is
that we can do the same here. The student
section has the opportunity to set the
mood for the entire stadium.”
The season opener on August 31 is just
around the corner, and Brown is excited
about what is to come. He’s eager to
The Brown Family: Adalyn, Anslee, Neal, Dax and Brooke.
Photo by Troy Athletics.
Brown with WVU Director of Athletics Shane Lyons and
President Gordon Gee at Brown’s introductory press
conference. Photo by Dale Sparks/All-Pro Photography.
Brown with defensive end Taijh Alston at the
Gold-Blue Spring Game. Photo by Jenny Shepherd.
experience for himself the contagious
excitement of the Mountaineers’ fanbase,
watch months of teamwork come together
and see the climb commence.
“I am really looking forward to the
climb—getting this program to where we
want it to be,” he says. “We are developing
men who will be leaders, we are building
a program that is consistently winning
and, more importantly, we are building
a program our fanbase and the people of
West Virginia will be really proud of.”