Neal Brown addresses how much pressure is on West Virginia at top of new Big 12

The summer of 2024 brought tectonic changes to college football conferences as multiple longstanding powerhouse programs moved around while one of the institutions, the Pac-12, really just no longer exists.

While the tornado of change is spinning right in West Virginia’s backyard, Mountaineers’ head football coach Neal Brown says the program has never had an issue with conference alterations in the past. Whether competing in the Big East or the new Big 12, Brown is supremely confident WVU can be successful on the football field.

As part of a recent press conference this preseason, Brown was asked about the new lay of the land in the Big 12 and how he believes the WVU program fits into the bigger picture. To answer, he first bragged on the West Virginia tradition.

“Here’s the thing, like, we embrace the tradition,” said Brown. “When we came here in January of ’19, we knew the tradition. And so, the conference championships are on the wall in the weight room.”

Brown went on to say that West Virginia’s tradition and program history doesn’t get the record it deserves.

“I really think our tradition is probably undervalued. I use that term with our players, you know, some of our key players, especially Garrett (Greene),” said Brown.

“But I do think it is. And the reason why? We can make some excuses, you know, like, we’re a small state population-wise. But we are, we flew under the radar, our tradition has flown under the radar.”

Whether it’s flown under the radar or not, the fact is the Mountaineers have a pretty strong history no matter the league, according to Neal Brown.

“I’ve said this a lot when kind of all this realignment was being discussed: Regardless of the conference, West Virginia has always fared really well. We’ve probably had less success in the Big 12, but it’s coming.

“Regardless of conference, we’ve been in a bunch — you know there’s probably some programs out there that have had more, but we’ve had a lot — and the one common theme is we’ve we’ve had success program-wise.”

West Virginia now gets to compete for supremacy in the Big 12. With Oklahoma and Texas gone, there’s a lot more meat on the bone left for the rest, which is certainly good news for the Mountaineers. Neal Brown will hope to really make a splash in the new version of the league in these first few seasons.