West Virginia
West Virginia coach Neal Brown agrees to modest pay cut in 1-year contract extension
West Virginia coach Neal Brown has signed a one-year contract extension that includes a $400,000 pay cut over the next three seasons.
Brown will be paid $4 million in each of the next two seasons, a reduction of $100,000 in 2024 and $200,000 in 2025 from a previous contract signed in 2021. He’ll make $4.3 million in 2026, a $100,000 drop, and $4.4 million in 2027.
The Associated Press obtained details of the latest contract, signed by Brown and West Virginia athletic director Wren Baker and dated Monday, under the Freedom of Information Act.
While the latest agreement does not mention changes to a $3.5 million salary pool for staff from his original contract, Brown said, “My first priority was retaining and rewarding our assistant coaches and support staff who have played such a critical role in our success.
“I appreciate Wren’s support on that front as well as his continued commitment to me and what we are building,” Brown said in a statement. “We share a common vision for this program and that alignment is critical to our continued success.”
The Mountaineers are coming off a surprising 9-4 season after being picked to finish last in the Big 12.
Brown is 31-29 in five seasons, the worst five-year stretch for West Virginia since 1976-80. The Mountaineers are 2-1 in bowl games under Brown, including a 30-10 win over North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in December.
But his teams have never played for a Big 12 championship or been ranked in the AP Top 25. Brown has been especially vulnerable on the road, where his teams have gone 10-18 and lost 10 times by at least 17 points.
Brown would receive three-fourths of his remaining salary if he’s fired. Under the previous contract, Brown’s buyout included all of his remaining salary in 2024 and 85% after that.
If Brown leaves for another school, he would owe West Virginia 10% of his remaining salary, down from 25% in 2024 and 12.5% after that in the previous contract.
“I am pleased with the progress I’ve seen in our football program since arriving last year,” said Baker, who was hired from North Texas in November 2022. “I believe this contract amendment allows us to continue to build on our momentum as we begin our first year in the new and expanded Big 12 Conference.”
The Big 12 welcomes Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah next season to bulk up to 16 teams following the departures of Oklahoma and Texas to the Southeastern Conference. BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF joined the league last fall.
West Virginia
ESPN Bracketology: West Virginia Rises Again, Officially Off the Bubble in Latest Projection
Darian DeVries probably wasn’t all that thrilled with how his team performed in their final game ahead of the Christmas break, but the Mountaineers were still able to take down Mercyhurst by a 67-46 score, finishing non-conference play with a 9-2 record.
The last couple of weeks have been cupcake central for West Virginia, which was much needed after the challenging start to the schedule they had and then, of course, what awaits them when they return to the floor with Big 12 Conference play beginning,
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi has continued to move WVU up in his NCAA Tournament projections over the last month. In his Christmas Day projection, he finally has the Mountaineers safely off the bubble and in the field as a No. 9 seed in the South Region.
1. Auburn vs. 16. Southern/American
8. Clemson vs. 9. West Virginia
5. Memphis vs. 12. Furman
4. Texas A&M vs. 13. High Point
6. Ole Miss vs. 11. Drake/Saint Mary’s
3. Oregon vs. 14. UMass Lowell
7. Michigan vs. 10. Utah State
2. Kentucky vs. 15. Montana
West Virginia will have the next few days off before traveling to Lawrence to take on the Kansas Jayhawks in the Big 12 opener on New Year’s Eve.
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Examining West Virginia’s lost offensive production after the 2024 season
West Virginia is in the midst of a roster overhaul as new head coach Rich Rodriguez starts to build from the ground up. In the last weeks, the Mountaineers have lost dozens of players either to the transfer portal or to eligibility loss, and we look at how much production from this past season will not be returning.
On offense, about 20 guys who recorded snaps this past season will not be returning to the Mountaineers. Nine are out of eligibility, and nine have entered the transfer portal, while that number could still increase.
On offense as a whole, West Virginia has lost 83.25 percent of the total snaps played. 64.52 percent of the snaps lost are due to running out of eligibility. Out of WVU’s top four snap totals, all four came on the offensive line.
Three of them exhausted their eligibility (Ja’Quay Hubbard, Nick Malone, Brandon Yates), and the fourth (Tomas Rimac) entered the transfer portal.
Number of Snaps Lost
Note: In the table above, under the column ‘Total Percentage Lost’, the 52.42% and 46.58% are the share of the total number of snaps played, not the total numebr of snaps played at each position
At the quarterback position, Garrett Greene does not have any remaining eligibility. Greene accounted for just about 30 percent of WVU’s rushing yards, 84 percent of WVU’s passing yards, as well as 22 percent of their scores on the ground, and 75 percent of their passing touchdowns thrown.
At running back the loss of CJ Donaldson looms large. He accounted for 29 percent of WVU’s rushing total this season and between him and others who tallied up much lesser totals, West Virginia has lost 60.21 percent of their rush yards from this past season.
At the receiver position, it’s even more drastic. West Virginia has lost Hudson Clement, DayDay Farmer, Traylon Ray, Justin Robinson, and Kole Taylor, among others who were some of WVU’s top pass catchers. The Mountaineers have lost 76.23 percent of their receiving yards from last year as well as 80 percent of their receiving touchdowns.
Offensive Production Lost
Overall, there is a significant loss on the offensive side of the ball.
West Virginia lost most of their passing game as well as their receiving game due to guys leaving the program. While it’s easy to point to Greene in the passing game because he was the starting quarterback for the majority of the year, most of the production lost at receiver was due to guys entering the transfer portal. At running back, it was roughly a 50-50 split between what percent was lost to the portal and what was lost to eligibility, as Greene as well as Donaldson, were the main contributing factors there.
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UPDATE 11:50 P.M. 12/24/2024
MASON COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ)-Two people are facing charges in connection with a death investigation in Mason County.
Investigators found the remains of a man Tuesday who had been reported missing. The remains were found along Broad Run Road in Letart.
Authorities arrested Brandon Harbaugh and Jodi Gerlach a short time later.
Harbaugh and Gerlach are charged with concealment of a deceased human body and conspiracy, according to Mason County Prosecuting Attorney Seth Gaskins.
Investigators identified the victim as Michael S. Phalen, 65, of New Haven, West Virginia. Investigators say Phalen was reported missing Dec. 12.
Harbaugh and Gerlach were arraigned Tuesday night in Mason County are in the Western Regional Jail on a $75,000 cash or surety bond.
UPDATE 7 P.M. 12/24/2024
MASON COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -A death investigation is underway after human remains were found in Mason County, according to Mason County Prosecuting Attorney Seth Gaskins.
Investigators found the remains of a missing adult male along Broad Run Road in Letart on Tuesday afternoon.
The Mason County Prosecuting Attorney identified the victim as Michael S. Phalen, 65, of New Haven, West Virginia.
Gaskins said that two individuals have been arrested in connection with the investigation. Both are charged with concealment of a deceased human body and conspiracy, although their identities have not been announced.
Copyright 2024 WSAZ. All rights reserved.
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