Neal Brown had experience in the Big 12 prior to this past season at West Virginia but it's a different league than he remembers.
Brown spent 2010-12 in the league as the offensive coordinator for Texas Tech but his first back competing in it was a different experience altogether.
“I think the league has changed,” he said.
For instance, Brown believes that there is more parity from top to bottom as evidenced by some of the competitive games across the league schedule.
The Mountaineers for instance had an opportunity to win, or lose depending on how you look at it, each of the conference games they played heading in the fourth quarter. A total of 24 of the conference games finished within one score during the 2019 season, a total of 18 of those occurred in 2012.
West Virginia of course finished this past season 5-7 but it’s some insight into what games could be like in the future as the league continues to evolve.
Part of that can be contributed to what Brown has noticed with improvement in the coaching on defense and special teams compared to his first stint in the league.
For example, the defenses for the 10 teams on average allowed only 26.8 points per game in 2019 compared to 29.4 during that 2012 season that Brown last coached in the league.
He also values that the schedule is unique to the conference at the power five level in the sense that each team plays every other team in the league in a nine-game gauntlet.
“That’s a grind,” he said.
A grind that Brown is excited to take on in his second year in the conference.
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