On Sunday afternoon, West Virginia University moved on from head football coach Neal Brown. While many have given their opinion on the move, one of the most notable opinions is that of Pat McAfee.
McAfee, the former Mountaineer punter as well as a host on ESPN's College Gameday and the main host of The Pat McAfee Show, gave his thoughts on Brown as well as what's next for the Mountaineers.
"We would like to appreciate Neal Brown for his services. Neal Brown is a good guy; this is a good guy. I think he operated in a super good-guy fashion, obviously a lot of class. Six years, team seemingly got stagnant or lesser than so in a [power four] program like the Big 12 that gets an automatic bid into the College Football Playoff, and it's as wide-open as it is, you got to make this move. I think Wren Baker knew he had to make this move," McAfee said.
With the visibility McAfee has, he's also been a very popular voice among alumni and people interested in the job.
"There's a coaching search taking place, and I'll tell you what, it was a wild day yesterday. A lot of people want that job, a lot of people," McAfee said.
McAfee added he and WVU Athletic Director Wren Baker talked yesterday following the news of Brown's firing, and he has full faith in Baker to make a successful hire.
"Obviously, I've also donated to the collective, so I guess I deserve a what's up, what's going on. So, I've gotten a chance to chat with Wren Baker yesterday a little bit. I have faith in him, I do. He got it right with the basketball team, he got it right with the basketball coach. There's a lot of options, though, that are trying to get this gig, and those are just the people that I talked to yesterday. Let alone the amount of people that I don't know that are trying to get that job," McAfee said.
McAfee also talked about what WVU represents and the importance of the West Virginia brand as a whole.
"With the way the Big 12 is set up, the way it's constructed, and this is going to sound very narcissistic, but like a West Virginia presence pretty good in the sport and sports media as a whole, with how popular the brand is, good logo, only team in the state... That is the pro team of the state. There's a lot of real good opportunity for people over there, and there's a chance some real special sh-- takes place," McAfee said.
McAfee is a co-host of College Gameday along with former Alabama coach and native West Virginian Nick Saban. McAfee said he's talked to Saban about taking the job, and although he's not interested in coaching, he pointed to saying that Saban would potentially be interested in helping WVU.
"I think Coach Saban is having a good time, I think Coach Saban is enjoying College Gameday. I don't think he's getting back into coaching. I have asked him a thousand times if he's coming to coach West Virginia, he's said no. But I do think he's interested in helping West Virginia, which I think is very good news in this conversation," McAfee said.
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