As North Texas eyes a College Football Playoff berth, the Mean Green have reportedly tabbed the coach who will lead them into the future.
Former West Virginia coach Neal Brown is finalizing a contract to become North Texas’s next coach, according to a Tuesday afternoon report from Pete Thamel of ESPN. Brown, 45, spent 2025 working for Texas as a special assistant to coach Steve Sarkisian.
Brown coached Troy from 2015 to '18, during which time he molded the Trojans into one of the nascent Group of Five's most feared programs. In 2016, Troy won 10 games and threw a scare into eventual national champion Clemson; in 2017, it knocked off LSU in Baton Rouge.
Those successes put him on the Mountaineers' radar, and he led that squad from 2019 to '24. He won 37 games in six season, but never cracked the AP Top 25 and was unable to replicate the success of predecessor Dana Holgorsen.
He’ll replace Eric Morris, who will depart for Oklahoma State at the end of the Mean Green season.
North Texas is scheduled to play Tulane Saturday for the American championship and a likely CFP bid; the Green Wave are also looking for a new coach after Jon Sumrall's departure for Florida.
More College Football on Sports Illustrated
Listen to SI’s new college sports podcast, Others Receiving Votes, below or on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s YouTube channel.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as North Texas Hires Ex-Big 12 Coach to Replace Eric Morris.
