MORGANTOWN — The charter plane touched down at a sun-splashed Morgantown Municipal Airport on Sunday evening — the first time new West Virginia head football coach Neal Brown laid eyes on his new home.
First emerged Athletic Director Shane Lyons from the cabin, followed by Brown, who was greeted by several WVU athletics staff members.
About a dozen fans stood outside the gate near the runway, while others gazed from inside the airport through tall windows.
“Welcome to Morgantown, coach!” a fan yelled from behind a mesh fence.
“Thank you, thank you all for coming out,” Brown responded. “You guys must have done some really good investigating. We’re looking forward to getting started. It will be fun and it’s the start of something great.”
One of the fans watching from inside was Thomas Lyall, of Morgantown. Lyall is looking forward to seeing what Brown can do with the football program.
“I’m excited for Neal Brown’s chapter at West Virginia,” he said. “I feel like a lot of people have gotten worn down with football the last couple years with Dana Holgorsen and I think this freshens it up in a way — we bring in a guy who’s had three-straight 10 win seasons at Troy.
“I think he’s going to take the program to that same kind of level.”
Brown was officially hired by WVU Saturday morning after agreeing to a 6-year, $19.05 million contract. He addressed the Troy fan base during the Trojans’ men’s basketball game.
On a Twitter video Sunday, Brown said he was going to speak with the players at West Virginia later that night. He finished the 5 second clip with a “Let’s go Mountaineers.”
An introductory press conference is expected toward the end of the week.
