Shane Lyons issues statement on Neal Brown following West Virginia’s loss to Kansas

Days after West Virginia’s embarrassing overtime loss to the Kansas Jayhawks, WVU Director of Athletics and Associate Vice President Shane Lyons issued the following statement to The Associate Press’ John Raby this afternoon.

I know and deeply care that our fans are frustrated with the start of the football season, but so are our coaches and student-athletes, who have busted their tails getting ready for the year. As athletics director, I am as disappointed as the fans, but I see how much our coaches and players care and want to win and make our fans proud. Everyone involved knows that the on-field results have not met expectations and absolutely no one is satisfied. There are 10 games left in the season and the focus is still on getting the results that we all expect.

That seems to tip-toe the line of the dreaded “vote of confidence” statement that you typically see as a final, public warning when things start going south for a head coach. The “everyone involved knows that the on-field results have not met expectations” part, specifically, makes me believe Lyons has at least had a conversation with Neal in the last 48 hours to let him know what’s expected going forward.