Troy names Neal Brown new football coach

Dec 1, 2014 - 1:45 PM Troy, AL (SportsNetwork.com) - Troy University has named Neal Brown its new head football coach.

Brown returns to Troy, where he spent four seasons as an assistant coach from 2006-09. He had been the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Kentucky for the past two seasons.

During his first stint at Troy, the Trojans won or shared four consecutive Sun Belt Conference championships and earned three bowl invitations. He was the inside receivers coach for his first two seasons at Troy and was the offensive coordinator in his last two years.

Brown was also the offensive coordinator at Texas Tech from 2010-12 before his most recent tenure at Kentucky.

The Trojans needed a replacement for the retiring Larry Blakeney, who spent 24 years guiding the program.

Blakeney, a two-time coach of the year in the Sun Belt Conference, has overseen the program's rise from Division II to the Football Championship Subdivision and in 2001 the Football Bowl Subdivision.

The Trojans won five conference titles and appeared in five bowl games from 2006-10 under Blakeney, who finished with a record of 178-113-1.