In case you haven't been paying attention lately, West Virginia head coach Neal Brown made headlines this week thanks to his bizarre message to fans following the loss to Iowa State. On Thursday, he was able to respond to the backlash during his radio show.

“At first I think it wasn't my best answer, was it? I take responsibility for it. I own it. It wasn't my best answer. But let me be clear, I want to start by saying I hate it.” I think anyone who's been around me knows that's not okay. I think every coach and every player in our building can feel the same way.

“I fully understand the expectations and scrutiny that come with this job. I get it and it's part of being in a public space. If you want to criticize us for Saturday's defeat, that's fair. If you want.” Criticizing a move in the game is fair. If you have something to do with football or a specific game, that's fair. I don't know if that's fair.”

While Brown did the right thing by addressing the comments, it still wasn't the perfect response. Was it taken out of context? I don't know. That’s for you, the fans, to judge. He said what he said, and once the first few words of his response were spoken on Monday, no one cared about the rest of what he had to say.

The fact is that it is a results-oriented company. If you don't produce, people will be upset. They will look for every little thing that might make them upset with you and deal with it. The last thing you can do is anger people further by making false statements and painting the canvas as if the results don't matter. Of course Neal hates losing and didn't want to let it come across because he's okay with such results, but it was a lazy way to answer the question asked.

He says he understands what the job entails, but then wonders why his comments were scrutinized so closely. When things aren't going your way, and haven't been since the day you took the job, you're open to having everything you do scrutinized for fairness or not. Unfortunately, that's part of being the head coach at a place like West Virginia, where the results of the game mean so much to the people of the state.

Brown had the opportunity to explain what he wanted to say and then move on. Don't question the validity of the backlash. That's not going to help the situation, as you can probably tell from the reaction from fans on social media.

The only way for everyone to look back on the past week and laugh is to win football games and build a program that consistently ranks in the Big 12. There is no perfect statement, message or apology that Neal can offer to win back the respect of a large portion of the fan base.

MORE STORIES FROM WEST VIRGINIA ON SI

West Virginia's defense will probably beat a few people against Kansas State