Was Nehlen the greatest of all WVU coaches?

[mountaineers44]

Was Nehlen the greatest of all WVU coaches? » College Sports » The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

It was also Nehlen who took the football program to its highest levels. The 1988 and 1993 teams posted the only perfect 11-0 regular-season records.

I personally think this piece is relevant to the lack of depth DH is dealing with. Nehlan always redshirted a good deal of incoming freshman, then the 5th year senior laden class would have banner years - 1988 to 1993 - five year span.

 

[bbwvfan]

Personally, I have referred back to Nehlen's era quite frequently. Nehlen mentioned in his autobiography that he had to reload after his magic run in '88. The 1990 team was void of talent, underclassmen were forced to see playing time before they were ready. The team suffered through a 4-7 season.

3 years later… they went undefeated through a challenging schedule.

Nehlen developed players. For some reason, we have fans not willing to see if the current staff can accomplish the same thing…

 

[GoldRusher]

He is in my book. When he left it was a year or two too late but that is totally understandable.

 

[CoolBeans]

This is an easy question.

He was "one of" the greatest coaches at WVU. WVU was better off because of Don Nehlen. Class Act, Made WVU a Top 40 program, brought WVU into the mainstream of college football. There were mistakes, but all coaches have made them. He lingered a little too long...OKay, but to doubt the mans contribution to me is crazy.

 

[DCWV4life]

I think he or RR....I think Nehlan was lucky to coach in the era he did coach in.....besides the two undefeated seasons many of his seasons were pretty average or below. His Bowl record was terrible, but I will give him credit for making it to a bowl then since it actually was a accomplishment during his time. Nehlan 1A RR 1B

I do not think we are where we are now without RR's tenure. I loved his offense and he has been successful with it at all of his stops(defense was the issue at Michigan) Personally I have held a grudge about RR since he left, the more I learn about the situation the more I understand we had a coach that wanted to do the things we always wanted to do here, but was held back by the greedy old guard. It has made me lessen my stance towards him to a certain degree.

 

[Anotherwvufan]

I'm making the argument for Bill Stewart here. Best winning percentage of any WVU coach, Won BCS bowl, winning bowl record. Recruited best 2 WRs to WVU ever, best QB ever. Never had a losing season. Consistent.

Sure he had trouble filling his classes and keeping depth, but that did not keep him from winning.

 

[DCWV4life]

Stew was .500 in bowl games...three 9-4 seasons are not bad..I don't think he was a very good coach and if He would have stayed and WVU followed the same path we would be in deeper poo than we are in now. IMO...kept us afloat no doubt.

 

[Slaton10]

Was Nehlen the greatest of all WVU coaches?

hmm..I read this as a trick question...I say it's Bobby Bowden by a mile!!

 

[GoldRusher]

Was Nehlen the greatest of all WVU coaches?

hmm..I read this as a trick question...I say it's Bobby Bowden by a mile!!

After seeing how it worked out for Bobby here then how things worked out at FSU it just seals it for Dandy Don in my book. Just think of what that cat would have done at FSU where he didnt have to leave the state for recruits!

 

[Mac_Bridger]

Art Lewis or Nehlen. Since I wasn't around when Art Lewis coached, I have to go with Nehlen. He did more with less talent than anybody else. Hot Rod got lucky, but he consistently showed an inability to adapt. Nehlen made some bad decisions, but he could mold players like no other coach.

And yes, Don had his 5 year cycle. 88, 93 and what could have been in 98...

 

[mountaineers44]

I agree, Dandy Don did bring WVU football to new heights and was one of the greatest coaches at the university. Same can be said for Rich Rod and he did it in half the time, however like Mac pointed out his lack of adapting in certain situations was a weakness. I believe it is all boils down to each persons perspective of the article. Who was the greatest coach or who contributed more to the program. Rich and Don contributed more, but Bowden has a much more impressive resume as a coach.

I was simply trying to point out the current staffs inherited lack of depth (yes they had a few players in there) and a fan base who is not allowing the coach to rite the ship and put his stamp on the program.

 

[Mac_Bridger]

No doubt DH has a tough road. He has to rebuild and rebuild against tough competition in a new landscape. I think most of us ARE giving him a chance. We're not asking for the world and it's year 4. We just want to see that things are getting better.

RR inherited a lot of talent. He didn't have to rebuild the team. Granted, he had to reshape it in his image, but he had talent to do it with.

Don also had a lot of talent to work with. Cignetti couldn't coach (at the time) but he could recruit. The thing about Don is that he could take one and two star recruits and turn them into quality players or better. He excelled at getting the most out of every player.

 

[DCWV4life]

What are you guys talking about RR couldn't adjust....how many games did we go in at halftime up 7 and win the game by 20+....plus he had casteel adjusting as well. Did he adjust well 13-9 nope but I do not think lack of adjusting is a fair trademark to give RR. IMO

L

 

[GoldRusher]

What are you guys talking about RR couldn't adjust....how many games did we go in at halftime up 7 and win the game by 20+....plus he had casteel adjusting as well. Did he adjust well 13-9 nope but I do not think lack of adjusting is a fair trademark to give RR. IMO

L

To his defense P Dub WAS injured in that game.

 

[bbwvfan]

Exactly how would Rich adjust? Adjust tempo? His teams ran 6 fucking plays…

 

[DCWV4life]

I keep hearing 6 plays well those 6 plays(even though we know it was more than 6) usually produced 400+ plus yards of offense....what did he need to adjust ?

But more to the point there were a lot of halfs in games he coached that were played different... Like I said that offense always seemed to break through...maybe he just adjusted by calling 1 play out of the 6 more often lol

 

[Mac_Bridger]

What are you guys talking about RR couldn't adjust....how many games did we go in at halftime up 7 and win the game by 20+....plus he had casteel adjusting as well. Did he adjust well 13-9 nope but I do not think lack of adjusting is a fair trademark to give RR. IMO

L

If you go in with a lead, then I'd say your gameplan is working... Just a thought.

 

[WVUDAD]

What are you guys talking about RR couldn't adjust....how many games did we go in at halftime up 7 and win the game by 20+....plus he had casteel adjusting as well. Did he adjust well 13-9 nope but I do not think lack of adjusting is a fair trademark to give RR. IMO

L

RR had issues adjusting, look at him against good defensive coaches, USF always held Fraud's offense in check, VPI handled his offense, Fraud was arrogant enough to think his gameplan was going to work, and stuck to those six plays even when he was getting beat, he relied on having those breakout skill players. What would Frauds record have been had it not been for White and Slaton busting loose behind Schmitts great blocks? Most of the yardage was not made by great play planning and calling, but by White being a master of reading the defense and holding the ball until the last second to make the pitch or keep, and without Schmitts blocking, he was an 8-4 coach, tops. Nehlen took a program from 2-9 just two years before he came, played some rough schedules, took us into a new league, never got in trouble, was highly respected by his peers, hands down Nehlen is the best in history at WVU.

 

[WvuDieHard]

I have to go with Don Nehlen. I met Don 3 times in my life. Once at a golfing event, of which he jokingly accused me of cheating, another time at Coopers Rock after he retired, and last year in the parking lot. What impressed me was his friendly demeanor. This was not just the way he was with the fans, he was that way with his players too. So in that regard, he got effort on the field and consistent results. I felt his personality had a way of bringing out the best in people. A former player named Cam Zopp (LB) told me that Nehlen was a players Coach. A Coach that conveyed his message very well and held his players accountable.