2015 class

[bbwvfan]

So to be clear… this pipe dream of mine includes the following facts to support itself.

OU vs WVU. A roughing the kicker penalty and a muffed punt lead to 10 points when OU had been held to a 3 and out prior to the roughing the kicker, and another 3 and out prior to the muffed punt.

WVU vs TT. WVU held a 27-23 lead with under 12 minutes left to play.

WVU vs Texas. WVU held a 40-37 lead with under 3 minutes left to play.

Again… the defense and offense did not do enough to win any of these close games. As long time Mountaineer fans, we have lived through disappointing seasons with terrible W/L records and understood the reasons behind it.

 

[WVUDAD]

Guys, losing to Kansas lowers our program to a level we have not seen since 1979. Since 1980, e have seen peaks and valleys, have suffered some bad losses, and had some great wins. Under Nehlen we played a schedule every bit as strong as we play now, lest you forget PSU, 'Cuse, sPitt were all top teams. Hell you pour piss on the BE, but pretty recently WVU, UL and Rutgers were all in the top 10!!! Kansas is no better than the crappiest team in the BE, and IAST aint much better. You all want to keep on about the lack of players on scholarship, that happens when coaches change, especially when you go from an easy going coach to a tyrant, remember the change from Nehlen to Fraud?? MANY players left, BUT we saw Fraud get players to fit his style and in year two of Fraud WVU won 9 games, and you saw improvement as the season went on. THAT is my biggest beef with THIS staff.... they do not field a better team in November than they do in September.

 

[bbwvfan]

Dad,

You make some good points.

But, you can look up the years when Nehlen was coaching, and he never faced 10 AQ level schools in a regular season. Along with some highly ranked teams he scheduled an ECU or a MAC team. And, when his team had little depth… like the '84 squad… it lost to the likes of Temple at season's end when injuries hit them hard. WVU has never faced the SOS it has the past two seasons… even when the BE was at its strongest.

Except for his first season when it lost to a pathetic Temple, Rich's teams did show improvement through the regular season. However, they would look terrible in their bowl game… I think the Sugar was his first win in a bowl game.

And, you're right… switching coaching staffs has something to do with retention problems. However, I don't think this was a major factor with Dana. He was able to retain a lot of kids, the problem was Stewart's recruits did not qualify… or did not stay in school. Dana has had some of the same issues with his 2012 class… but, not to the same extreme as Stewart.

Not sure how many would agree that KU and ISU are as bad as UConn and Temple… but everyone is entitled to their opinion.

 

[WVUDAD]

Dad,

You make some good points.

But, you can look up the years when Nehlen was coaching, and he never faced 10 AQ level schools in a regular season. Along with some highly ranked teams he scheduled an ECU or a MAC team. And, when his team had little depth… like the '84 squad… it lost to the likes of Temple at season's end when injuries hit them hard. WVU has never faced the SOS it has the past two seasons… even when the BE was at its strongest.

Except for his first season when it lost to a pathetic Temple, Rich's teams did show improvement through the regular season. However, they would look terrible in their bowl game… I think the Sugar was his first win in a bowl game.

And, you're right… switching coaching staffs has something to do with retention problems. However, I don't think this was a major factor with Dana. He was able to retain a lot of kids, the problem was Stewart's recruits did not qualify… or did not stay in school. Dana has had some of the same issues with his 2012 class… but, not to the same extreme as Stewart.

Not sure how many would agree that KU and ISU are as bad as UConn and Temple… but everyone is entitled to their opinion.

The year WVU lost to UConn, they went to a BSC bowl. Kansas is one of the worst teams in CFB!!!!! They are on the level of a Temple. BB, TEAMS play ball, there are good and shitty teams in EVERY league. As to Fraud, even in that horrible 3-8 year, progress was clearly made, and bowl games... WVU has gone to a lot of bowls that were above where the level of play deserved, BECAUSE WVU fans fill the stadiums up. My brother in law refuses to get fired up about WVU football.. BECAUSE they will always break your heart!!! That is one common theme throughout over 100 years, there is disappointment nearly every year. 2005, arguably one of the best seasons ever (notice I did not say team), still it had its letdown against VPI. 1993, the best team WVU ever fielded, who played 11 what would be AQ schools, ended with great disappointment in the loss to UF, again due to bad luck, sickness, injury, and a strong opponent.

 

[GoldRusher]

I have my reservations about Dana and where he is as a HC AND about his recruiting, especially when it comes to the QB spot (how is it so hard with THIS offense?) but firing him this year is not an option A:due to the big buyout and B: it would put the brakes on the recruiting momentum we have right now that Seider and Gibson have gotten going. You can make a point that Dana cant recruit but there is no question these two are VERY good recruiters and they are making an impact right now.
Myself at the top of the list, it's hard to be patient and agree to sit tight but it IS the thing to do at this point, Dana has made some bad hires but he has made some good ones too, we wont get to see the payoff (if there is one to be had) unless we wait n see.

IF the end game is firing DH then the correct way to do it IMO is we sit tight for 2 years, save the buyout money, let the good recruiters do their job and stock the cupboard, THEN if Dana is still not getting it make the move with the correct amount of money to make a great hire and give him a load of talent to get started with.

 

[bbwvfan]

The year WVU lost to UConn, they went to a BSC bowl. Kansas is one of the worst teams in CFB!!!!! They are on the level of a Temple. BB, TEAMS play ball, there are good and shitty teams in EVERY league. As to Fraud, even in that horrible 3-8 year, progress was clearly made, and bowl games... WVU has gone to a lot of bowls that were above where the level of play deserved, BECAUSE WVU fans fill the stadiums up. My brother in law refuses to get fired up about WVU football.. BECAUSE they will always break your heart!!! That is one common theme throughout over 100 years, there is disappointment nearly every year. 2005, arguably one of the best seasons ever (notice I did not say team), still it had its letdown against VPI. 1993, the best team WVU ever fielded, who played 11 what would be AQ schools, ended with great disappointment in the loss to UF, again due to bad luck, sickness, injury, and a strong opponent.

Sorry if there was confusion DAD... I thought you were saying KU and ISU were as bad as any BE team this year. The AAC has replaced the BE, so I thought you were referring to UConn and Temple from this year.

Not sure about the bowl record being due to playing up in competition. Would have to research it. WVU played ACC teams under Rich in the Charlotte, NC bowl and Gator Bowls. Stewart lost to a 6-6 FSU team.

The '93 team played 9 AQ teams in the regular season. Neither EMU or UofL were AQ. UofL did not become an AQ team until it joined the BE in '05.

 

[bbwvfan]

I have my reservations about Dana and where he is as a HC AND about his recruiting, especially when it comes to the QB spot (how is it so hard with THIS offense?) but firing him this year is not an option A:due to the big buyout and B: it would put the brakes on the recruiting momentum we have right now that Seider and Gibson have gotten going. You can make a point that Dana cant recruit but there is no question these two are VERY good recruiters and they are making an impact right now.
Myself at the top of the list, it's hard to be patient and agree to sit tight but it IS the thing to do at this point, Dana has made some bad hires but he has made some good ones too, we wont get to see the payoff (if there is one to be had) unless we wait n see.

IF the end game is firing DH then the correct way to do it IMO is we sit tight for 2 years, save the buyout money, let the good recruiters do their job and stock the cupboard, THEN if Dana is still not getting it make the move with the correct amount of money to make a great hire and give him a load of talent to get started with.

Didn't Dana recruit Ford his first full season as HC? He was rated a 3 star by most, and a 4 star by 247. Was ranked highly by ESPN. Rawlins was kind of a mystery to me. But, Crest is highly regarded by the recruiting services.

I am on the fence about Dana as well. However, I feel he deserves time to see if he can handle the job. Like you said, he made some hires last year to address recruiting... and brought some big league guys to help in that arena. I would want Dana to get time to right the ship despite any buy-out clause. Too many unusual circumstances, and to change now would not correct things immediately.... may even set the program back further.

As you said, if Dana loses this job, the next man in charge should reap the benefits. WVU is clearly getting better recruits, and a better coach should have success with what he inherits.

 

[WVUDAD]

Sorry if there was confusion DAD... I thought you were saying KU and ISU were as bad as any BE team this year. The AAC has replaced the BE, so I thought you were referring to UConn and Temple from this year.

Not sure about the bowl record being due to playing up in competition. Would have to research it. WVU played ACC teams under Rich in the Charlotte, NC bowl and Gator Bowls. Stewart lost to a 6-6 FSU team.

The '93 team played 9 AQ teams in the regular season. Neither EMU or UofL were AQ. UofL did not become an AQ team until it joined the BE in '05.

UH, in 1993 there was no BSC, hence no AQ teams..... 11 of the 12 teams played in 1993 would become AQ teams. Regardless of that, WVU is getting beaten badly on a regular basis NOW. I read on here that the problem is a lack of talent, which I do not agree with, IF the problem is a talent shortage, why can THIS team beat OSU, play with OU and Texas, BUT get blown out by Kansas and UMd????? I see a motivation problem, any coach can get a team up for OU and Texas, but there seems to be an arrogance that this team thinks they can walk in and beat the lesser teams with little effort. Fraud was an asshole, BUT he could get the kids up for MOST games, but again, he had an arrogance in his play calling that led to quite a few losses to USF, and UL, and sPitt most markedly.

 

[JIMKOON]

Jim,

I am not attempting to defend Dana… I am merely trying to find explanations. I did the same with your good friend Bill Stewart. I would pose this question to you… this gathering of friends with ties to WVU… were they all friends with Bill Stewart as well?

I have a group of friends back in WV… some of whom are big time contributors to MAC, and their feelings mirror mine. They don't like where we are, but they understand why we are here.

If your friends don't understand why Dana recruited the JUCO players he has… then they don't understand the void of personnel Dana inherited. His first year, he had 56 scholarship players. 85 is the limit.

Many of the JUCO players WVU recruited were Div 1 athletes that did not have the grades needed to meet eligibility requirements. Some of the guys on WVU's roster were once awarded scholarship offers to Bama, LSU… so, it ain't like they have no talent.

A more informed person would already know this… and understand.

Once you tell me WVU is closer to an 0-11 team… you lose all cred in my book. Sorry…

Once you start bouncing back to Bill Stewart, you lose all credibility with me BB, and for your information, none of my friends supported or wanted Bill Stewart as head coach, in fact, after the bowl game, our meeting was quite loud about the mistake Ed Pastilong had made. So leave the Bill Stewart talk at home. We were almost 100% behind Rich Rod, and the whole program got caught up in the hype after the bowl win, our anger at how RR had done the program, we forgot to really look at what was going on. So no, we did not support our friend Bill Stewart in his appointment to head coach, so belittling by using a dead man to score your points is actually pretty darn pathetic. I forgive your lapse of character tho, it is the state of fan division right now. I also heard that from the AD's office, they were getting about 50/50 on Holgerson in their good/bad feedback.

My group members are also very large MAC contributors(2012 numbers just over $750k). I certainly cannot give on their level anymore. I am sure within all small groups you can find 70-100 supporters to each of our opinions, but as I stated, I found it truly odd that not a single good word was spoken of Dana Holgerson, none, nothing, no hope for his leadership, a sense of impending season after season excuses for failure. If it's not the player talent, it will be the leadership(which our current coach doesn't seem to grasp that he IS the leadership), if it isn't that, it will be the facilities, and so on, and so on. I got some serious earful, and it wasn't fun, or funny, it was sad. I have known some of these guys since Jim Carlin was the head coach, they are lifer's when it come to Mountaineer sports, and they know more about the stats, coaching and political nature of Mountaineer football than you and I do combined. I actually quoted one of my friends at this gathering after he read your post, he could give you more about his reasoning for the 0-11 comment, and it mirrors in his knowledge of the team, and performance, as much as your numbers pleading a 7-4, opinions are like buttholes, we all got one, but neither means a hill of beans when your sitting at 5-7 knowing even a breakeven season is likely. He actually called us fantasy land coaches, I tried to laugh, but it stung and this was not from some rummy fan, he worked side by side with namesake of our home field for 30 years.

 

[JIMKOON]

I have my reservations about Dana and where he is as a HC AND about his recruiting, especially when it comes to the QB spot (how is it so hard with THIS offense?) but firing him this year is not an option A:due to the big buyout and B: it would put the brakes on the recruiting momentum we have right now that Seider and Gibson have gotten going. You can make a point that Dana cant recruit but there is no question these two are VERY good recruiters and they are making an impact right now.
Myself at the top of the list, it's hard to be patient and agree to sit tight but it IS the thing to do at this point, Dana has made some bad hires but he has made some good ones too, we wont get to see the payoff (if there is one to be had) unless we wait n see.

IF the end game is firing DH then the correct way to do it IMO is we sit tight for 2 years, save the buyout money, let the good recruiters do their job and stock the cupboard, THEN if Dana is still not getting it make the move with the correct amount of money to make a great hire and give him a load of talent to get started with.

I heard talk this past couple of days from MAC guys who say they will raise the money for the buyout just to end all this money talk. Their concerns are about the future, and that two more years of this coach, and we face 5 more years after that in correcting the ship. They strongly believe that the on the field play with continual losing WILL begin to effect even the guys we have who are excellent recruiters. We cannot find continued success in Florida and New York, for recruits to compete in the Big 12, and our present showing in the Big 12 is a brickwall to the Texas/Oklahoma pipeline of talent. We have to be concerned when we fail so miserably against a Kansas team laden with 3-mid 3 star players who no other Big 12 team even saw as a third stringer in that hotbed Big 12 recruitment arena. We don't play Big East brand football anymore, we have to eventually grow a Big 12 mentality, and that is where some of us seem to be stuck in our opinions of where this program is. 5-6 lower 4 star recruits a year from Texas/Oklahoma, is not going to build a team with the rest coming from east coast style programs. It doesn't work, it has never worked and living in a pipe dream of thinking it can work, does this program no good, period. I desire a coach with the ability to lead. I desire a coach who can sell Morgantown and all it's good attributes to those top of the class recruits. I want a product on the field that displays the pride of ALL Mountaineer fans, not just a handful here and there flipping nasty's at one another. We do not have that type of program at WVU, and given the current coach, we never will either.

 

[GoldRusher]

Didn't Dana recruit Ford his first full season as HC? He was rated a 3 star by most, and a 4 star by 247. Was ranked highly by ESPN. Rawlins was kind of a mystery to me. But, Crest is highly regarded by the recruiting services.

He was highly rated and may yet still pan out but with a year in the program and a year to learn behind Geno in my mind he was the unquestioned future at QB, then while still healthy he came out of fall camp behind Trick and Millard ? To me that's alarming and reason to get at least 2 more QB's in here in this class just as Dana is doing. I'll stop short of using the term "bust" because Ford is still young but with the injury rumors now floating around that his career may be done at WVU on top of what happened in the fall.... Just saying, it happens.

 

[bbwvfan]

UH, in 1993 there was no BSC, hence no AQ teams..... 11 of the 12 teams played in 1993 would become AQ teams. Regardless of that, WVU is getting beaten badly on a regular basis NOW. I read on here that the problem is a lack of talent, which I do not agree with, IF the problem is a talent shortage, why can THIS team beat OSU, play with OU and Texas, BUT get blown out by Kansas and UMd????? I see a motivation problem, any coach can get a team up for OU and Texas, but there seems to be an arrogance that this team thinks they can walk in and beat the lesser teams with little effort. Fraud was an asshole, BUT he could get the kids up for MOST games, but again, he had an arrogance in his play calling that led to quite a few losses to USF, and UL, and sPitt most markedly.

Have posters on this site stated there is a lack of talent across the board... or a lack of depth of talent?

Would you argue that WVU has a talent issue at QB? Both Paul and Clint have issues... wouldn't you agree? And, Clint cannot stay healthy... Ford was lost for the season. Aren't those legit issues?

Good point about the AQ conferences... there was no BCS. But, there were major conferences and mid-majors... which UofL was an independent then and ready to join CUSA.

 

[bbwvfan]

Once you start bouncing back to Bill Stewart, you lose all credibility with me BB, and for your information, none of my friends supported or wanted Bill Stewart as head coach, in fact, after the bowl game, our meeting was quite loud about the mistake Ed Pastilong had made. So leave the Bill Stewart talk at home. We were almost 100% behind Rich Rod, and the whole program got caught up in the hype after the bowl win, our anger at how RR had done the program, we forgot to really look at what was going on. So no, we did not support our friend Bill Stewart in his appointment to head coach, so belittling by using a dead man to score your points is actually pretty darn pathetic. I forgive your lapse of character tho, it is the state of fan division right now. I also heard that from the AD's office, they were getting about 50/50 on Holgerson in their good/bad feedback.

My group members are also very large MAC contributors(2012 numbers just over $750k). I certainly cannot give on their level anymore. I am sure within all small groups you can find 70-100 supporters to each of our opinions, but as I stated, I found it truly odd that not a single good word was spoken of Dana Holgerson, none, nothing, no hope for his leadership, a sense of impending season after season excuses for failure. If it's not the player talent, it will be the leadership(which our current coach doesn't seem to grasp that he IS the leadership), if it isn't that, it will be the facilities, and so on, and so on. I got some serious earful, and it wasn't fun, or funny, it was sad. I have known some of these guys since Jim Carlin was the head coach, they are lifer's when it come to Mountaineer sports, and they know more about the stats, coaching and political nature of Mountaineer football than you and I do combined. I actually quoted one of my friends at this gathering after he read your post, he could give you more about his reasoning for the 0-11 comment, and it mirrors in his knowledge of the team, and performance, as much as your numbers pleading a 7-4, opinions are like buttholes, we all got one, but neither means a hill of beans when your sitting at 5-7 knowing even a breakeven season is likely. He actually called us fantasy land coaches, I tried to laugh, but it stung and this was not from some rummy fan, he worked side by side with namesake of our home field for 30 years.

Forgive me Jim. My questioning about your friend's ties to Bill Stewart seem legit to me. I grew up in Morgantown, and all of the big boys from there who chastise Dana were supporters of Stewart. I will not disclose my contacts either, but they are part of the powers of influence. My Dad is well connected... I will leave it at that.

I am flattered you would have one of your friends read one of my posts!

 

[bbwvfan]

He was highly rated and may yet still pan out but with a year in the program and a year to learn behind Geno in my mind he was the unquestioned future at QB, then while still healthy he came out of fall camp behind Trick and Millard ? To me that's alarming and reason to get at least 2 more QB's in here in this class just as Dana is doing. I'll stop short of using the term "bust" because Ford is still young but with the injury rumors now floating around that his career may be done at WVU on top of what happened in the fall.... Just saying, it happens.

I don't know why Ford came out of fall camp behind the other two. I have not heard any rumors.

Trying to read the tea leaves following the OU game, my read on Dana's decision was Ford had not behaved like a leader during fall camp. He mentioned his leadership on the sidelines during the OU game, and stated this was cause to open the competition for the starting position for the GSU game.

We've been kind of spoiled as fans when it comes to the QB position. Sucks that we've been given a dose of reality.

How many transfers... JUCO or otherwise... make impressive debuts their first season with their new team? I guess the Hoss is an example of a kid who came and was really good from the start.


I have hope Skylar Howard will choose WVU. But, I don't expect him to be our savior. Even Jake the Snake had a rough first season at WVU after transferring from ND.

 

[bbwvfan]

Here is an article from Dave Hickman on WVU's defense... pretty much tells the tale... and mirrors what I have been saying here...


WVU: ?Close to a good defense? or not?  - WVU - The Charleston Gazette - West Virginia News and Sports -


I think this best explains the inconsistent play of the defense...


Twenty-two players were listed on West Virginia's preseason defensive depth chart, two at each position. Of those 22, more than half (12) have missed games due to injury, five of them season-ending injuries. Of the four players listed at cornerback, none are on the two-deep now. Of the eight players listed at the four linebacker spots, all have missed time and only three will be active on Saturday.


"Look at just our spur-nickel position. Since the Oklahoma game, we haven't gone two weeks in a row and played the same guy there,'' Patterson said. "One game, Georgia State, we didn't even play anyone there. We just did away with the defense because we didn't have anyone. I've never seen anything like that.''

 

[JIMKOON]

Forgive me Jim. My questioning about your friend's ties to Bill Stewart seem legit to me. I grew up in Morgantown, and all of the big boys from there who chastise Dana were supporters of Stewart. I will not disclose my contacts either, but they are part of the powers of influence. My Dad is well connected... I will leave it at that.

I am flattered you would have one of your friends read one of my posts!

I was attempting to back up my points of a consensus of fans who believe a "wait" attitude was worthy of Dana Holgerson. It backfired on me. I felt your post worthy of discussion, I always do. But because some of the radicals who see some horrible wrong was done to Bill Stewart, those of us who were friends, ALWAYS believed he was the absolute wrong choice, and that his appointment at a time of great hurt for everyone by RR, was sorely misplaced, and would eventually reveal his lack of ability. He was loyal to a fault to WVU, but Bill Stewart had only marginal experience as a head coach(and it wasn't all that good experience either). So be a bit careful of your caustic assumptions because of what others say. I do not fit the DAD group at all, even with Bill Stewart being a friend outside of the football program. I NEVER wanted him as head coach, and I told him so countless times. Did I cheer his successes? Yes. But I told him about every mistake too. That was the nature of our friendship. We never blew smoke up each others butts. We told it like it was. For the last time, Bill Stewart should have never been appointed head coach, but he was my friend.

In my opinion, Dana Holgerson had even less experience than Bill Stewart, and was even more a monumental mistake given our jump to the Big 12. I understand the thinking, he had some experience as an assistant coach within the Big 12, but it was mostly quarterback responsibilities, not an entire team, not as the leadership, he was the team follower being told what to do. Is that what we wanted at such an important junction of our program? Maybe if I had not watched him at Houston, Texas Tech and OSU, it would be easier to accept his mistakes, BUT, I did see him, I watched his demeanor with players, I SAW his unrelenting temper. Those things aside, other than some high scoring games, and some high yardage quarterbacks, name me one conference championship? Name me the year a team he was an assistant on that won a national championship. It isn't there, so don't bother. Good teams could always figure his system out, something radically apparent to even the most ardent fan, after the first 5 games last year. His dink and dunk passing game became exposed, and we have not seen but bits and pieces of it since. Even with Geno, Tavon and Stedman, he couldn't do it, and all 3 of those players are in the NFL. Geno and Tavon having some reasonable rookie success. So why couldn't we win? Now I'm fully aware of the depth gap on defense and offensive line in 2012, and that we started a whole bunch of freshman. But 12 games into this season, no matter how you play the stats lines, we have not improved. Not on offense, to keep the defense off the field, nor on defense to stop making every 3 star opposing quarterback look like a Heisman potential. Some of these opponents have had career days against us, in the first half. Yes, we have had the injury bug, but so does every other team in the FBS. We don't seem to be capable of coaching UP anybody on our roster, and that is a direct result of an ineffective head coach, period. You can't make a silk purse out of a sal's ear. You also cannot make a head coach out of a person not willing to change. Dana Holgerson refuses to change. He is never wrong. It's the players fault, even the ones he recruited.

 

[bbwvfan]

Jim,


I was not a fan of the way Bill Stewart was named HC. At the beginning of his tenure, I belittled him and his constant flopping of how he wanted to run the offense.


But, my emotions about the matter only affected the way I felt about the team. It stopped being fun for me.


So, I changed my perspective and started supporting his efforts. I defended him on the CBS boards, and wanted him to succeed. He did succeed... just not enough to quiet the masses. And, I lost support after watching WVU lose back-to-back games to inferior opponents in his last year as HC.


Dana has my support until the next guy is placed in charge. It is how I roll these days.


I enjoy the process much more using this philosophy. Cause there ain't nothing I can do about any of it anyways.

 

[bbwvfan]

From the BGN site... this post was made by Chris Lambert... some know him as TheDudeWV on Twitter....


WVU's roster has:

- 11 seniors on scholarship.
- 10 of the seniors were recruited by the previous staff. The other is a transfer (Simms)
- 18 scholarship juniors on the roster.
- 7 of those juniors on scholarship are transfers playing their first year at WVU.

That's a combined upper class of 20 players recruited by the previous staff.

Of those 20 only 4 are offensive players (1 WR and 3 OL).

 

[JIMKOON]

Jim,


I was not a fan of the way Bill Stewart was named HC. At the beginning of his tenure, I belittled him and his constant flopping of how he wanted to run the offense.


But, my emotions about the matter only affected the way I felt about the team. It stopped being fun for me.


So, I changed my perspective and started supporting his efforts. I defended him on the CBS boards, and wanted him to succeed. He did succeed... just not enough to quiet the masses. And, I lost support after watching WVU lose back-to-back games to inferior opponents in his last year as HC.


Dana has my support until the next guy is placed in charge. It is how I roll these days.


I enjoy the process much more using this philosophy. Cause there ain't nothing I can do about any of it anyways.

I respect and attempt to embrace your philosophy, but there is, whether we wish to see it, or not, a growing swell of caustic complaints about our head coach, by many who turned a somewhat blind eye to his less than stellar resume. No matter how we break down the numbers, look for silver linings and project the positive, the losses make all those things ring hollow in the ears of many Mountaineer fans, and that has not a single thing to do with Bill Stewart. I will agree, there is a rather pathetic caustic group of fans out there, who continue to attempt to use a dead man as their banner of disgust with Dana Holgerson. They lose ground with me when they fail to see that we would have failed miserably in the Big 12 the last two seasons, NO matter who the head coach was between the two, maybe even worse given the less than glowing recruiting style of the previous coaching staff.

But, we will never know, will we? I don't look back, or try to compare. Yet I do look to our future, and no matter how you wanna slice it, the positives are pretty darn thin. We do need for something to happen, whether it be replace Dana, or delegate some of his inexperience to coordinators with the experience. I don't know the fix, but we have to do something before we slip much farther.

 

[bbwvfan]

Jim,


IMO, there is a great divide among the Mountaineer fan base. There are some like me... then there are some like I mentioned who supported Bill and hated the way Luck treated him, and want the same treatment of Bill to be placed on Dana... and, there are some who are John Raese supporters... who hate Clements, Luck, Huggs and Holgs... as they are carpetbaggers who only care about the money... they got rid of the old good ole boy network... they hate the changes put in place... and celebrate the failures of each entity. I always considered Huggs a WV boy... so, I have trouble understanding this lot.


Dana was considered one of the hottest prospects in the country when Luck hired him as the HCIW. He came heavily endorsed by Leach. I think it was certainly expected he would end up a HC somewhere in short time with his glowing record of producing one top ranked offense after another... at multiple schools.


However, just because you're a hotshot OC... does not mean you will become a hotshot HC.


We are watching a man become a HC. It has been painful at times.


But, he has quite a lot of different issues affecting his ability to produce winning results. Maybe he is not mature enough as a HC to handle all of this. But, he has shown signs of growth since his arrival, so I hope he continues down this path.


It is fine if you don't look back. However, one has to understand history to affect change for the present and for the future.