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WVU Debacle

KanhojiAngre said:
How has it damaged the program? They haven't played a game since last season. Recruiting seems to be going better than in recent seasons.

Stewart was given a terrible extension by the previous AD that made it expensive to fire him after last season. I would imagine after this coming season he would have been moved upstairs into a gladhanding role, so as to again avoid paying his buyout.

Since with this report and investigation they could probably have established cause, I imagine the negotiations for his resignation are much more favorable to the university than they would have been when they wanted to hire Holgorsen.

WVU doesn't print money like Ohio State or Florida. I thought the arrangement was a creative way to deal with a problem. The offense was the big problem with WVU football the last two years (at least), along with generally poor player development and game day decision making, and recruiting. Those fall under the categories of offensive coordinator and head coach, respectively. It was clear WVU was going nowhere fast under Stewart, but couldn't afford to can him. I imagine WVU expected that Stewart would handle the situation more professionally and with respect for the opportunity he got at WVU that he would never have gotten anywhere else. But that didn't happen, and now he's gone, and his departure I imagine will cost the university next to nothing.
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I get that this was a tricky situation, and I also agree that this was a creative solution, but that doesn't make it a good one. I don't really understand how it can be up for debate that firing someone and then making him work alongside his replacement while his entire staff is overhauled by said replacement is a good idea. I agree that one would hope Stewart would act with professionalism, but he was put in an extraordinarily awkward situation. Luck comes out of this looking, at best, naive.

The programs Luck cited as models for this set-up (laughable comparisons giving that Wisconsin and Oregon were replacing legends, not failures) did so in order to make a smooth transition. Was this a smooth transition? Obviously not. In this environment do you really believe that players were being effectively developed and recruited throughout the spring? And, of course, Stewart could have easily sabotaged recruiting efforts.

WVU doesn't have Texas, Florida, or Ohio State money, but they still have money. I feel pretty confident that this situation could have been handled better, but the AD was looking for the cheap way, not the best way.

Holgerson is a great coach though. They should have figured out a way to give Stewart a do nothing job in the athletic department and have Holgerson start out as HC from the get go.
 
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TexasDeac10 said:
Holgerson's a damn good coach. Had success on the field everywhere he's been. You just have to hope he doesn't screw up monumentally off the field.
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Yeah, I hope he doesn't fall over a coffee table in a hotel room or something. That might cost him his job. Or get involved with a student/cheerleader.
 
TBR said:
I get that this was a tricky situation, and I also agree that this was a creative solution, but that doesn't make it a good one. I don't really understand how it can be up for debate that firing someone and then making him work alongside his replacement while his entire staff is overhauled by said replacement is a good idea. I agree that one would hope Stewart would act with professionalism, but he was put in an extraordinarily awkward situation. Luck comes out of this looking, at best, naive.

The programs Luck cited as models for this set-up (laughable comparisons giving that Wisconsin and Oregon were replacing legends, not failures) did so in order to make a smooth transition. Was this a smooth transition? Obviously not. In this environment do you really believe that players were being effectively developed and recruited throughout the spring? And, of course, Stewart could have easily sabotaged recruiting efforts.

WVU doesn't have Texas, Florida, or Ohio State money, but they still have money. I feel pretty confident that this situation could have been handled better, but the AD was looking for the cheap way, not the best way.

Holgerson is a great coach though. They should have figured out a way to give Stewart a do nothing job in the athletic department and have Holgerson start out as HC from the get go.
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I think Stewart was basically the Queen ruling over Canada. He didn't have enough involvement to sabotage anything. Holgorsen was recruiting, their top commit so far is a QB from Texas if that tells you anything. The entire staff wasn't overhauled. Some staff were retained, mostly on defense. The offensive staff was pretty much completely thrown out, of course. But the DC was no great fan of Stewart's, so I don't really see that as a problem. Some thought Casteel should be the HC after Stewart. He's pretty good and has been practically a WVU lifer.

If his guy -- Holgorsen -- gets hired by someone else in the year he waits to fire Stewart, how does he look then? I've been telling people for several years that someone should hire Holgorsen. A friend of mine is involved with the Memphis program and I thought they should have hired Holgorsen before he went to Oklahoma State. I am thrilled that he's at WVU, and a better fit is harder to imagine at a major program level for a guy like him. Could be at a very good time too.

Bottom line is they couldn't get the money to fire Stewart early enough to be able to ensure they got Holgorsen.

Given Oliver Luck's sports business background, I would be very careful tossing around words like naive.
 
His comments and actions suggest naivety. Disagree if you like, but that's how I see the situation.
 
The result is WVU got rid of the guy they wanted rid of and the guy they wanted to be the head coach is the head coach.

Do public figures always tell the press what they're really thinking?
 
I thought the situation was a disaster from the outset, and that Luck had lost his mind, but looks like he knew what he was doing after all. Though it was a stroke of luck that Stewart decided to go crazy.
 
Please tell me that pun was not intended.

Luck may have known how to set him off to screw up. Whether he planned it or not, it looks like a genius move.
 
PhDeac said:
Please tell me that pun was not intended.

Luck may have known how to set him off to screw up. Whether he planned it or not, it looks like a genius move.
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HAHAHA. Total accident. And yeah, I'm sure Luck had an idea Bill might do something stupid. Happens when you fire people.
 
Ball State Deac said:
I thought the situation was a disaster from the outset, and that Luck had lost his mind, but looks like he knew what he was doing after all. Though it was a stroke of luck that Stewart decided to go crazy.
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If he hadn't gone crazy, then it would have worked fine too because they would have gotten the guy running the show that they wanted, and not had to pay Stew's buyout.
 
KanhojiAngre said:
If he hadn't gone crazy, then it would have worked fine too because they would have gotten the guy running the show that they wanted, and not had to pay Stew's buyout.
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Yeah, I concede, Luck knew what he was doing. Short term pain for a greater chance of long term gain.
 
It would be very interesting to hear the entire conversation involving Stewart's remarks. Of course what he said was bad and serious; however, I can envision leading comments setting him up for saying something very negative.
 
mebanedeac said:
It would be very interesting to hear the entire conversation involving Stewart's remarks. Of course what he said was bad and serious; however, I can envision leading comments setting him up for saying something very negative.
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Remarks? He tried to get a reporter to dig up dirt on Holgorsen to get him fired so he could keep his job. It wasn't really about what he said, but what he did.
 
Possible scenario:

Reporter:"Hey, Bill, I hear your replacement is quite a party animal and that he doesn't hold his liquor very well. I am really afraid that he will embarrass the university and it could be very bad. Honestly I like the way you have run this program and I think this is a disastrous hire."

Bill: "Well, if that is your concern you should do some background searches and see if you can dig up some dirt on him, if that is a serious concern on your part."
 
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