WVU and Bill Stewart

[WVRed]

I know this happened earlier today and there is no thread, but the hire has drawn some controversy.

Ken Kendrick, part owner of the Diamondbacks and a major contributor to WVU, denounced the move and compared it to "hiring a painter for a house when they had an architect in place".

I'm not a big fan of WVU, but I think they made the right choice for right now. The team had been through hell since the Pitt game and then Rodriguez leaving. Bill Stewart had the overwhelming support of the players as evidenced by the play in the Fiesta Bowl last night. If a coach was brought in outside the organization, you would almost certainly see Steve Slaton and Pat White go pro, and Noel Devine possibly transferring. Not to mention Stewart gives them the best chance to keep Josh Jenkins in state.

The contract is for five years at four million total. If Stewart does indeed falter past next season after White and Slaton graduate and cannot succeed in Rich Rodriguez's footsteps, it's not like they will have to eat much of a contract.

It's not the best long term solution, but for the short term, they need to keep the team together.

On a lighter note, here in Parkersburg, the big joke was that WVU should have hired a former coach of Parkersburg High who would be "behind them all the way". If anybody here is from West Virginia, I think you can guess who I am referring to.

[Bip Roberts]

I liked the guy from the interview and he did get them to play pretty darn well against what some were calling a very possible NC contender.

If he sucks then great news for UC

[Danny Serafini]

I'm by no means any kind of expert on WVU football. But giving someone a five year deal based on one good showing doesn't sound like a recipe for success. Maybe this guy will be good, but by not running a real hiring search they've sold themselves short.

[Degenerate39]

Originally Posted by WVRed

On a lighter note, here in Parkersburg, the big joke was that WVU should have hired a former coach of Parkersburg High who would be "behind them all the way". If anybody here is from West Virginia, I think you can guess who I am referring to.

I think I know you're talking about but I can't remember the name

[Oxilon]

He'll probably have WVU solid for atleast the next year or two since they'll still have Pat White, Steve Slaton, and Noel Divine. I don't question his ability to motivate his athletes, it's the other part of coaching that I do. He has to hire a staff, be able to recruit, and not to mention coach. I just see this turning into another Larry Coker situation, in which he inherited a good set of players, but the program just degressed over his tenure.

[WMR]

When did boosters start calling into radio shows criticizing coaching hires of their university??? That seems way wrong to me.

[Danny Serafini]

Originally Posted by WilyMoROCKS

When did boosters start calling into radio shows criticizing coaching hires of their university??? That seems way wrong to me.

When you spend millions on the program you get a voice. Not saying it's right (in fact if you ask me the whole booster system is a mess) but it's how things work today.

[WMR]

I understand that giving a university millions of dollars gets you a voice, but that voice should ALWAYS remain "behind the scenes."

Doing what Kendrick did is beyond distasteful, IMO.

[Danny Serafini]

It absolutely is. But the whole business behind college athletics is distasteful, so what he did, in comparison, is just par for the course.

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by Danny Serafini

I'm by no means any kind of expert on WVU football. But giving someone a five year deal based on one good showing doesn't sound like a recipe for success. Maybe this guy will be good, but by not running a real hiring search they've sold themselves short.

5 years at $4M is not big money compared to a lot of coaches. Keep him 2-3 years and if he stinks the max they have to pay him is either $2.4M or $1.6M. If Rodriguez has to pay all of that buyout back, that's Stewart's contract right there.

[Boston Red]

Originally Posted by Chip R

5 years at $4M is not big money compared to a lot of coaches. Keep him 2-3 years and if he stinks the max they have to pay him is either $2.4M or $1.6M. If Rodriguez has to pay all of that buyout back, that's Stewart's contract right there.

It's not the money that's the issue. If he stinks, how long does it take your program to climb back out of the toilet? They're taking a HUGE risk with Stewart, no matter the money.

[pedro]

He seems like a really nice guy and the players apparently love him. It's their experience not mine. I say good for them.

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by Boston Red

It's not the money that's the issue. If he stinks, how long does it take your program to climb back out of the toilet? They're taking a HUGE risk with Stewart, no matter the money.

How bad could he stink? Could he be any worse than Bill Callahan at Nebraska was? If you get a good coach and he can recruit well, it shouldn't take that much time for the program to re-emerge. Besides, it isn't like WVU is in the SEC or anything.

Besides, if you give him a one or two year deal, that's going to hurt their recruiting big time. You'll have recruits saying, "Hmmm, I like this guy but he may not be around in a year or two. Maybe I better go somewhere where the administration has confidence in their coach like UC."

[Boston Red]

Nebraska is a pretty good example. They made a bad hire or two, and they've stunk for awhile now. If it can happen at Nebraska, it can damn sure happen at West by God Virginia.

I hope it works out, but it's an enormous risk they're taking with their program.

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by Boston Red

Nebraska is a pretty good example. They made a bad hire or two, and they've stunk for awhile now. If it can happen at Nebraska, it can damn sure happen at West by God Virginia.

I hope it works out, but it's an enormous risk they're taking with their program.

Anyone would be a risk. Fear of the unknown is one of mankind's greatest fears. Would it be any less riskier if they had hired some assistant from some other school or Terry Bowden or a guy like Jerry Moore at Appy State? You think tOSU wasn't taking a risk when they hired Tressell? That worked out well.

That said, I'm not in favor of going on players' feelings in regards to hiring a coach - or a manager. They usually have their own agendas about that sort of thing and it may not be the same one the administration has. Plus if you give them the power to hire a coach, you give them the power to fire him too. If WVU had lost yesterday, would Stewart still have been hired? If WVU still thought he was the right guy for the job then they should have regardless of the outcome of that game.