Why wvu should be hopeful? Rich Rodriguez took over for one of WVUs greatest coaches, not just in football but in all of our sports. Despite having a rough start, he was able to finally get the players he needed and established us as one of the most exciting programs in the country, at least to watch. Us being in the Big East which at the time was a shell of its former self was the only thing preventing us from being one of those nationally recognized brands (IMO). However, Rodriguez thought he had a better opportunity at Michigan, and bolted, and left us with Bill Stewart (who, btw, I still have major respect for; more on that further down). From then on, what Rodriguez had built started to fall. In Stewarts first season, he still had the core components of a typical Rodriguez offense; Pat White, a great RB, good WRs, etc. But he wasnt able to keep the stability intact. We went on to underperform for the rest of his tenure. The year of Brown and then Genos first year was evidence that Stewart was trying to put his own brand of football on WVU, getting away from what Rodriguez ran. The problem is that while that brand may have sufficed in the Big East and 9-win seasons, this wasnt going to bring us back to the near-national recognition that Rodriguez gave us. While I do believe that Stewart kept WVU football stable and at least somewhat relevant, it was clear to everyone that he wasnt aiming for the stars. In comes Holgs. His goal obviously is to win a national championship. It was set forth by Luck, so it must be what he strives for. Heres the problem, though; he wasnt left with the necessary tools to run his style of offense properly. Just as Rodriguez didnt inherit sufficient players from Nehlen, Holgs didnt get much from Stewart. He was lucky to have Geno/Tavon/Bailey, but that was literally it. Those three should be grateful for Holgorsen because without him, I doubt they wouldve been drafted the way they did. I mean, did we see them lighting up the field in Stewarts final year? No. All of you constantly claim that Holgs isnt a head coach, but its not like Geno was NFL material when he was a Sophomore. Holgorsen, through time, built him, as well as Tavon and Stedman, into NFL-caliber players. Their departure would normally be left with people to back them up. But because of what happened under Stewart, Holgorsen has not had ample time to get players recruited and then prepared for what were facing in the Big XII. Had he not recruited Millard at the last minute, we wouldnt have had a QB after Smith because all of Stewarts recruits bailed. Furthermore, look at all of the impact players weve been talking about this year. They are Danas kids...Sims (even though he was a transfer), Alford, Shorts, Smallwood, Smith, etc. They are all recruited by Dana, but they are all very young. Imagine them when they are Juniors and Seniors! And the best part is that when they graduate, we will actually have similar players who have learned from them and will be ready to take over. Simply put, this year, we had to fill holes with freshman and JUCO players and transfers because of the situation we were in. Yeah, that will win you some games, but you will not last in the Big XII with it. That is why depth is so important, and we just dont have it. I imagine that most of you will tl;dr this post, but this is why Im hopeful. I see some of the potential that Dana has brought in for this team, and you have to give him time to build that up and see what he can do with it. If its not enough, then okay, you can let him go. But for now, you HAVE to remain hopeful for the future. Because thats what were looking at. We were not playing to win a championship this year, and likely next year as well. But after that, we should at least have a chance.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 00:04:22 +0000
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