Bill Stewart, former tight end and quarterback coach at West Virginia, was promoted to the head coaching position after the Mountaineers surprisingly defeated Oklahoma in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, 48-28. Obviously, WVU made some serious improvement after being outplayed by a below-.500 Pitt team. But is it worth a 5-year, $4 million contract? No, not at all.
Stewart has a reputation around Morgantown as the loveable, nice coach who does his job. However, he's no Rich Rodriguez, who built a title-bound program from scratch. Bill had a great game against OU, but one game doesn't make a coach. He hasn't proven himself enough yet, and the arsonists of Morgantown should be very disappointed that WVU didn't pursue a coach with a better resume. Steve Slaton and Johnny Dingle are leaving for the NFL, and that could possibly mean Pat White will as well. So, what would that leave a new, unproven coach? Noel Devine and a suspect 3-3-5 defense. Oh, and forget about Terrelle Pryor, he's going to Michigan or Ohio State. The Mountaineers will be very depleted in '08, and the Bill Stewart Era will be short-lived.
Record Prediction in '08: 7-5
WVU will not return to elite staus for a while now. Being a Pitt fan i am very happy. Pitt is gonna win the Big East this year
ReplyDeleteAny West Virgina hire would have stunck. Do you want to know why? Because on December 1, 2007 the entire program was shot up in flames. Losing to your archrival at home, 28 point favorite, with a spot to go to the national title game will bring any program down. Rich Rod is gone and now there are investigations of him destroying WVu files. While pitt recieves one of the best recruiting classes in team history. The shift of power in the Big East has definitaly changed from Wvu to pitt.
ReplyDeleteHail to pitt
tp to pitt on signing day