Breaking News: Western Carolina Announces Football Coaching Change

[The Cats]

Western Carolina University Director of Athletics Alex Gary (https://catamountsports.com/staff.aspx?staff=245) announced Friday a leadership change for Catamount football. Mark Speir (https://catamountsports.com/coaches.aspx?rc=800) will not be returning as head coach.

"After a thorough evaluation of the program, I feel that it is time we move in a different direction," said Gary. "We are grateful for Coach Speir's nine years of dedicated service and efforts on behalf of the Catamount football program."

A national search for the 14th head football coach at WCU will begin immediately.

[The Cats]

4 years remains on Speir's contract, no idea how WCU will/can settle up with Coach Speir and afford to hire a new head coach. Most of us expect another two or three seasons, before this could happen due to economics.

[Libertine]

Ugh. Unless it's for cause, firing your football coach in April -- after the primary AND secondary recruiting periods, after spring practice is over and after the pool of available assistant coaches has been thoroughly sifted -- is just about the worst thing a school can do to "help" their football program, regardless of the previous coach's W/L #'s.

[Smitty]

Ugh. Unless it's for cause, firing your football coach in April -- after the primary AND secondary recruiting periods, after spring practice is over and after the pool of available assistant coaches has been thoroughly sifted -- is just about the worst thing a school can do to "help" their football program, regardless of the previous coach's W/L #'s.

We did just finish our season and were already hemorrhaging players left and right to the transfer portal. Honestly it is the best option for the players who are still there.

The next question is who wants to lead this dead end program and ruin their chances of being a successful head coach somewhere else?

[FUBeAR]

The next question is who wants to lead this dead end program and ruin their chances of being a successful head coach somewhere else?
Well, if you insist, FUBeAR can clear his calendar for 5 years or so.

[SU DOG]

We did just finish our season and were already hemorrhaging players left and right to the transfer portal. Honestly it is the best option for the players who are still there.

The next question is who wants to lead this dead end program and ruin their chances of being a successful head coach somewhere else?

Not sure I would have this attitude if I were a WCU alum. Look what happened at CSU under Chadwell. I'm just saying that, IMO, this would be a time for excitement and anticipation. I really do wish the Catamounts luck in finding the right man - beautiful setting and good folks.

FUB? Definitely NOT. The man already has 2 allegiances in the SoCon.

[Smitty]

Not sure I would have this attitude if I were a WCU alum. Look what happened at CSU under Chadwell. I'm just saying that, IMO, this would be a time for excitement and anticipation. I really do wish the Catamounts luck in finding the right man - beautiful setting and good folks.

FUB? Definitely NOT. The man already has 2 allegiances in the SoCon.

I would possibly have a better attitude about it if I couldn't count the winning seasons on one hand since I started following the team.

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

I would possibly have a better attitude about it if I couldn't count the winning seasons on one hand since I started following the team.

And not only that, the fall season is 4.5 months away. If I was WCU's admins, I would appoint an assistant as interim and let him coach in the fall. That assistant's tenure beyond the fall could depend on what he does. But then again, WCU played two fewer games this spring than most others in the conference so there's that.

[Mocs123]

Any news on potential canidates?

Any chance you could lure Wachenheim away from VMI?

What about the Davidson coach - Scott Abel?

Mike Jacobs from Lenior-Ryne(sp)?

If you fire a coach with four years left on his contract, you have to make a big hire. This was a bold move by WCU as I had decided they were content just to field a team to showcase the band and didn't care about being competitive.

[FUBeAR]

Any news on potential canidates?

Any chance you could lure Wachenheim away from VMI?

What about the Davidson coach - Scott Abel?

Mike Jacobs from Lenior-Ryne(sp)?

If you fire a coach with four years left on his contract, you have to make a big hire. This was a bold move by WCU as I had decided they were content just to field a team to showcase the band and didn't care about being competitive.Lotta smoke about the Catamounts doing a Youngstown/Bo Pellini reprisal with Larry Fedora (former UNC HC) playing the part of fired P5 Coach getting PAID by former school while Coaching FCS Team.

[Daytripper]

I was hoping WCU would follow the current trend and bring in a big name retired NFLer. Maybe former Carolina WR Steve Smith or Luke Kuechly...Maybe Jake Delhomme

[Mocs123]

I heard they were bringing back Dennis Wagner.

[The Cats]

I heard they were bringing back Dennis Wagner.

Yeah, that happens right after ChattaQuitta brings back Rodney Allison....

[Mocs123]

I remember the UTC-WCU games back in the Allison - Wagner days where it regularly decided who was last in the SoCon. I don't want to go back to those days!

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

When Brad Glenn left he was screwed IMO. I'd want to give Glenn a shot if I'm Western. He has Georgia State's offense being better than it has any business being.

[FUBeAR]

I was hoping WCU would follow the current trend and bring in a big name retired NFLer. Maybe former Carolina WR Steve Smith or Luke Kuechly...Maybe Jake Delhomme
Terrell Owens is available, has SoCon experience & his alma mater recently dropped their Football program.

That’s the one!! Do it Cats!!!

[Reign of Terrier]

Hot take but they shouldn't have fired Spier. Spier had multiple 7-win seasons at Western. Yeah, they looked bad in the last couple years. They probably needed to overhaul their defense (which may have required overhauling their offense, to help their physicality). But up until, I dunno, 2019, they may have been not-good at times, but they weren't awful! Yes, they would go 3-8, but they had flashes of decency. And that was much better than any of Spier's predecessors.

I don't think Western is a place anyone can win consistently. I mean, I'm surprised VMI turned it around, so maybe I'm full of it, but if you're Western you have to manage your expectations.

[Mocs123]

I just think there has been a lack of support for football from the administration at Western. In contrast, look at Mercer, where the administration REALLY wants to be good and they are making it a priority to get there. It's seemed to me that the Western Administration just cares about having a football team so they can display their (very good) band.

Sure, there are probably some challenges at Western that other schools don't have. Cullowhee is pretty remote and that may not help with recruiting some kids, but there are other schools that deal with different, but equally as different recruiting hurdles. Wofford, Furman, Samford, Mercer all have strict academic requirements and The Citadel and VMI are military schools. I've also read that VMI has to recruit a large percentage of their kids from Virginia.

[FUBeAR]

Hot take but they shouldn't have fired Spier. Spier had multiple 7-win seasons at Western. Yeah, they looked bad in the last couple years. They probably needed to overhaul their defense (which may have required overhauling their offense, to help their physicality). But up until, I dunno, 2019, they may have been not-good at times, but they weren't awful! Yes, they would go 3-8, but they had flashes of decency. And that was much better than any of Spier's predecessors.

I don't think Western is a place anyone can win consistently. I mean, I'm surprised VMI turned it around, so maybe I'm full of it, but if you're Western you have to manage your expectations.WCU’s D started to falter in 2017 & has been horrible from 2018 (see below) going forward. Tyrie Adams kept them (almost single-handedly) in some games, but their Team has really been a poop show in recent years. I think they have changed DC’s a few times sonce 2018...and nothing got better. You may be right about not being able to win there, but that’s what the consensus was around VMI. The right Coach will find a way to win anywhere. Not easy to find that Coach though. Western will need to be both very smart & very fortunate to do so...or go with TO and get some ‘mileage’ out of the hire regardless of the win totals...ya never know, he just may be the guy.





2018 Western Carolina Football Schedule


Date
Opponent
Result


Sep. 1
Newberry (https://fbschedules.com/ncaa-2018/team/western-carolina#)
W 33-26


Sep. 14
at Gardner-Webb (https://fbschedules.com/ncaa-2018/team/gardner-webb)
W 28-10


Sep. 22
VMI (https://fbschedules.com/ncaa-2018/team/vmi)
W 52-50


Sep. 29
at Furman (https://fbschedules.com/ncaa-2018/team/furman)
L 44-38


Oct. 6
at Samford (https://fbschedules.com/ncaa-2018/team/samford)
L 66-28


Oct. 13
Chattanooga (https://fbschedules.com/ncaa-2018/team/chattanooga)
L 26-6


Oct. 20
at Mercer (https://fbschedules.com/ncaa-2018/team/mercer)
L 59-46


Oct. 27
at ETSU (https://fbschedules.com/ncaa-2018/team/etsu)
L 45-43(OT)


Nov. 3
The Citadel (https://fbschedules.com/ncaa-2018/team/the-citadel)
L 36-24


Nov. 10
Wofford (https://fbschedules.com/ncaa-2018/team/wofford)
L 38-23














Nov. 17
at North Carolina (https://fbschedules.com/ncaa-2018/team/north-carolina) L 49-26

[Libertine]

I just think there has been a lack of support for football from the administration at Western.

That much is obvious by the fact that they fired Spier in April without, apparently, having a sense of urgency for replacing him. I didn't love Tennessee State hiring Eddie George as their new coach while their old coach was still on the field but at least TSU had a clearcut plan.

[Mocs123]

To be honest, unless Spier had completely lost the team, they probably should have waited until after the fall season to fire him. To bring in a new coach, with a new system with this short of a turnaround (no spring practice, etc) is risky.

How much did WCU have to pay to get rid of Spier?

[Libertine]

To be honest, unless Spier had completely lost the team, they probably should have waited until after the fall season to fire him. To bring in a new coach, with a new system with this short of a turnaround (no spring practice, etc) is risky.

Exactly. This is Division I football and the calendar is rigid and unforgiving. You can't just show up, roll out the footballs and expect some new guy to simply rescue your program with a can-do attitude and his Coach Klein notebook. They need time to implement vision and make necessary changes. WCU would be better off letting the interim guy (I'm guessing it's former MTSU coach Andy McCollum) get through this fall, otherwise WCU has simply wasted the new guy's first season and made it more likely that they're going to eventually fire him too.

[Smitty]

To be honest, unless Spier had completely lost the team, they probably should have waited until after the fall season to fire him. To bring in a new coach, with a new system with this short of a turnaround (no spring practice, etc) is risky.

How much did WCU have to pay to get rid of Spier?

I think this was the case as we were having a lot of players transfer and it didn't feel like there was any plan.

This was the first year in his 5 year contract so probably 800+

[Mocs123]

That's quite the investment when getting rid of a coach at our level, but good job by the WCU administration for making the right move.

Will Speir get a job with his old boss as a position coach?

[Smitty]

Rumors that Peter Shinnick may be announced on Wednesday.

[Daytripper]

Rumors that Peter Shinnick may be announced on Wednesday.

Just looked him up. Might be a good hire. At least not a retread or a washed up guy who will work on the cheap.

[Milktruck74]

Shinnick brings deep ties to a deep pool of talent. If he can dip into that FL talent, WCU could be on a path to being relevant again....but if he can win 18 games in the next 3 years, he'll be gone!!! It's the catch 22 of FCS...hire someone good enough and they will leave you....but do you really want a coach at our level that is sticking around for 12 years?

[Libertine]

Shinnick has now successfully built two programs from scratch at the D2 level. It will be interesting to see what he will do (A) in D1 and (B) with a previously existing program.

[FUBeAR]

Looks like the wind comin’ thru the holler in Cullowhee has changed directions & the Catamounts are now all set on introducing #14 in this clip, somewhat poetically it seems, as their 14th Head Football Coach...

https://twitter.com/cfl/status/1322185163179200514

That’s right...the inimitable Kerwin Bell (& son) are comin’ up the mountain!

He’s never beaten Mercer, btw. He’s 0-1 vs. the Bears (2013). In what might be the funnest Football game I have ever attended, Bell’s Jacksonville Dolphins, QB’d by his son (of course they were), Kade Bell (WCU’s soon-to-be new OC), were (bottle)nosed out 45-42 by the Bears.

[Mocs123]

Kerwin Bell would be a HUGE hire for WCU. He's built a winner every where he has been.

[Libertine]

Kerwin Bell would be a HUGE hire for WCU. He's built a winner every where he has been.

Agreed, getting Bell would be just massive. Cat fans should be ecstatic.

[ElCid]

That much is obvious by the fact that they fired Spier in April without, apparently, having a sense of urgency for replacing him. I didn't love Tennessee State hiring Eddie George as their new coach while their old coach was still on the field but at least TSU had a clearcut plan.

Kinda makes you wonder if there was something else that happened that prompted the firing, considering the timing. Maybe not, probably not, but it looks a bit odd and would explain the timing. But this virus thing has make everything a bit odd at times. I remember when we had to fire one of our winningest coaches almost 30 years ago when he had a DUI. Shyt happens.

[Libertine]

I remember when we had to fire one of our winningest coaches almost 30 years ago when he had a DUI.

I remember Charlie.

[The Cats]

Kerwin Bell has been named the 14th head football coach at Western Carolina University, Director of Athletics Alex Gary (https://catamountsports.com/staff.aspx?staff=245) announced. His contract was approved by the WCU Board of Trustees during a special session on Tuesday evening.

A formal introductory press conference will be held on Wednesday, April 28 at 9:00 a.m. in the main arena of the Ramsey Center with a live online stream available.

Wednesday's introductory press conference (link) will be streamed through WCU's Facebook page (fb.com/catamountsports) and the department's YouTube channel (youtube.com/catamountsports) with an embedded link at CatamountSports.com.


"We talk every day about Catamount Athletics having a winning mentality and the confidence to believe we can bring championships to our university," said Gary. "Kerwin is a proven winner and has shown the ability to build successful programs. We are thrilled to welcome him and his family to Cullowhee."




https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/1387168829470650369/yYOjJw4X?format=png&name=small

[Mocs123]

Congrats Cat's fans. Kerwin Bell is an awesome hire for the Wildcats. To be honest I really didn't think your AD had it in them.

[The Cats]

A link to Wednesday's press conference (9 am)

You can watch the recording of the introduction on the link below.......

(starts at around the 4:20 mark)



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1UzvAk72KY

[Daytripper]

G
Kerwin Bell has been named the 14th head football coach at Western Carolina University, Director of Athletics Alex Gary (https://catamountsports.com/staff.aspx?staff=245) announced. His contract was approved by the WCU Board of Trustees during a special session on Tuesday evening.

A formal introductory press conference will be held on Wednesday, April 28 at 9:00 a.m. in the main arena of the Ramsey Center with a live online stream available.

Wednesday's introductory press conference (link) will be streamed through WCU's Facebook page (fb.com/catamountsports) and the department's YouTube channel (youtube.com/catamountsports) with an embedded link at CatamountSports.com.


"We talk every day about Catamount Athletics having a winning mentality and the confidence to believe we can bring championships to our university," said Gary. "Kerwin is a proven winner and has shown the ability to build successful programs. We are thrilled to welcome him and his family to Cullowhee."




https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/1387168829470650369/yYOjJw4X?format=png&name=small

Home run hire!

[JSUSoutherner]

So it seems like WCU is done being a doormat and looking to get football a pulse.

Maybe they are renewing their commitment to football so they won't get dumptrucked in their new conference??? xnodx

[kdinva]

Congrats Cat's fans. Kerwin Bell is an awesome hire for the Wildcats. To be honest I really didn't think your AD had it in them.

Looking forward to the WCU v VMI games with 100+ combined pass attempts!!

[Libertine]

I'm intrigued by this hire since Bell has been burned before by an FCS school not keeping up their end of the deal in terms of a commitment to football. You'd have to think he got extraordinary assurances from the WCU admin that he wouldn't be jumping into a similar situation.

[Milktruck74]

Bell is a great hire. he has had success and knows how to build/rebuild teams. HE has an exciting brand of FB too. A few questions always looms though.....Does he have the umph to draw in a staff this late in the game? Does his excitement over come the downside of The Whee? (It's beautiful up there and I love it, but I'm a 40 spmething white married white guy with 4 kids that loves the outdoors....not an inner city ATL kid that has grown up with "things to do"). Will the university actually invest in some facilities (and soon) to lure kids in? (Sometimes I think WCU only maintains a team so they have a venue for their Band!) I wish KB the best and I think he has the tools, but I'm not sure he environment that will allow his tools to prosper. Time will tell.

[ElCid]

Bell is a great hire. he has had success and knows how to build/rebuild teams. HE has an exciting brand of FB too. A few questions always looms though.....Does he have the umph to draw in a staff this late in the game? Does his excitement over come the downside of The Whee? (It's beautiful up there and I love it, but I'm a 40 spmething white married white guy with 4 kids that loves the outdoors....not an inner city ATL kid that has grown up with "things to do"). Will the university actually invest in some facilities (and soon) to lure kids in? (Sometimes I think WCU only maintains a team so they have a venue for their Band!) I wish KB the best and I think he has the tools, but I'm not sure he environment that will allow his tools to prosper. Time will tell.

Lots of schools have challenges in regard to recruiting. Some are due to location, some to academics, some for facilities, some because of the nature of the school, etc. That just means you have to work harder in recruiting. It can be done. VMI is a great case in point. They got some superb players the last few years. Cullowhee is not that bad.

[The Cats]

Bell is a great hire. he has had success and knows how to build/rebuild teams. HE has an exciting brand of FB too. A few questions always looms though.....Does he have the umph to draw in a staff this late in the game? Does his excitement over come the downside of The Whee? (It's beautiful up there and I love it, but I'm a 40 spmething white married white guy with 4 kids that loves the outdoors....not an inner city ATL kid that has grown up with "things to do"). Will the university actually invest in some facilities (and soon) to lure kids in? (Sometimes I think WCU only maintains a team so they have a venue for their Band!) I wish KB the best and I think he has the tools, but I'm not sure he environment that will allow his tools to prosper. Time will tell.

Don't you just love it when the Chatta-Quitta fans try to look down their nose at other programs?

Just which facilities do you suggest Western should build to entice "inner city ATL kids" that will give them "something to do", which I take it, is needed to keep the "inner city ATL kids" in Cullowhee?

As we all know (or Chatta-Quitta assumes) only white males, over 40, "loves the outdoors".

[FUBeAR]

Gonna be fun having Coach Bell in the SoCon. He’s quite a character & his Teams play a fun brand of Football.

That said, FUBeAR hopes he is allowed to attend games in Whitmire Stadium and WCU games in Five Star & Paladin Stadium in the future.

You see...in 2013 Coach Bell’s Jax Team played at Mercer & the Mercer Players’ Families seats were on the Visitors’ bench side that year (and that year only). Well, FUBeAR was seated on the front row that day along with another Dad of one of Mercer’s star Players (we’ll call him “Jim” here). Jim is a great guy & a smart-a$$/smack-talker extraordinaire (he was a DB..you know how those people are). This was a night game & a “black-out” game, so tailgating was extended & the crowd was large & exceptionally boisterous. At Five Star, the Fans are “on top” of the bench area. If your arms are long enough, you can high-five the Player’s in their ‘between series’ O&D Group Chair Formations & the distance to the Coaches talking to the Groups is probably 10’ laterally.

I think that sets the stage. Now the game was an incredibly exciting back & forth affair, with both Teams getting, then losing, big leads. Mercer ultimately prevailed 45-42. Jim & FUBeAR (a wee bit of a smart-a$$ & smack-talker in his own right) were egging each other on busting on the Jax Coaches & joking with the Jax Players, who were doing all they could to contain their laughter at our busts on their Coaches. If you’ve played, you know making fun of Coaches (even those you love & respect) is a highly regarded art-form among Players. So, I’m sure the Players were hearing some of their own riffs in our commentary. Coach Bell (whose son & future WCU OC was the Jax QB...who had 2 INT’s & was Sacked 4x that night) was not excluded from our running commentary & may have absorbed more than his fair share of our ‘slings & arrows.’ The Mercer fans around us also were quite appreciative of our humor and MAY have tried to join in without the requisite experience to know, as Jim & FUBeAR do, that profanity reduces wit & Players, Student Trainers, Student Managers (kids, basically) are off limits / out of bounds. FUBeAR, personally, didn’t hear any of that from others, but cannot positively deny that some Mercer Fans (not Parents) may have, unfortunately, crossed those boundaries.

Anyway - the next day, Jim & FUBeAR were ‘called to the Principal’s Office’ to respond to a complaint from Jax’ Coaching Staff, complete with highly accurate physical descriptions of each of us. However, we were accused of mercilessly dog-cussing Players, etc., which was certainly & wholly inaccurate. We explained the situation (accurately), ate our embarrassment, swallowed our anger at being inaccurately accused, (I think) did 100 up-downs, and ran 5 stadiums to atone for our actions. The worst part was a letter went out to all Players’ parent on Monday describing the issue (somewhere between what actually happened & what was reported), without naming names...but everyone knew who the ‘guilty parties’ were, so Jim & FUBeAR then had to endure the other Parents busting on us for several years about ‘getting in trouble’ & making a ‘show’ of changing seats if we were seated next to them at games.

All good fun!

WCU will be a much better Football Team with Coach Bell in charge...as long as the Players are able to beat him to the Training Table! xsmiley_wix

[Milktruck74]

Lots of schools have challenges in regard to recruiting. Some are due to location, some to academics, some for facilities, some because of the nature of the school, etc. That just means you have to work harder in recruiting. It can be done. VMI is a great case in point. They got some superb players the last few years. Cullowhee is not that bad.

I can't disagree with any of that. As you are probably aware, it is difficult to get an 18 yr old to see past the next few months, let alone 4-5 years down the road, but some coaches can and teams with plenty of challenges (military lifestyle tends to be a pretty big hurdle) do and do quite well.

[Reign of Terrier]

The Socon has some great coaches!

[wcugrad95]

My first post in a VERY long time. I had decided to severely limit my time on message boards until WCU did something to prove they at least wanted to push football forward. Coach Bell could be the next Bob Waters or he could be the next Mark Speir in Cullowhee - time will tell, and I don’t expect miracle turnarounds in a single off-season. But with a new Chancellor and new AD, we have done what many thought would not be done and gotten a new football coach who on paper at least gives the Cats a lot of excitement and anticipation. So I am back on-board (figuratively and literally).

[Mocs123]

Coach Bell has been a winner everywhere he's been so I'm sure he'll be successful in Cullowhee. He was an Awesome hire by WCU - getting a proven HC rather than an assistant will be big. If he can't change the culture for the Catamonts, nobody can.

And as far as facilities, I know when Bell was at Jacksonville they played in a stadium worse than most local high schools. I don't think that will be a problem. I realize it's not apples to apples as Jacksonville is in the Pioneer League but it's still FCS.

[caribbeanhen]

Bell is a great hire. he has had success and knows how to build/rebuild teams. HE has an exciting brand of FB too. A few questions always looms though.....Does he have the umph to draw in a staff this late in the game? Does his excitement over come the downside of The Whee? (It's beautiful up there and I love it, but I'm a 40 spmething white married white guy with 4 kids that loves the outdoors....not an inner city ATL kid that has grown up with "things to do"). Will the university actually invest in some facilities (and soon) to lure kids in? (Sometimes I think WCU only maintains a team so they have a venue for their Band!) I wish KB the best and I think he has the tools, but I'm not sure he environment that will allow his tools to prosper. Time will tell.

Kerwin will hire Kade

[wcugrad95]

https://footballscoop.com/news/sources-kerwin-bell-making-key-defensive-hires-at-western-carolina-including-one-from-fbs/

Can’t take credit for that, as a poster on the Catamount board posted it. As CaribbeanHen said I expect Kade to be the OC. But this has some other expected hires listed.

No word yet on any coaches being retained from the current staff. Not unusual to have 1 or 2 stay on to bridge the gap with current players and incoming recruits, but with the crazy year we just had this feels more like it will be an entirely new staff with a clean slate.

[Libertine]

And as far as facilities, I know when Bell was at Jacksonville they played in a stadium worse than most local high schools. I don't think that will be a problem. I realize it's not apples to apples as Jacksonville is in the Pioneer League but it's still FCS.

Fun story: in the spring of 2007, the Big South conference was looking to expand and their staff took site visits to several candidates including Presbyterian in D2, Albany and Stony Brook (then both in the NEC) as well as Jacksonville. The Big South(!!) reportedly took one look at the Dolphins' football facilities and told the JU leadership, "Let's talk later. Much much later."

[wcugrad95]

Reportedly the biggest reason the Dolphins and Coach Bell parted ways was his desire to move to scholarship football to pursue growing the program and the school’s desire to stay non-scholarship. I know going to scholarship football and a new conference would lend itself to requiring facility upgrades, but it seemed clear the big sticking point there was the scholarship question more than anything else.

WCU needs to make facility upgrades/additions, but I’d argue hiring a really good coach who can win (not necessarily immediate championships but just winning records) will lead to all the other things. Western routinely is at or near the top in SoCon football attendance and has a master plan for making changes. But before this past move on our head football coach most people thought that was simply on paper to point at as a pie-in-the-sky plan. A growing university, a large fan base (pretty impressive that we average 10k at football games watching a mediocre to bad football team), and now what appears like an AD and Chancellor who will spend at least a little bit of money could be a sweet spot for Bell. I already see lots of comments about Cat fans either rejoining or upping their pledge to the Catamount Club, renewing or purchasing season tickets, etc. If Bell wins he has a starving fan base that I think will grow.

[acbearkat]

Western Carolina has a decent recruiting base. As with any hire, it will depend on who Kerwin Bell hires on his staff. Bad staff hires will doom any head coach, regardless of what sport it is. Go look at what happened with Tom Herman at Texas, Jeremy Pruitt at Tennessee, Charlie Strong at Texas, and the list goes on of head coaches who weren't as successful as they could have been or were outright failures due to staff hires. Charlie Strong is a lousy head coach, and made horrible staff hires at Texas that doomed his tenure in Austin. Tom Herman also made bad staff hires, and didn't have as much success as he could have at Texas, and from reports I heard, he didn't care about making the boosters happy, which is one reason why Herman was fired.

[caribbeanhen]

https://footballscoop.com/news/sources-kerwin-bell-making-key-defensive-hires-at-western-carolina-including-one-from-fbs/

Can’t take credit for that, as a poster on the Catamount board posted it. As CaribbeanHen said I expect Kade to be the OC. But this has some other expected hires listed.

No word yet on any coaches being retained from the current staff. Not unusual to have 1 or 2 stay on to bridge the gap with current players and incoming recruits, but with the crazy year we just had this feels more like it will be an entirely new staff with a clean slate.

a lot of this will probably be old news but

Kerwin Bell was the head Coach at Jacksonville when they came into Delaware stadium in 2013 and beat the bluehens with his son Kade at QB, Kade was also like a branch of coaching staff as QB. Kade was also the OC at Valdosta st when they won D2 championship

When David Brock was fired in 2016, I heard from a good source that Kerwin was very interested in the job at Delaware
” because you can win a championship there” But got word that Rocco was the guy so Kerwin did not apply.

I would’ve loved to have seen Kerwin at Delaware

Western Carolina is officially on the FCS watch list now

[FUBeAR]

Kerwin Bell was the head Coach at Jacksonville when they came into Delaware stadium in 2013 and beat the bluehens with his son Kade at QB, Kade was also like a branch of coaching staff as QB.Seriously…you mean to tell me a bunch of R-FR Non-Scholarship Players from Mercer beat the same Team that beat the legendary Fightin’ Blue Hens of UD?

Can’t be true. You had a Bacardi Breakfast & Lunch today, didn’t you?

[caribbeanhen]

Seriously…you mean to tell me a bunch of R-FR Non-Scholarship Players from Mercer beat the same Team that beat the legendary Fightin’ Blue Hens of UD?

Can’t be true. You had a Bacardi Breakfast & Lunch today, didn’t you?

you stop

that was the beginning of “The Brock Ages” of Bluehen football

actually we beat them in 2013, A few years later they came back and beat us

[wcugrad95]

Another thing to connect some dots here is WCU’s Chancellor. She came from Valdosta State and we now have a head football and head women’s basketball coach who were both at Valdosta previously. Kinda like the coaching profession, often you go after who you know.

[acbearkat]

While Western Carolina is not located in as big of a recruiting hotbed as Sam Houston is, there's still plenty of talent around, as Tennessee is just to the west, South Carolina is to the south, and Georgia isn't far way, either. Tennessee has an improving talent base.

[Mocs123]

Fun story: in the spring of 2007, the Big South conference was looking to expand and their staff took site visits to several candidates including Presbyterian in D2, Albany and Stony Brook (then both in the NEC) as well as Jacksonville. The Big South(!!) reportedly took one look at the Dolphins' football facilities and told the JU leadership, "Let's talk later. Much much later."

And with Charleston Southern and their facilities being in the Big South, that says a lot!

[FUBeAR]

And with Charleston Southern and their facilities being in the Big South, that says a lot!
Oh, come on. This is not so bad. The visitor’s side is essentially the same as what they’ve had for the visitor’s side at The Citadel for the past 4 years.

https://www.thebluebook.com/inc/img/qp/49530/holman-inc-ju-football-stadium.jpg

[Mocs123]

My son plays football in Tennessee 1-A, which is the smallest division in Tennessee (Public High Schools with under 350-400 students - I can't remember the exact number) and pretty much any school we play has a much nicer stadium than that. It does look like a turf field though, which we don't see often.

[kdinva]

two saturday's ago, I watched a lacrosse match from there, on CBS-SN, no press box roof cameras. Two cameras, on an eight-foot high scaffold, approx. where the FB 20 yard lines were. Jax. U. admin had to be embarrassed by that. The playing surface now is top notch.



Oh, come on. This is not so bad. The visitor’s side is essentially the same as what they’ve had for the visitor’s side at The Citadel for the past 4 years.

https://www.thebluebook.com/inc/img/qp/49530/holman-inc-ju-football-stadium.jpg

[wcugrad95]

So WCU's facilities are a step up from Bell's last D-1 head coaching job xlolx

Here is D-II Valdosta State's stadium:

https://valdostatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Bazemore-Hyder-aerial.jpg



And for reference, WCU's EJ Whitmire Stadium:

https://catamountsports.com/common/controls/image_handler.aspx?thumb_id=0&image_path=/images/2020/9/10/DJI_0397.JPG

[FUBeAR]

So WCU's facilities are a step up from Bell's last D-1 head coaching job xlolx

Here is D-II Valdosta State's stadium:

https://valdostatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Bazemore-Hyder-aerial.jpg



And for reference, WCU's EJ Whitmire Stadium:

https://catamountsports.com/common/controls/image_handler.aspx?thumb_id=0&image_path=/images/2020/9/10/DJI_0397.JPGYou know Valdosta State is/are the Blazers, right?

That is the Valdosta HS Wildcats stadium ... where Valdosta State plays their home games.

WCU’s facilities are the Taj Mahal compared to the facilities in which Coach Bell has Head Coached

[wcugrad95]

The point was more for comparing the earlier talk about WCU's facilities and the other stops Bell has had (particularly the Jax U stadium). Blazemore-Hyder Stadium has been the home field for Valdosta State for 31 of the 34 years they have played football, and so I was referencing it with a picture versus the pics of Jacksonville U's stadium.

WCU needs to do a lot of upgrades, but not compared to Jax U :)

[FUBeAR]

The point was more for comparing the earlier talk about WCU's facilities and the other stops Bell has had (particularly the Jax U stadium). Blazemore-Hyder Stadium has been the home field for Valdosta State for 31 or the 34 years they have played football, and so I was referencing it with a picture versus the pics of Jacksonville U's stadium.
Oh, it’s a fantastic HS Stadium, but it is still a HS Stadium with the ‘wrong’ colors & the ‘wrong’ logos, etc. Not a big selling point to HS Recruits that they’ll be playing their Home games in a HS Stadium.

And, my original point was just to make fun of my bellhop friends.

[ST_Lawson]

Oh, it’s a fantastic HS Stadium, but it is still a HS Stadium with the ‘wrong’ colors & the ‘wrong’ logos, etc. Not a big selling point to HS Recruits that they’ll be playing their Home games in a HS Stadium.

Doesn't look like that's always the case though. The photo they have on the Valdosta State Athletics site shows just a black and white "VALDOSTA" in the end zones: https://vstateblazers.com/sports/2012/6/29/FB_0629123837.aspx?tab=bazemore-hyderstadium
(https://vstateblazers.com/sports/2012/6/29/FB_0629123837.aspx?tab=bazemore-hyderstadium)Maybe that's an old photo though and it's got the yellow and black "Wildcats" on it now.

Bing Maps also shows it with the black "VALDOSTA" on it as well, fwiw:

https://i.imgur.com/NmMyQuq.png

[Libertine]

WCU's assistant coaching staff is coming together and it is heavy on the Tusculum transplants coming with Kade Bell. Looking at this list of assistants (https://footballscoop.com/news/sources-kerwin-bell-western-carolina-nearly-complete-coaching-staff/), does TC have any coaches left?

Interesting quote:


With what sources tell FootballScoop is the second-largest assistant coaches’ salary pool in the rugged Southern Conference, new Western Carolina head coach Kerwin Bell quickly is piecing together a top staff in his early work to revive the Catamounts’ program.

[BigGreenTruck]

Bell is a homerun hire for Western Carolina. When Mark Speir was let go if you would have told me they had already lined up Kerwin Bell to take over I wouldn't have believed you. I didn't think the admin of WCU had the guts to make a hire like this. And it looks like Bell is putting a decent staff together.

The big question now will be: Will the admin give him the resources to be successful or are they going to make him try and win on the shoestring budget like they have going back to 1988 when Bob Waters retired. To an outsider WC admin haven't fully funded any athletic program going back to the mid 80s. Bob Waters was the last coach to be somewhat successful at WCU. Will this change, I guess time will tell.

If they are willing to support Bell then I think he can turn WC into something the SoCon has been missing since the departure of App State and GA Southern, a power player. It looked like Chatty was going to do that a few years back but then Hussman left and since then the SoCon has done nothing but beat up on each other and no one has gained any traction.

[caribbeanhen]

WCU's assistant coaching staff is coming together and it is heavy on the Tusculum transplants coming with Kade Bell. Looking at this list of assistants (https://footballscoop.com/news/sources-kerwin-bell-western-carolina-nearly-complete-coaching-staff/), does TC have any coaches left?

Interesting quote:

Kade Bell is a very likeable young man, I'll be watching this team closely now