West Virginia promotes interim coach

[brownbear]

Apparently, they really liked what he did yesterday. That was quick.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3178538

[citdog]

good for him. he has one hell of a qb back next year

[TheValleyRaider]

Whipping OU in a bowl game like they did is a heck of a resume-booster

[813Jag]

That's a good move. xthumbsupx More love needs to be shown to interim coaches.

[Marcus Garvey]

My first thought was "ughhhh." Too often interim coaches getting promoted to head coach, without previous head coaching experience, crash and burn. See Ted Roof and Pat Fitzgerald. What I hadn't realized was that he'd been head coach at VMI, which is one of the tougher places to recruit to in I-AA.

Knowing this, I'd rate his hiring a 6.5 on a scale of 10. Not a fantastic hire, but damn, WVU could do worse. More than anything, this helps the AD save face because the fan base was fractured between those who wanted Terry Bowden and those who wanted Doc Holliday. He's a good compromise hire after whipping OU.

There's one thing that concerns me though: WVU was very very sloppy in the 2nd half with too many pass interference and personal fouls called on them. I'm willing to chalk it up to "emotion" surrounding a big game and the program's recent troubles.

I hope he does well.

[Reed Rothchild]

This is a great hire for them. He should continue to do well as long as RR doesn't steal his recruits

[DuckDuckGriz]

Was Larry Coker ever an interim for Miami?

[Marcus Garvey]

Was Larry Coker ever an interim for Miami?

Dunno. But you can draw some great parallels between Coker's tenure in Miami and Bill Doba at Wazzu. Both were career assistants who were elevated to head coach when the previous guy (Butch Davis at Miami, Mike Price at WSU) suddenly up and left on the school. Both were initially successful, coaching a team that the previous head coach left stocked. Both failed to recruit well themselves and their respective teams slid into mediocrity, ultimately resulting in their terminations.

I fear this is the fate that awaits Bill Stewarts. A blind albino alligator ought to be able to coach WVU to at least 10 wins next season. It's the programs long-term health that concerns me.

[putter]

One question I have is that the OC, who stayed and coached in the game, is leaving with Rodriguez for Michigan. Who will take his place as he seemed to really know those players and offense.

[Go...gate]

Continuity can be a very important thing.

[JohnStOnge]

For a success story involving an assistant promoted to head coach, see Tom Osborne. I think the 1995-1996 Nebraska team was the most dominant I've seen relative to the time of any college football team in my football watching lifetime.

[GoGuins]

Apparently, Stewart has a past

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-01-03-0269.html

[citdog]

When Stewart was at the V@gina Military Institute he hired Mike Tomlin. it was Tomlin's first job. i think that says more than any slip of the tounge ever could. Tomlin is doing a pretty good job with the Pittsburgh Steelers.