WVU’s Stewart growing into his new role

By Darrell Laurant  |   Thursday, February 14, 2008  |  Comments( 3 )

West Virginia Mountaineers
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A colleague of mine at RealFootball365.com, Sam Chi, didn't think much of West Virginia's elevation of Bill Stewart to the head coaching job. He wrote:

"Hiring an interim coach based on a knee-jerk reaction is never a good idea, and this fits the bill to a T. WVU was busy dumping on Rich Rodriguez and sleepwalking through the process of hiring his replacement. Stewart did well in retaining defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel, otherwise the situation would've been an unmitigated disaster. Rest assured, the Mountaineers' days as a BCS powerhouse are numbered."

Sam is certainly entitled to his opinion, but I respectfully disagree.

Sure, hiring Stewart looked like a spur-of-the-moment decision. He took over from Rodriguez for the Fiesta Bowl and was promoted in the afterglow of the Mountaineers' 48-28 rout of favored Oklahoma. The team played hard for him. So, was it just on the basis of one game that Stewart was deemed "The Guy"?

I don't know. But since taking over, the former quarterbacks coach appears to have done almost everything right.

1. He brought in some strong assistant coaches to replace those who went north along with Rodriguez. These included highly regarded recruiter John "Doc" Holliday from the University of Florida (credited already with Mountaineers' signing of Seabreeze, Fla., cornerback Jerome Swinton), David Johnson from Georgia and new offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen from Wake Forest. Stewart was the quarterbacks coach at WVU and might have been expected to cling to that role as the head man, but he willingly turned it over to Mullen -- a triple-option specialist who learned under Paul Johnson at Hawaii and Jim Grobe at Wake Forest.

2. While the Mountaineers were in Glendale, Ariz., getting ready for the Fiesta Bowl, Stewart and his staff were pitching their school to three outstanding Phoenix College JuCo players -- DE Tevita Finau and DBs Brantwon Bowser and Courtney Stuart. All three signed, and the Mountaineers also reeled in two other defensive linemen from the junior college ranks. With Johnny Dingle and Keilen Dykes graduating, this influx of beef and experience was sorely needed. Finau, at 6-foot-5, 275 pounds and with 4.7 speed, is going to be a monster pass rusher.

3. Stewart mended fences with a few recruits -- notably Parkersburg offensive lineman Josh Jenkins -- who appeared ready to bolt after Rodriguez's exit.

4. When three Mountaineer players were recently busted for pot distribution, Stewart moved quickly to suspend them "pending the resolution of the legal system." All three -- RB Ed Collington, LB John Holmes and DL James Ingram -- had been counted on for serious playing time in 2008. This was in contrast to the way earlier transgressions by Chris Henry and Adam "Pacman" Jones were handled "in-house."

Stewart is a West Virginia native with deep coaching experience. He knows the current WVU players well, and apparently relates to them.

Another high-profile school that recently elevated an assistant was Miami with Randy Shannon. And while the Hurricanes had a decidedly down season in 2007, the latest Hurricane recruiting class was named best in the country by at least one recruiting service.

It's easy to advocate bringing in a bigger name coach from "outside," but that generally also means a complete turnover in the staff. Which is fine if a program is on the ropes and in need of shock therapy (Syracuse comes to mind in the Big East), but that's not the case with West Virginia. With Pat White back at quarterback, Noel Devine as the new featured back (so long, Steve Slaton) and the offensive line largely intact, the Mountaineers should still be favored to win the Big East next season.

There's an old saying in the South: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Sam, give Bill Stewart a chance. He might surprise you.
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