In not very surprising news, West Virginia and coach Bill Stewart have parted ways. There have been reports that Stewart resigned, and other reports saying that West Virginia fired Stewart for conduct detrimental to the university. The story goes that Stewart asked two reporters to dig up dirt on the coach in waiting, and now head coach in full, Dana Holgorson. The reports from Morgantown, before the news of the incident of Stewart being a dick broke, told the tale of a coaching staff ripped apart. There were Stewart guys, and Holgorson guys. The blend wasn’t perfect. The coach in waiting seems to never work. At Florida State, there was tension between legend Bobby Bowden and Jimbo Fisher. Bowden ended up retiring, and saying he was pushed out the door. Coach in waiting is a toxic situation in a sport where tensions are so high week to week and season to season. Fans, boosters, and the schools want to win, and they want to win yesterday. Not winning conferences and playing in BCS games gets people fired. Hell, it happened to Wanny at Pittsburgh this offseason. Bill Stewart couldn’t handle the pressure of winning, and of having someone after his job. His tenure at WV ends in disappointment in a few ways, not winning the Big East the past few seasons being one that stands out.
Per the Big East Coast Bias twitter, Pittsburgh and West Virginia have hired and fired 5 coaches this offseason. And yet, they are STILL the favorites to win the league. I don’t know what that says about the Big East, other than it should be wide open. None of the coaches in the conference have won a Big East title at their school. Rutgers coach Greg Schiano has more experience at his job than every other coach in the Big East combined. South Florida, Louisville, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Pittsburgh and West Virginia all changed coaches the past two seasons, while Syracuse coach Doug Marrone is in his third year. There has been a lot of turnover in the conference, and quite frankly, it’s shown on the field. There is a reason people assume TCU is going to waltz into the Big East and roll everyone over.
Finally, we can’t end this post without a Bill Stewart photo. I took this from EDSBS. Have a nice weekend everyone.
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