"The fiscal failure" which is everything to do on why I and many alike said Ollie screwed you.
Holgorsen’s hot seat
By Hoppy Kercheval in Hoppy's Commentary
December 07, 2015 at 12:38AM
If you listen closely, you will notice Mountaineers coach Dana Holgorsen has a penchant for honesty that sometimes evades head coaches. For many, generic comments, excuses or even outright hostility toward the media can be the norm.
When Holgorsen was asked the inevitable question following WVU’s crushing 24-23 loss at Kansas State Saturday about the critical failed fourth-and-1 attempt with 2:28 remaining, where a hobbled Skyler Howard stumbled and failed to get the first down, the coach was candid to the point of confessional.
“I wish we’d called something different,” Holgorsen said. “I thought we had the look. He had the edge, he just couldn’t get there. I should of took that into consideration,” said the coach, referring to Howard’s injured ankle.
The fact Holgorsen tends to own the Mountaineers’ on-field mistakes makes him a more sympathetic figure, and these days, the coach can use all the goodwill he can muster.
Based on the postgame phone calls, message board comments and general watercooler talk, much of Mountaineer Nation is frustrated with the fifth-year coach. But at least frustration carries with it some passion.
Worse yet is a growing indifference. Saturday’s abrupt interruption of a late-season winning streak will undoubtedly put a damper on fans’ postseason plans. It’s hard to imagine many of the Mountaineer faithful busting their holiday budgets for the flight and hotel in Phoenix to watch the Mountaineers in the Cactus Bowl.
But what to do?
It would be expensive to part ways with Holgorsen. The one-sided contract favoring the coach and negotiated—if that word can even apply in this instance—by former AD Oliver Luck calling for full payment for Holgorsen if he’s fired is a fiscal failure for the university. Can WVU really justify paying upwards of $9 million ($6 million to Holgorsen and another roughly $3 million to assistants) to break this deal?
The state of West Virginia is struggling financially now, and while the athletics department generates most of its own money, it still feels graceless to pay out millions to football coaches to not work.
Still, AD Shane Lyons, President Gordon Gee and Holgorsen have some decisions to make. If the university keeps the coach it will need to extend his contract, which is set to expire in two years (for recruiting purposes), but most certainly renegotiate the buyout to a more manageable number.
Lowering the buyout and restructuring the assistant coaches contracts is necessary but it will likely cause hard feelings. However, this is the university’s opportunity to fix the agreements when leverage is in its favor.
Given Holgorsen’s candor, even he must acknowledge this season and the program have not lived up to expectations he himself set. The coach’s honest evaluation of his own performance should make the inevitable decisions by Lyons and Gee that much easier.
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Holgorsen’s hot seat
By Hoppy Kercheval in Hoppy's Commentary
December 07, 2015 at 12:38AM
If you listen closely, you will notice Mountaineers coach Dana Holgorsen has a penchant for honesty that sometimes evades head coaches. For many, generic comments, excuses or even outright hostility toward the media can be the norm.
When Holgorsen was asked the inevitable question following WVU’s crushing 24-23 loss at Kansas State Saturday about the critical failed fourth-and-1 attempt with 2:28 remaining, where a hobbled Skyler Howard stumbled and failed to get the first down, the coach was candid to the point of confessional.
“I wish we’d called something different,” Holgorsen said. “I thought we had the look. He had the edge, he just couldn’t get there. I should of took that into consideration,” said the coach, referring to Howard’s injured ankle.
The fact Holgorsen tends to own the Mountaineers’ on-field mistakes makes him a more sympathetic figure, and these days, the coach can use all the goodwill he can muster.
Based on the postgame phone calls, message board comments and general watercooler talk, much of Mountaineer Nation is frustrated with the fifth-year coach. But at least frustration carries with it some passion.
Worse yet is a growing indifference. Saturday’s abrupt interruption of a late-season winning streak will undoubtedly put a damper on fans’ postseason plans. It’s hard to imagine many of the Mountaineer faithful busting their holiday budgets for the flight and hotel in Phoenix to watch the Mountaineers in the Cactus Bowl.
But what to do?
It would be expensive to part ways with Holgorsen. The one-sided contract favoring the coach and negotiated—if that word can even apply in this instance—by former AD Oliver Luck calling for full payment for Holgorsen if he’s fired is a fiscal failure for the university. Can WVU really justify paying upwards of $9 million ($6 million to Holgorsen and another roughly $3 million to assistants) to break this deal?
The state of West Virginia is struggling financially now, and while the athletics department generates most of its own money, it still feels graceless to pay out millions to football coaches to not work.
Still, AD Shane Lyons, President Gordon Gee and Holgorsen have some decisions to make. If the university keeps the coach it will need to extend his contract, which is set to expire in two years (for recruiting purposes), but most certainly renegotiate the buyout to a more manageable number.
Lowering the buyout and restructuring the assistant coaches contracts is necessary but it will likely cause hard feelings. However, this is the university’s opportunity to fix the agreements when leverage is in its favor.
Given Holgorsen’s candor, even he must acknowledge this season and the program have not lived up to expectations he himself set. The coach’s honest evaluation of his own performance should make the inevitable decisions by Lyons and Gee that much easier.
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