I come in peace. As a Herd fan, there is certainly no love lost for the Mountaineers. That being said, success for WVU is good for the state. With that in mind, I still follow the Eers to a degree. I've been reading this board from time to time to gauge the fans' view on the program, etc., and thought an independent viewpoint might be beneficial to the discussion.
First, I don't think Dana is the answer going forward. He doesn't appear to have the acumen or temperment to be a head coach. Unfortunately, you are stuck with him for at least this season, and maybe more. Again, as a Herd fan I've been there, done that. The Mark Snyder years still leave a bad taste in my mouth. Similar to Holgerson, Snyder was a coordinator that was in way over his head (although I would argue Dana is much more competent than Mark ever thought about being).
With that in mind, the notion that your season is in the crapper at this point is a bit premature. Fact is, you're probably going to lose to TCU. After that, however, you have 5 very winnable games. Texas is getting better, so let's call that one a toss-up. The Eers are better than the remaining 4 teams. Worst case scenario, I think you finish 7-5. Best case, 8-4.
This brings about the conundrum. Barring a complete collapse, the Eers still go bowling, and have a respectable record in a very tough conference. The question then becomes whether the administration and big-time donors have the foresight and money to make a change before damage to the program becomes greater. In other words, I don't see Dana getting better as a head coach. Your talent will keep you in games, but poor coaching will keep you from contending for a conference title.
Here's hoping you have the people and money in place to make the hard decision to cut your losses after this season. Marshall didn't, and it took several years off good recruiting and crappy schedules to get things rolling again. To put it bluntly, the Snyder era almost irreparably damaged Marshall. I see a lot of parallels with Holgerson. I would hate to see the same thing happen to WVU, despite the rivalry between the schools.
Anyways, that's my 2-cents, fwiw, good luck the rest of the way. Sadly, the worst thing that could happen for your program would be for them to win out, which almost assuredly keeps Holgerson around for another year, putting you fighting to be in the upper-middle tier of your conference for the foreseeable future.
First, I don't think Dana is the answer going forward. He doesn't appear to have the acumen or temperment to be a head coach. Unfortunately, you are stuck with him for at least this season, and maybe more. Again, as a Herd fan I've been there, done that. The Mark Snyder years still leave a bad taste in my mouth. Similar to Holgerson, Snyder was a coordinator that was in way over his head (although I would argue Dana is much more competent than Mark ever thought about being).
With that in mind, the notion that your season is in the crapper at this point is a bit premature. Fact is, you're probably going to lose to TCU. After that, however, you have 5 very winnable games. Texas is getting better, so let's call that one a toss-up. The Eers are better than the remaining 4 teams. Worst case scenario, I think you finish 7-5. Best case, 8-4.
This brings about the conundrum. Barring a complete collapse, the Eers still go bowling, and have a respectable record in a very tough conference. The question then becomes whether the administration and big-time donors have the foresight and money to make a change before damage to the program becomes greater. In other words, I don't see Dana getting better as a head coach. Your talent will keep you in games, but poor coaching will keep you from contending for a conference title.
Here's hoping you have the people and money in place to make the hard decision to cut your losses after this season. Marshall didn't, and it took several years off good recruiting and crappy schedules to get things rolling again. To put it bluntly, the Snyder era almost irreparably damaged Marshall. I see a lot of parallels with Holgerson. I would hate to see the same thing happen to WVU, despite the rivalry between the schools.
Anyways, that's my 2-cents, fwiw, good luck the rest of the way. Sadly, the worst thing that could happen for your program would be for them to win out, which almost assuredly keeps Holgerson around for another year, putting you fighting to be in the upper-middle tier of your conference for the foreseeable future.
