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Poll: Most disappointing year under Dana

Which was Dana’s most disappointing season?

  • 2012 collapse dropping from #4 (6-0) ending 7-6

  • 2013 tied for most losses (8) in modern history

  • 2018 loaded offensive roster finishes 4th in weakest Big 12 in 10 years


Results are only viewable after voting.
Fair enough, I’ll edit.

It won’t let me edit the poll questions. I should have said 16 returning starters, parade all American QB, All American finalist at WR. But by Dana’s own admission, he said at the beginning of the year it’s the most talented we’ve been on offense AND defense.
 
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It won’t let me edit the poll questions. I should have said 16 returning starters, parade all American QB, All American finalist at WR. But by Dana’s own admission, he said at the beginning of the year it’s the most talented we’ve been on offense AND defense.
Yes and Huggs says "this year" is his best team about every other year of his career.
 
WVU has gotten better every year since Holgorsen got here but the record doesn’t show it because of injuries to key positions.

I agree he has gotten better, but he's had 8 seasons as WVU's HC and the best record he's been able to muster is 3rd in the Big XII. During that time I'd say WVU has lost more games that it shouldn't (like the OSU and ISU games this year, than won big games when the season was on the line (like Texas this year). I fear that this is the best team he has fielded and is unlikely to put out a better one before 2021. So is a decade at the helm and 9 seasons in the Big XII conference without at least a 2nd place conference finish acceptable?
 
I agree he has gotten better, but he's had 8 seasons as WVU's HC and the best record he's been able to muster is 3rd in the Big XII. During that time I'd say WVU has lost more games that it shouldn't (like the OSU and ISU games this year, than won big games when the season was on the line (like Texas this year). I fear that this is the best team he has fielded and is unlikely to put out a better one before 2021. So is a decade at the helm and 9 seasons in the Big XII conference without at least a 2nd place conference finish acceptable?

Unacceptable.
 
Yup seems like every year the defense has the players. Then a rash of injuries begins to take it's toll. When you have to go to a 185 lb LB then you know you got problems.

Run game the past 2 years has suffered due to poor line play.
 
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My guess is you are in your teens lol.
You are correct. I’m 18 and I’ve been a Mountaineer fan since I was physically able to watch TV. My dream was to play Tight End for WVU but I’ve had 2 ACL reconstructions and a Meniscus repair since 2017 so forget that. Pretty much the only entertainment I’ve had since my injuries has been WVU sports. When you live your life on a week to week basis like I’ve been, having a team that wins twice as many games as they lose every year sounds a lot more appealing than cleaning house and going 4/8 for the next 3 years. And the perception that WVU is going to suck after Grier is just farcicle. We were having 10 win seasons before Grier and with the weapons we have coming back we’re going to have 10 win seasons after Grier.
 
I would say 100% of WVU's problem in the Big 12-2=10 has been DH.


100% of WVU's problem in the Big XII has been recruiting.

After the exit of Miami and VT from the BE WV had the best recruits in the Big East.
WV wasn't winning the Big East with Miami or VT in the conference either.

WV must improve its recruiting to win in the Big XII.

Depth is a major issue.
In the 1980's you could win with walk ons and kids who play with heart but you cannot against the modern spread attack.

Study the history of Nebraska.

When the Big XII started Nebraska was a giant.
Those slow big 6 year players on the Nebraska OLine couldn't compete against Texas.
The Big XII has the scalp of a blueblood football program with 895 wins.

DH has done a very good job at recruiting the players that can compete in the Big XII.
This topic is a perfect example.
His first two years compared to now.

WV needs to get better.
Either you throw that away and hire a coach who might at best make you 6-6 every year or you allow DH to take the baby steps to improve recruiting and have WV play meaningful games in November
 
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It won’t let me edit the poll questions. I should have said 16 returning starters, parade all American QB, All American finalist at WR. But by Dana’s own admission, he said at the beginning of the year it’s the most talented we’ve been on offense AND defense.

But....
At the end of the day everyone in the Big XII has great WRs.
The Big XII can go all the way down to fifth team All Conference at WR.

So...
Where you are great at so is the rest of the conference.

No one has better weapons than OU.
Texas won with having the best secondary.

It is pretty much the best WR vs the best secondary in the conference championship game.

So....
Maybe WV should attempt going another direction.

Has worked for Bill Snyder and Kansas St.
 
That’s exactly my point, we are never going to win a full year by the shootout model. We have to turn games into a grind, control the ball, keep the opposing offenses off the field and out of rhythm. It’s not exciting but I think Dana has proven we can’t win shootouts. We simply don’t have the talent across the board to win trading TDS.
 
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That’s exactly my point, we are never going to win a full year by the shootout model. We have to turn games into a grind, control the ball, keep the opposing offenses off the field and out of rhythm. It’s not exciting but I think Dana has proven we can’t win shootouts. We simply don’t have the talent across the board to win trading TDS.

That doesn't always work in this conference.
Ask TCU
 
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That doesn't always work in this conference.
Ask TCU

TCU had the best team in the country three years ago, got shafted out of the playoffs, and in their worst year they just went 6-6. They average 1-2 wins a year more than WVU. If we have any kind of D, this team goes undefeated this year. No question. Do they beat Bama? No. But I do think it’s fair to win a league championship once every 5-6 years and contend for the title once a decade. Dana has hit his ceiling.
 
Point is TCU had everything except a QB....
They had 2 good RBs
Fast WRs
Good Defense

But they are a 6-6 team because of horrible QB play.

They actually looked better against Ohio St than they did against a lot of the Big XII.

Was WVs D really that bad....

According to some of you it was the best in the Big XII two weeks ago.

WV is not as great as some of you thought nor it is as horrible.

It lacks elite DBs and depth.

You need both in the Big XII.
You put WV against one of these conservative offenses WV's D would look great.
 
TCU had the best team in the country three years ago, got shafted out of the playoffs, and in their worst year they just went 6-6. They average 1-2 wins a year more than WVU. If we have any kind of D, this team goes undefeated this year. No question. Do they beat Bama? No. But I do think it’s fair to win a league championship once every 5-6 years and contend for the title once a decade. Dana has hit his ceiling.

You are flat dead wrong on TCU worst year being 6-6. They finished 4-8 in 2013 season. TCU 36 - 27 WVU 33-30. You need to do a better study on how similar WVU and TCU have been in the Big 12. Both have had 2 seasons in contention and both have had a very bad season.
 
Townes...I agree with you. WVU has to step up recruiting on a yearly basis and build depth not just at the skill positions but lines as well. It is totally unacceptable that DH has not been able to recruit, develop, and maintain a QB of his own. Instead he has relied on transfers and then little depth. Giving up on Florida is another huge mistake no matter what the children analysts all say. Very little little emphasis on defense is another area of recruiting that has been an after thought at WVU. Need a change in HC attitude yesterday.
 
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I am not overly familiar with Florida recruiting.

I think the idea of Georgia is this.
Georgia has two P5 schools
Two Group of 5 schools.

Georgia produces the same amount of talent as California with less schools.

So there is ultimately less in state competition.
Thing is...
Georgia may not be Mississippi but Georgia is still a nest of water moccasins when it comes to recruiting.

Truthfully I think WV needs to increase their West Coast recruiting presence.
DH has hit Arizona JUCOs but not the high school ranks.

Arizona and Utah both produce a lot of great players without a lot of competition.
 
It was this year. 2012 had 3 good players and the talent was absent elsewhere, everyone got all high on beating a Texas team that turned out to be a bad team, we probably slightly overachieved that year given the results against Baylor and Texas could have easily gone the other way. 2013 was just a bad team, not really disappointing, from game 1 you could tell something was really off.

This year we had the loaded offense we always hoped for since hiring DH and the defense was "enough" to get us in the conference title conversation, the defense actually gave us a chance to avoid our annual let down game against ISU, and performed well against sub par offenses, something previous teams have not always done.

So its not as if the team didn't have the talent to win the league, they were right there in the two crucial losses at the end, held the hammer in the 4th in both games and dropped it, they just choked which makes this season the toughest to swallow out of any DH season, and probably the toughest since 2007.
 
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It didn't have the talent....

You can wrap your head around the situation as much you want but in the end WV didn't have the players on D to get the stops and their offense wasn't as great and explosive as Oklahoma's.

So....
Truthfully do you load up on more offense and attempt to out recruit OU on offense
Or....
Does WV find the players on D that can cover one on one that will lead to more blitzers.

The reason why NFL teams and CFB teams love the 6'2 corner that can change direction is that unlike the old style of 5'9 corners the 6'2 can be physical off the line.

Passing games are too good in CFB to sit back in zone and hope your DL can get pressure.
 
Throwing a pass with a QB under center was stupid...

When everyone went to the shotgun you had three less seconds for DL to get pressure so you have more time for WRs to get open.

Now....the passing game has become so efficient out of the shotgun that even teams in the NFL like the LA Rams with 3 elite DL cannot get pressure every play.
 
Did you honestly expect anything different from someone who has an agenda?

The real fans do have an agenda: a team that can win a league championship. It’s not unrealistic to expect that once every 3-4 years. This league is not as tough as was advertised . This year it was comparable to the old BE with Oklahoma not being as good as the Miami teams we used to beat on occasion. Texas is slightly above average ala the old Va Tech teams. The other 7-5/6-6/5-6 teams are no different than Syracuse , Pitt, etc. To miss out on the league championship game with this talent against this very mediocre year in the Big 12 is DH’s worst coaching job since he’s been here.
 
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