When Dana Holgorsen goes off script you better buckle up.
West Virginia’s first-year coach is 4-1 and one of the biggest stars in the state. After getting back on track with a 55-10 crushing of Bowling Green it would only make sense to think he would be in a good mood.
Guess again.
Holgorsen actually went on the offensive and berated the WVU fans for not filling Mountaineer Field on a cold, rainy Saturday in Morgantown. He’s pissed because a mere 46,000 fans attended the Bowling Green—about 16,000 less than filled the place a week earlier in a loss to LSU.
“You only get seven opportunities a year,” Holgorsen said. “What’s so hard about it? It’s too cold? Wasn’t too cold for our players. Wasn’t too cold for our coaches or managers or trainers; they’re out there. So why did we have 20,000 people less at this one than we did last week?”
And he didn’t stop the bashing with that.
“The funny thing about it is we’re all talking two weeks ago about how much difference the fans and the crowd’s going to make to the LSU people. Well, LSU played well in front of 62,000 of our people and then turned around and went home and played a 1-4 Kentucky team (actually 2-2) at noon and (they) have 95,000 people there. You want to talk about an elite program, that’s one of them. I don’t know about this place.”
Ouch!
WVU fans are a proud group, and they love the Mountaineers. And yes, they like to think they are as passionate as any group of fans around. But it’s just not true. Holgorsen is actually right.
Take Alabama’s Sept. 17 game with North Texas, a program that is probably as unappealing as watching Bowling Green. Bryant-Denny Stadium was packed with 101,821 for a 41-0 whipping. Of course the weather in Tuscaloosa is a heck of a lot better than in Morgantown, but it’s about commitment at home and away that makes a program like Alabama the envy of so many others.
Holgorsen’s unfiltered approach has been a welcome change.
Bill Stewart would answer almost every question with, “We’re going to playing Mountaineer Football and if we do that no one can beat us.”
Well, Holgorsen calls out players for not hustling or working hard. He talks about what it will take for WVU to be an elite program. So you have to take the good with the bad.
As a PR practitioner, I would counseled Holgorsen on more appropriate ways to get his message across—especially when you consider WVU would like to get an invite from the SEC. But Holgorsen doesn’t have the time or patience to be lectured on how to deal with the media and the potential ramifications of his comments.
He was hired to win games and put butts in the seats. He’s at least getting the winning part right. And the fannies will return this weekend for the UConn game.
Holgorsen wasn’t the only Mountaineer spouting off recently either. Oliver Luck, WVU’s AD, had some pretty interesting things to say about Syracuse during the Mountaineers’ game with Bowling Green.
Luck told the Big East announcers he thought the potential additions of Air Force and Navy as football-only members are actually a better option for the conference than keeping Syracuse.
“Let’s be honest, the reason TCU wants to be in this league so badly is that they think it’s an easier path to the national championship than it is going through Norman, Okla., or Austin, Texas or Stillwater, Okla., and playing some of their regional schools out there. So we’ve got some quality schools that are very interested in getting involved, including both Air Force and Navy. It’s no secret there. I think both of those institutions are academically excellent, very important nationally and also, I think we all can agree, they play some pretty good football.
“In fact, I would trade Air Force or Navy for Syracuse every day of the week in terms of the quality of the football program. No disrespect, but that’s just an observation I think most would agree with who understand football.”
Maybe Oliver, but shouldn’t you have waited to open your mouth until after the Mountaineers had played Syracuse?
