What Now After Three Weeks?… BlueandGoldOutlaws take on things
Well I don’t think there can be any argument that we’ve really looked awful on the field on both ends of the ball so far this season. I had made up my mind after my last post that I was going to give it four games before I uttered a word about this years Mountaineer team, but after watching them I just cannot keep my mouth closed (or in this case fingers down). I’ve heard people complain that Coach Stew is showing his terrible characteristics as a head coach, we’re doomed to be like VMI, we’re on the path to national laughing stocks and the list goes on and on. WELL….I’m here to tell you before you write us off you might want to re-think things.
Yes we’re having a bad start at 1-2, considering that two games is all we lost in the span of a year and a half. There are a few HUGE things you all need to think about and really consider.
First, we have an ALL NEW coaching staff with only two positions that weren’t left and are held by true Mountaineers in Coach Kerlav and Coach Casteel. That means, as you know, a new system and new plays and new ideas for the Mountaineers. We have veterans out there right now trying to play the old system in a new age of Mountaineer football. That transition is tough for players that are set in the ways they were taught and brought into.
Secondly, due to that fact there is a HUGE amount of focus lost with this transition, we are also playing with little to no confidence. Take Pat White just for example. The man has never looked that bad on the field trying to run his offense in the passing game EVER, even when he took over the team back in 2005. He plays with a lot of skepticism and really not having the confidence that the Pat White we all know and came to love played. If I’m Coach Stew, I’m not pounding the plays in practice as much as I am you have got to take confidence in your God given abilities and go out there and attack at every position. The defense looked more perked Thursday night, but that lack of confidence and belief are still missing.
Our new coaching staff needs to take a lot of time (when it’s available) to nurture these young men and give them the confidence and trust they need back from them. The only way this will ever happen is when the coaching staff itself gels and starts to roll the cogs in this new engine of ideas and the fundamentals they need to set forth. I know it’s TONS harder to say it than it is to do it for our staff, but they have to realize their success is what they can get from these players on the field. There are no losers on our team or in the coaching department despite what the West Virginia faithful may think. We have absolutely got to focus on our players focus that’s PRIORITY.
Third, we have a lot of pressure on us to be what we have been the last three seasons and we’re feeling it way too quickly. Screw what the college football world thinks. We’re here to do what we have always done and that’s play football Mountaineer style. Look at Notre Dame and Michigan before Lloyd Carr’s departure. Two highly heralded programs that went to pot seemingly from no where. It’s the same for the pro’s. There are years for ALL teams in any sport to have downtime and never knowingly see it coming. We have a reason and it’s time we all realize it and put it in it’s proper perspective, and that is we are rebuilding from the inside out instead of the usual outside in.
We as fans and writers of WVU sports need to take down the already thrown up walls of fear and disgust. Sure, we all hate watching what we’re going through right now on the gridiron. We’ve always been the twelfth man on the field for our football team, and if we aren’t supporting them then they have no one. I can say and it’s unfortunate, we’re also seeing the true fans from the bandwagoners with all the things we hear everyday at work, or at home, or in our schools. It’s time to quit bitching and either be supportive or get out. You think what you do with your opinions and remarks is something extreme or something that makes you intelligent? Lace up our entire football teams shoes.
Enough said.
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First of all you say tha we have a whole new coaching staff except for two therefore that explains the 1-2 start…I say bullcrap.
You dont fix what is NOT broken and the offense didnt need an overhaul. Granted we were a little soft on defense in the frist two games but I noticed a marked improvement in the Colorado game…defense stepped up, still not great but much better. Offense is what the coaches changed and for that they should be hung by their testicles. Shame on coach Stew and Mullin for screwing up Pat Whites senior season, shame on coach Stew and Mulling for robbing Pat White of the Heisman, shame on them both for taking an one of the most prolific offenses in the nation and turning it into the joke it has become.I do NOT blame the kids, those are great athletes and great kids, its stupid coaching and that is how I feel, you will NEVER convince me otherwise.
I agree with what you have said, and I’m glad to hear someone say it out loud. I am a Mountaineer fan…first…last…always. Sure, I’m disappointed that we aren’t undefeated. But I’m proud to stand up and root for my E’ERS and I fly my WV flag as proudly as I ever did. Keep at it boys. No matter what some people say, you make all of us proud to be West Virginians. Thank you.
KEN: If your DEFENSE isn’t playing to the best of their ability for whatever reason, you ARE NOT going to win games either. For those that have it stuck in their heads offenses win games you’re stuck in la la land somewhere. If the defense cannot stop the opposing teams offense, our offense can score 100 pts and still be beaten. There’s much work to do for the coaching staff, and regardless this is THEIR team to run how they see it best not ours. But if you’d like, by all means go to Morgantown and say ‘Hey, let me run the offense’….and when we look worse? Everyone can blame you. Until these young men get their confidence in the new system this is pretty much what we have to look foward to. Bet you were whining the samething when Fraud was in his first year coaching. Get your head out of whatever place it is and support the team….they deserve it.
THANK YOU!
THANK YOU!
THANK YOU!
This is absolutely the most perfect well-thought out post for any team in trying times like these. The fans who are pissed off with what’s going on right now are spoiled by Dick Rod’s previous success and understandly so. Now is NOT the time to turn our backs on Stew and the gang. We, as Mountaineer Nation, must get behind our Eers especially against suddenly-improving Marshall. Don’t give the Herd a fighting chance. It’s posts like these that continue to make this site better than BGN any day of the week.
Good point Andy. Marshall is doing very well this season and we all know they play us like champs even when they’re down. I have to say I’m actually impressed with their team this season and the only thing good I can say for it is they’re from West Virginia lol. It’s put up or shut up time in Mo’Town and we’re going to be needed as the 12th man to get our guys inspired and ready to down the Herd. Like the staff or not folks, it’s still OUR MOUNTAINEERS.
I bleed Gold n Blue but I still feel there is an attitude that comes along with being a Top Tier National Champ Contender type of team and in 2 games we simply lost that attitude on the sidelines. The confidence is GONE. I’m one that can change his mind so if I’m wrong I’ll admit it. But I feel Stew needs to do whats right for the team ans step down as head coach. His style of Everything is Ice Cream and Puppy Dogs doesn’t work in the dog eat dog world of Div 1 Football. He’s embarrassing to the fan base and the state. The things he says he loves best.
Amen MountaineerBob. Rainbows and roses never won a DI football game and it is time that Stew get tough (on the guys who lose focus and fumble or have stupid penalties), get smart (stick with the finely oiled machine that one the Fiesta Bowl), or get out!!! (speaks for itself)
Sorry, “won the Fiesta Bowl”. More on Stew…Stew says that he has lost the stars that helped him win the Fiesta. Sure Slaton is gone (oh, he was hurt and did’nt do crap in the game). Schmitt is gone (yeah great player, badly missed on short yardage). Reynaud is gone (this one I can give him, except for those hot young slot receivers they have can be better than Reynaud). Bottom line: Excuses are like A-holes…everyone has them and they all stink!!!
Amen. I was reading his presser from yesterday evening and it was like listening to a politician. He avoided the issues at hand (his lack of ballz) and glossed over everything and tried to use his “aw shucks” speak to get everyone to move on, but i’m not forgetting this. I refuse to go back to the Nehlen years. We as fans have to be critical of the administration.
I honestly hope by the end of the season I have to write a post about how wrong I was after the Colorado game. I’m man enough to admit I was wrong… so prove me wrong Stew. Please.
Right about the don’t fix what is not broken. If a change in offense was to be made, next year would have been the time to do so, not 2008. This is a huge mistake and probably too late to correct. In particular with new players who did not learn the old system. I’ll never understand the mentality of so many coaches that things must be done their way instead of using player’s talents. From VMI, we know or should know that Stewart’s way does not work. I only hope that some of the other coaches have the skills to get WVU past Marshall. Someone needs to be the coaching leader and it will not be the head coach. Just look at Thursday’s end of game sideline when clock management was so important.
I’m a Stew fan.
But…someone on his staff dropped the ball in time management. This is the ultimate responsibility of the Head Coach, but most coaching staffs I have been apart of or know about have a coach in the box with tons of charts and a responsibility for the game clock and play clock.
The fundamentals have to be fixed.
Like, the ball should have been in the middle of the field for the field goal try. Granted, it shouldn’t have been missed, but this is one more thing that could have been done with more time on the clock.
Rainbows and butterflies don’t win games.
To all Mountaineer fans…….I’m a Colorado alum and bleed Silver and Gold. I read on one of our websites about a Colorado “fan” rudely mouthing off to a WVU family after the game.
Though it’s woefully inadequate, I apologize for that behavior. It’s not what we’re about. WVU gave us a good game that we were fortunate to win – a matter of inches. I, and most other Buffs, value your competition and look forward to playing you in Morgantown.
Once again, sorry, and WIN THE REST!!
Ok, I’ve sat by long enough without chiming in. In three games so far we’ve seen three different offensive schemes. Against Villanova, the coaches came out with the “more passing” strategy and it worked, thanks in part to a cupcake opponent. Then, during the ECU game, when the WRs weren’t getting open and the O-line couldn’t provide pass protection, Pat White had to run the ball out of necessity. Devine also had success. So after the ECU debacle, the coaches abandoned the “more passing” option and reverted back to a run dominated offense. The only problem is, they ran the same four plays over and over again. WVU is a run dominanted offense, but the coaches didn’t call the down field passes that the run sets up.
Inconsistences are killing the team. I understand that you have to be flexible and take what the defense gives you. But it seems that the coaching staff is trading wholesale schemes based off of the previous games successes and failures….the pass worked against Nova, but didn’t against ECU…so lets just run the ball against CU.
It’s apparent that the team has the players and leader (Pat White) to be a balanced offense. It’s time that the coaching staff gives Pat the freedom to take control and manage the game. I totally agree that it feels like the Nehlen-era all over again and I don’t like that one bit.
I’m not sure that Coach Stew is the future of the football program, but to say that he needs to be fired after just three games is crazy. If you believe in that, then why don’t we hire Al Davis to be our Athletic Director…it’s the same knee-jerk approach he takes. With that said, if WVU loses to Marshall, then the entire coaching staff should be fired!!
But that’s not going to happen because the boys in Blue and Gold are motivated to show the college football world that they are legit.
Very true and very well said! Now, let’s hope someone can step in and stop this madness!
I like that TAMMY! New slogan for the season, (STOP THIS MADNESS!)
Drop the gut runs, the bubble screens unless they’re rushing all out, try different things in the first and second quarters the offense is comfortable with and we might have a different result. Johnson, Mullen, and Holliday are really going to have to get together and on the same pages and get these kids in where they want to be and not break a little off here and there. Everyone I know I told when this new staff was put together to not get all excited that we’re gonna go out and blow people off the field. To think that is INSANE, it’s learning and growing time in the first year. Hell look what Fraud did his first year and what he did before he left, not because he was someone great, but because his staff was a machine and the kids were very talented and bought into his way of playing the game. If we lose to Marshall we just lose to Marshall. I understand Stew’s predicament easily though with me being a manager and what I went through for a while. You don’t want to step on peoples toes or make them angry to the point they don’t even hear what you’re saying to them or ask them to go do. But the “ice cream, puppy dogs, rainbows, butterflies, roses, magnetic affect, hell freezing over” thing will start changing and we’ll start coming around. But asking that the man be fired or step down before he has one season under his belt is just nuts. I understand people want us to win like yesterday instead of now…. but this is a rebuild inside out like I said. You have to have some patience and treat it with a little dignity and respect and fairness to everyone or really you’re not supporting the Mountaineers like I know and see so many say and do. The staff ARE a part of the team, and they have the same 50/50 chances to go win it all as any other Division 1 program does.
BluenGoldOutlaw. I agree, but to drop the bubble screen is to drop the spread offense. The premise behind the spread offense is to get the ball into your player maker’s hands in the open field and exploit their speed and talent. The bubble screen serves this purpose if and only if the linemen and other WRs stay disciplined and hold their blocks. It’s breakdown in fundamentals that are killing us. Blocking, tackling, and common sense (coaching staff for the latter).
BlueNgoldOutlaw,
WTF!!! It sounds like you want to settle for mediocrity. Rebuild? We have one of the most talented teams to ever take the field this year. Settling for mediocrity and rebuilding will never turn this program into a national contender. Does USC, LSU, UF, OSU, Oklahoma, need to rebuild? (By the way most of those teams have played in or won 2 national championships since 2000).
Try being one of the fans that don’t live in the state! Try living in Cincy surrounded by chumpeyes, bearcats, UK scrubs, hoosier tards, insignificant xavier, the ville chods. Try driving 12 hr roundtrips to Mo-town for Saturdays.
OUR PRIDE AND TRADITION (not to mention money) is in the hands of a freaking retard. Nice guy, great recruiter. However, it is not about being nice! Do you think coach Huggins is nice (treadmill baby)? But you still love him because he is a winner!
WVU is about being loyal (which stew is) and being a freaking winner (which more importantly he isn’t).
Everyone thank Pastilong for setting us back 5 years. I’ve been saying this since January! I have invested a good bit of money in that program which I think entitles me to be a lil pissed.
GO EERS!
You know, it’s kind of hard to NOT rebuild when you only have three coaches left after last season. I know you guys are upset and it is upsetting, but we were going to face this problem regardless of who became coach. It’s just part of the process period. Any fan of any sport has alot of money invested into the team or player they are most interested in and they feel the same way as anyone else does about the situation now. If we have a bad season we have a bad season. You see, we as fans and those of us that write for the site are faithfull to our programs. We may not like what we see or what’s going on, but we still are there on gameday in any capacity, and that’s what we should continue to do. We’ve always been the driving force for every season the Mountaineers have ever took the field, and when we’re rowdy, they’re hot. Mediocrity or whatever you all see it as, is back in the days of Nehlen and all the horrible games we played and the many times we gave our bowl games away and even two National Championships. My point is, we’ve weathered worse storms and we can do it again.
OH! And don’t vote for Manchin and things may stay straight in the in the higher levels.
Stewies gotta go. Speaking of Coach Stew, I feel a turd brewing.
I Got the answer. It’s Easy. Let Pat White Call The PLAYS AND RUN THE OFFENSE!!!!!!!!
BlueNgoldOutlaw,
I agree with what you saying man. But if you have been a season ticket holder for 29 years, and have traveled to 13 bowl games than you would understand where I am coming from. The last 3 years have been amazing compared to all the rest for me (including 88).
It felt great to be a Mounty! I got off a plane in the Dominican Republic last year and some native kid told me WVU is amazing man(reffering to my hat). I couldn’t believe they even watched football. Anyway we became relevant on the college football platform.
I will forever love my almamater, as my father and grandfather did before me. But I refuse to ride the storm out, or give it time. Anyone who knows anything about college football, can see that this guy is not a head coach. It is a embarassment!!! Nice guy or not I refuse to let this old man fuck up our program. You should be ashamed if you support Stew and the hire!
I’ve been a mountaineer fan all of my life. I’ve lived through the good times and bad—the up years and down. I believe in our players and their “God given abilities.” Unfortunately these abilities cannot always carry you to where you want to be. There has to be experienced leadership to guide these young men to where they need to be going. It all comes down to hasty decisions and irresponsible management by WVU. Bill Stewart is a great assistant coach that is proven—he is a great motivator and PR man. Bill Stewart was hired after being a figurehead replacement who was there when we won the Fiesta Bowl. Two things won the Fiesta Bowl — our experienced defense and our offensive play-calling. Unfortunately our last 7 years of successful—dominating offense is sitting in Michigan with coach Rodriguez. MaGee should have got a legitimate shot at the coaching job…I’ve said that for the past 8 months and I’ll say it for the next 6 years. If Stewart is going to be our head coach he needs to start acting like one. Stop farting rainbows when we legitimately get our a**es kicked week in and week out. Get in someone’s face when the fu** up, thats what being a coach is, take responsibility. Mullen needs to learn how to call plays and quit dicking around…but we all know he came from WF where he RECOMMENDED plays instead of calling them…another bonehead hire….but he probably got a sweet contract too. So come on ‘eers, sometimes when the leadership is not there someone on the field has to step up — Pat White—Morty Ivy—Quinton Andrews. I’ll never stop supporting the players but I can’t always back the staff.
I’ts required we ALL understand something. We love our mountaineers but we must face the truth.The glory days are over, done, finished.The changing of the guard has shown tremendous flaws in the program from top to bottom. Once again we will struggle to beat anyone.Respect nationaly,hell even instate, is gone.Whatever patty white and the boys do the rest of the year i’ll cheer for them,i’ll cheer for WVU till i die,but this is a sad time my friends and im pissed i didnt see it coming.The hope is alive crowd can kiss my ass.WE HAVE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP CALIBER TEAM HERE thats getting its hind end kicked.Wait till next year whoever the coach may be its gonna be a long way back to anything close to what we are used 2
I attended the “Bill Stewart Show” tonight in Morgantown. I remain unimpressed by Mr. Stewart. WVU football is now in a death spiral, and neither Mild Bill nor Fast Eddie Pastilong are capable of doing anything other than riding the program into the ground. If you heard the opening segment of Stewart’s defense of his and Mullen’s boneheaded two-minute drill at the end of the CU game, then you know that Stew says he will coach every future two-minute drill the same way — with mostly runs, a few short passes, and play to tie, not to win. I guess the other 99% of college and pro coaches who look to pass first, especially sideline routes, are all wrong and Stew the Magnificent is right! There are truly none so blind as those who will not see. Stew is absolutely clueless. Mountaineer Nation, we are completely f****d with Stew at the helm and Mullen as O-Coordinator. It’s not a great day to be a Mountaineer wherever you may be. Thank goodness basketball season is just around the corner…
Rick,
You are one of the few that gets it!
Thanks chief.
Rick WVU 79
Bring on Bobby!