There has been much debate over Head Football Coach Bill Stewart since he took the reigns of the football program a few years ago. It seems like people either like him or hate him – there is no in between.
One thing we can’t debate though is that Stew is a genuine nice guy. He is a man of integrity and he practices what he preaches. He is also a man of God and is very active in the FCA.
I’m proud to have a man of such high character running our football program.
But if people had been polled after the first season in 2008 I bet the majority would still prefer to have Rod as our head coach.
Stew, with Pat White at the helm, led our Mountaineers to a 9-4 record in his first season as the head man.
Meanwhile, a few hundred miles northwest of Morgantown, Rod led the Wolverines to a 3-9 record in season #1. Of course, Mountaineer fans had seen that before when he led WVU to 3 wins in his first season. Better seasons were to come.
Fast forward to the present day and what do you have? Well, for starters, you’ve got Coach Rod coming off of his 2nd losing season. Oh, and you’ve also got this little NCAA Rules Violations thing.
We had seen hints of his shady character when he shredded documents before leaving for the Michigan job.
Many aren’t happy with Bill Stewart’s back to back 9 win seasons, but would they trade that in for back to back BCS Bowl victories and a fresh batch of NCAA violations?
I want a National Championship in the the worst way, but I’m not willing to win at all costs.
Ern is the generalist of the group. He contributes original content, posts links to news articles, tracks all the developments in Morgantown, keeps his pulse on the Mountaineer fan nation, etc... he does it all. 
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I’m sort of in the middle on Stewart…at first, I was TOTALLY against him. I felt that losing to ECU and Colorado with the offensive players we had was inexcusable…and I still do feel that way about the 2008 season. Now, I’m willing to wait and see how the next couple of seasons pan out…we have some highly rated recruits and he at least deserves a chance to win with his system and his players. I still have a lot of doubts about his ability to lead a major college FB program but as I’ve said before, I hope I’m wrong.
I also have mixed feelings about the “win at all costs” dilemma. As much as people want to say that the game is about integrity and sportsmanship at the college level, it isn’t. College football is big business in today’s society. Don’t anyone kid yourself. It is ALL about winning…AND money…maybe not necessarily in that order…to the victors go the spoils. Why do you think the BCS is being called on the carpet in Capitol Hill??? Because the major conferences do not want to share the loot, plain and simple. So what is being talked about??? Conference expansion…14-16 team megaconferences…the Big East and Mountain West(who is desperately trying to win an automatic BCS bid) will fall by the wayside resulting in more BCS money for the remaining major conferences.
So should a school like WVU try to win at all costs??? Well, when you consider that EVERY major program in the land is skirting the rules in some fashion, I say yes. But then again, a USC or Michigan can rebound quicker from any sanctions due to their name recognition…while WVU would have a tougher time bouncing back from any NCAA disciplinary action…so maybe we shouldn’t. However, if we did take the approach of “winning at all coasts” and actually won a national title, WVU would then join that elite group and garner much more respect. Recruiting would become much easier, winning much more frequent, and the ability to rebound from getting your hand caught in the cookie jar would become easier as well…so in that scenario, I say YES, YES, YES. So long as no cheating occurred during the game, I wouldn’t mind WVU using the “win at all costs” approach. So what if we practiced a few extra hours, so what if we contacted recruits a few times too many, so what if we required our players to lift weights during the offseason and had a few GA’s overseeing the whole thing. If we were to win a title because of it, I wouldn’t feel any less excited or proud of my school.
I will finish by saying that in a perfect world, I would rather WVU win with integrity, respect, sportsmanship, and simple hard work. But we don’t live in a perfect world. Sadly, we live in a world where the “win at all costs” philosophy dominates every aspect of our society. If you aren’t trying to gain an edge over your competition in any way you can, you will get left behind. I think it was Richard Petty of Nascar fame who once said, “If you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’”. And someone else once said, “It’s our job to cheat, it’s theirs to catch us.”
I think you’re wrong about the poll. I personally wouldn’t walk across the street to piss on DickRod if he were on fire, let alone prefer to have him as the head coach over anyone. I and others were very critical of Stew during the first year. Some have even pondered as to how we would be better off if Rod were still our coach. I think those questions are made in a hypothetical that the Rod meltdown had never happened. The question was strictly a matter of coaching ability. Once Rod spit on our university and our state, almost nobody would welcome him back.
So while some people might be willing to trade Stewart in for a more aggressive (shady) coach when it comes to pushing the limits on NCAA rules, I think there are very few that would trade him for DickRod. Besides, it’s possible to have both someone who will push the limits and still loves the university and state as much as Bill Stewart. (see Bob Huggins)
I understand that we live in this world but it doesn’t make it right. Now I am not the moral police but i am one of the very few that still believes a college education should mean something. I am also one of the few that believes you have an obligation to make these youngsters that you bring in a better person, hard worker, community involved, and get their degree. Rod never did that and he really doesnt care about it he only wants W’s. I believe that you can achieve W’s the right way which is why Bill Stewart believes so much in doing things the right way. Now yes are there dumb ncaa rules yes, but i beleive the ncaa is the biggest bunch of contradicting crooks out there. ex: putting boise state and tcu in the same bowl, making sure two big programs make it to the ship. I love pro sports because its defined and everyone has the same opportunites except baseball where money is a large contributing factor, but more and more evryday college sports are becoming more and more biased and unfair mainly football but i wouldnt rule out basketball with all of the biased officiating and 4 or 5 games a week a ref does in multiple conferences. Take yourself out of the game like nba refs do there arent many nba refs i know there names and i know about 10 or 12 college refs by name and hope we never get them. Like i said i know thats how the college scene is now but it doesnt make it right and it doesnt mean you have to have the attitude if you cant beat them join them. I truly believe it is possible to do it the right way.
#6Boise St. and #4TCU in the same bowl was a little unfortunate, but it’s hard to blame that squarely on the NCAA. What would the solution have been? If either team had played #5Florida, then #3Cincinnati would have been slighted for having to play the other mid major or a much lower ranked #9Ga Tech or #10Iowa. As it turned out, 1 played 2, 3 played 5, and 4 played 6. Both teams deserved to make it based on rankings and neither was stuck playing one of the lower tiered BCS teams. (9 Ga Tech, 10 Iowa, 12 LSU, or 13 Penn St.)
Meh… I don’t know. Do you think USC fans are willing to give back their BCS wins since it appears there may have been some violations? Hasn’t Ohio State had some violations during their most successful seasons? LSU was under investigation last year, right? I believe Oklahoma was guilty in 2007.
My point is that NCAA violations aren’t exactly the scarlet letter of football; they’re a dime a dozen these days. Refusing to win at all costs is certainly a noble concept… I just don’t know if it’s realistic.
Would I trade Stew’s 9 win seasons in for back to back BCS victories and NCAA violations? Possibly… it depends on what those violations were.
Wow – really? So you’re saying it’s ok to cheat since everybody else does it?
I’m saying that if we’re playing a game of poker, and everyone else is keeping an ace under the table (or at least a face card), then it’s probably pretty silly of me to expect to win. Noble and honorable, sure, but silly.
Obviously, I’m not saying that WVU should start paying players like LSU, or giving them cars and other perks, like USC. But, you asked if I would trade Stews seasons for a couple of BCS wins with accompanying NCAA violations, and I said it was possible depending on what those violations were.
Getting slapped on the wrist for, essentially, practicing too hard? Yeah, I’d be able to live with that in exchange for some BCS wins.
The reason? When people think of USC, LSU, OSU, etc, as powerhouses, it’s rare that they qualify the thought by pointing out NCAA violations. Should they? Probably. But they usually don’t.
Ok, so what you are saying is that it’s ok to cheat. You can’t do big time cheating, but just a little is ok.
No, go back and reread. All I did was answer your question.
You asked if I would trade Stew’s seasons for BCS wins and accompanying NCAA violations. I said possibly.
Further, I said I could live with NCAA violations if they were related to practicing too hard. That’s not quite the proclamation that “cheating is ok” that you are looking for.
Let’s look at this a different way. Let’s suppose that Coach Stew is taking the approach of “winning at all costs” except he is doing it the “right” way. Why didn’t Patrick Patterson go to WVU? His mom didn’t like Huggins was one part of why. Why did Noel Devine take so long after signing day to make his choice? Deion Sanders (Devine’s mentor) was in his ear to go to FSU, he didn’t like some of the stuff Rod was saying about living arrangements, etc. Anyway my point is this. Do you think any parent/guardian (that is actually involved, I realize some of these kids have no parental involvemnt) is going to meet Coach Stew and staff and say “I don’t want my kid being around that guy”. Absolutely not. Do you think Stew talks about being a man of God and a boy scout and all the other stuff just because he likes to sound corny? Heck no, he does all that to get people and parents to like him and it works. Do you think we have had the best two recruiting classes in history under Stewart, because players think he is going to get them to the NFL or Morgantown is such a cool place? No,no, no. Most of these guys are coming here because they like and more importantly their parents like and trust the coaches. Again I know there are exceptions to all this, but my point is I think every college football coach is willing to win at all costs, but some take a different, less risky and more ethical path. And might we also say it always appears to be the dumb ones that get caught. If you recall during the Rod blowup WVU’s prez said he wasn’t a smart man and he had attempted to do things in his contract to financially help him. I can’t remember all the details but he was basically calling Rod an idiot, which appears to be very true.
OK, but to take the flip side of that argument…
If we look at the schools I mentioned above – USC, LSU, OSU, etc. Do you think a parent is going to have any problem with their child going to those schools? Even though they’ve had NCAA violations in the past? Of course not.
To me, it is Bill Stewart’s integrity that will set Stewart, and WVU Football by association, apart. As a parent, and grandparent, I realize that by the time most of these players have graduated college their football careers are over. The dedication and commitment it takes to succeed is enormous. By the time a player graduates, he has spent 12 to 14 years of his life with football as his life. When it has gone, the void that is created is very large, and very real. Eighteen to twenty years olds don’t understand their own mortality yet.
Stewart attempts to prepare his players for life after football. By preaching academics, and holding his players responsible for their academic performance. It is not popular, but it is the correct thing to do as a head football coach. Bill Stewart expects his players to graduate with a degree from WVU.
Further, Stewart attempts to preach being a good Christian. Before I get blasted, it’s the values that are represented by being a good Christian rather than the concept of Christianity as a religion. Moral fiber is at the heart of this debate.
What gets lost in translation is the amount of respect that approach engenders when recruiting high school players to play football at WVU. The parents, and grandparents, of those players understand that within a decade on the outside, their son is going to enter the real world. The crutch that has been football will literally have been kicked from underneath them.
The question they ultimately ask themselves, “Do I want Johnny playing for a coach like Bill Stewart, or do I want him playing for a snake salesman?”
From where I sit, that’s an easy answer.
sell your soul to the devil if you think it will win you a National Championship, but Stew knows that someday he will have to answer to more than the NCAA – THAT and not “good guy” parental-trust recruiting is what guides him. It is an ethic that is all-too-lacking in all of society, let alone sports – loyalty, honor, humility, a moral compass are not externals/an act for Stewart. CHARACTER is not an issue with Stewart. CHEMISTRY is not an issue with Stewart – he has assembled and holds onto an excellent staff. The verdict is still out on his COMPETENCY. Time will tell if he and his staff can coach up these great classes. Can laid-back aw-shucks Stew bring fire and intensity to this football team? Let’s hope so.
By the way, I’m still waiting on an apology to our administration from big mounth Ken Kendrick.
Below is an excerpt from an AP story dated January 1, 2008.
“West Virginia University graduate Ken Kendrick has given his alma mater a Fiesta Bowl welcoming gift: $1 million.
The West Virginia native made the donation in his new home state of Arizona on Monday, two days before WVU plays the Oklahoma Sooners in the Fiesta Bowl.
“While I have been critical of recent events in the athletic department, I have made this gift because I love West Virginia University and West Virginia,” Kendrick said in a statement released by WVU on Tuesday. “I only want what’s best for my university.”
Kendrick, an avid WVU sports booster, has criticized the school since Rich Rodriguez left the Mountaineers to take over as the head football coach at the University of Michigan in December.
WVU President Mike Garrison said he worked things out with Kendrick at a meeting Monday.
“I know that he cares about the university, our students and our athletic programs,” Garrison said in a statement. “He has shared some very constructive suggestions with me.”
Kendrick also shared $1,012,500 with the WVU Foundation for scholarships. The donation equals WVU’s tab for unsold Fiesta Bowl tickets.”
I don’t think Mr. Kendrick owes the WVU administration anything…he simply stated his opinion about the hiring of someone he considered to be unqualified…which, by the way, the jury is still out on.
I disagree Denny. Mr Kendrick was bad mouthing the administration for not giving into DickRod and his insane requests and excuses.
I agree that he probably shouldn’t have done that in a public forum but big time donors have the right to have some input and/or influence into the product that they are funding. I, too, would have rather Mr. Kendrick kept any concerns with the administration’s handling of the Fraud debacle behind closed doors but I don’t believe what he said publicly was all that damaging. And I believe that most people are sensible enough to view his comments for what they were…a donor who simply wasn’t happy about losing a successful head coach…and the subsequent hiring process for the replacement. I, also, think that an apology would be nice…but not necessary given all that Mr. Kendrick has done for the school financially.
I don’t guess I consider having your GA’s or oversight staff watching voluntary workouts and lending advice as cheating. I agree, it is considered against the rules an frowned upon. If this was our only violation at WVU, yes, I would trade that for wins. I would not trade major violations for wins due to the harm it may cause the program in the long term. I find it very hard to believe that this didn’t happen at WVU while Rod was there and no one had an issue with Rod while he was winning. Would I take him back, NO WAY.
For what it’s worth, I happened onto a Michigan blog about “The Product”. Most were excited about the idea that Michigan will go 8-4 next year. Funny how that record keeps turning up when you talk about “The Product” without White and Slaton.
why is it Rod or Stew????
Rod f-him hate the guy produced results thanks to great luck with P white, Slaton, O shimitt, ECT…
Stew- can’t coach little league. He sucks ass how do you go 9-4? how do you lose to an ACC that lost half of their games?
lets maybe get a real coach who wants to win.
Maybe this is an indication of some of the things he was doing here behind the scenes that prompted the administration to finally cut him loose. Probably accounts for the low opinion his players had of him as well. Glad he is gone before WVU had the kind of attention UM is getting now. It will be interesting to see how UM answers the “win at all costs” question. Looks like for now they are willing to accept the problems, but have not even started winning yet…..
For right now, Stew is the man for the job for so many reasons. If you have someone better in mind, tell us who it is and how realistically we get him to Morgantown. Honestly, for the long term picture and success, we should be most concerned about who the new A.D. will be. WVU is on the rise again!
I agree the New AD is critical. I disagree that we are on the rise. We have top 10 womens and mens basketball programs. Both soccer teams are great. Baseball produces many major league players and the other sports are strong. We graduate a high percentage of our student athletes which is big. The Football program has been on top and the lingering question can Stewart and his coaching staff get this top recruiting class to produce quality wins and get the Mountaineers back into the top 10.
Results will tell. I hope they can because WVa needs the football team to win big.
this guy is a total bonehead, and i mean bonehead,,,, if he had all fifth year five star recruits, he wouldn’t win the BE as long as he called the shots… he just continues to embarrass wvu,,,,, now we’re going to the big ten and next year we will win the nat. champ… this man is clueless