When Pitt appeared to show slow to no interest in Dana Holgorsen. Especially when WVU swooped in and nabbed the hottest OC in college football (well, maybe after Gus Malzahn), there was shall we say — some anger and frustration over the coaching search.

There were rumors that the Pitt administration had serious concerns about Holgorsen’s reputation for enjoying a few too many adult beverages and his behavior. But that was less than clear whether it was being blown out of proportion as counter-spin to justify not pursuing Holgorse and/or letting WVU nab him.

Now, it seems that there may have been a little more to this than any of us truly realized. Holgorsen the Barbarian appears to be venturing into Billy Gillispie territory.

This story paints an extremely dim portrait of WVU’s football future.

Holgorsen has reportedly been involved in at least three and, perhaps, as many as six alcohol-related incidents in the last six months, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation.

That’s right, six.

The first five were hushed up, but the sixth incident at Mardi Gras Casino in Cross Lanes on May 18 has blown the cover off Holgorsen’s embarrassing antics. Nitro police were called to the casino at about 3:20 a.m. on May 18 to remove an apparently intoxicated customer who didn’t want to leave. Holgorsen was asked to step outside, sit on a bench and await a taxi. No charges were filed.

That sent WVU into damage control.

WVU athletic director Oliver Luck was summoned back to Morgantown from a Big East Conference athletic directors meeting by school president James Clements, according to sources. WVU’s president reportedly told Luck that if he read one more article about the coach-in-waiting, it would cost Luck his job.

A predictable mea culpa statement from Holgorsen followed, saying, “I will not put myself in that situation again.”

But, is he ready to turn over a new leaf?

The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register reported Saturday that Holgorsen allegedly was asked to leave both a bar inside Oglebay Park and, later, at Wheeling Island Hotel, Casino and Racetrack earlier this year.

Sources say there was also an incident at Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport, W.Va., which involved Holgerson being told to leave and not come back. And, then, there are rumors of three incidents at the Morgantown hotel in which he lives, including being banned from the hotel bar.

Also, there are allegations he was asked to leave the Union Pub And Grill in Huntington on Oct. 28, 2008. That’s the night Marshall upset Houston, 37-23, at Edwards Stadium in a game nationally televised by ESPN. Holgorsen was the Cougars’ offensive coordinator.

Now, far be it from me to write anything that backs up a Hoopie, but WVU fans counter with two points. The first that the writer is a Marshall-homer who loves to take shots at WVU whenever possible. The second, that the “sources” for almost all of these incidents are unnamed. I have serious doubts that Luck’s job is on the line if Holgorsen goes down. It damages him, but I don’t see him getting fired.

Still, there appear to be at least three incidents to this point. The one from earlier this week and two others.

According to witnesses, it did in Wheeling earlier this year.

He allegedly was asked to leave both a watering spot inside Oglebay Park and, later, at Wheeling Island Hotel, Casino and Racetrack.

Since no local police were called and no reports or charges made at either site, those alleged situations received little local attention.

But, as long as eyeballs are open, the truth will surface.

As Jerry Hinnen at CBS Sports puts it:

Even if not all of these allegations are proven accurate, clearly there’s enough veracity here to declare the initial casino incident far from an isolated occurence. Even worse, when there’s this much evidence of a pattern of this kind of behavior, it throws serious doubts on Holgorsen’s statement Wednesday that he would “not put [him]self in that situation again.”

…

But taken as a whole, it’s difficult to argue Holgorsen’s pattern of behavior doesn’t indicate that the Mountaineers are handing their program (and millions of dollars) over to a man with legitimate self-control issues.

Have to agree. I don’t care what kind of free spirit he may be portrayed. I don’t care how much he can try to imitate Bob Huggins. This is more than that.

All of this makes me a bit uncomfortable and feeling somewhat hypocritical. I love the drink. I still have a drink or two several times a week. I look back with a bit more nostalgia and fondness for the heavier drinking days than I probably should. So, to take some sort of moral, judgmental position on this is uncomfortable. But when you take on full-time responsibilities — be it as a parent or a high-profile job — there has to be at least a semblance of personal control. You have to know when to reign it in for something bigger and less immediate. Otherwise, the issue is deeper and much more serious than, “well he likes to have a few drinks, and he’s not hurting anyone.”

Kudos to WVU on this. The whole matter has guaranteed that people will be talking and watching Big East football more than expected.

Holgorsen in less than a week’s time has essentially put himself in a zero tolerance situation.  Every camera phone in every West Virginia is going to be on him if he sets foot in a watering hole. He makes one bad move and it will be all over the place and WVU will have little choice but to cut him loose. I guess we will see how much control he really has over this with his job on the line.