…The former WVU beat reporter for the Post-Gazette pours some more kerosene on the couch and lights with a small tactical nuke.
Allegations nothing, this was an all out declaration that the bleep has hit the fan in Morgantown. In case you were sleeping, Colin Dunlap went on 93.7 The Fan last night, and well, this:
” … He (Stewart) tried to flame-throw the guy (Holgorsen) in December by calling me and at least one other reporter because the reporter and I discussed it. He said, ‘can you get the word ’scumbag’ tattooed on the front of the sports page?’
“‘(Stewart said) you need to dig up this dirt. You need to get it out on this guy.’ And I said, ‘hey man, I’m not a part of some witch hunt.’”
You can listen to the audio by clicking the link above. But, wow.
Seriously. Wow. I officially concede dysfunctional, effed up, football coaching situation to the Hoopies. The Wannstedt forced resignation, going on the cheap with Haywood, his subsequent self-destruction on New Year’s Eve and scrambling to get Graham seems like a blip now. It was painful, but a lot faster than this festering situation. Arguably this has been something that goes all the way back to DickRod fleeing to Michigan.
As you can imagine the Big East blogosphere is all over this.
Sitting on the flaming couch is the Smoking Musket.
Voodoo 5 felt USF was going to win the Big East this year, but not because WVU destroyed itself.
Troy NIAM is of the same opinion as me — and anyone who has followed this — Stewart cannot possibly be even a figurehead head coach this fall.
The WVU Scout writer has been forced to conclude that this is some sort of bitterness in Stewart, because Stewart knew he was done as Hoopie head coach even before Holgorsen was hired.
What did Stewart think he had to gain, even if he managed to drag Holgorsen through enough mud to cause Luck to scrap the succession plan as it currently exists?
If the document Stewart signed on Nov. 17 was not enough to convince him Luck was thoroughly dissatisfied with his performance as head coach, there were other, even easier-to-interpret signs.
From the time he took over as athletic director during the summer of 2010, Luck never went to great effort to praise or stand behind Stewart.
And at a December press conference after the coach-in-waiting plan became public knowledge, Luck rather bluntly (and infamously) told reporters, “I didn’t believe we had an opportunity to win a national championship [with Stewart as head coach]. At the end of the day, results matter. We weren’t getting the results.”
There is little doubt even if Holgorsen was out of the picture at this point, Stewart’s days would still be numbered. Someone else would ultimately be Luck’s pick to take the head coaching job.
Stewart is either delusional enough to think that is not the case, or devious enough to care about nothing more than taking Holgorsen down with him.
Stewart has bitterly thrown away more than he may realize. Regardless of how Holgorsen does as head coach. He could pull a Paul Hackett suckitude and a Larry Eustachy career killing bender, but Stewart would still be hated. Fans never forgive someone who tries to hurt their program. And that is what Stewart did by trying to drag down Holgorsen.
Paid invitations to speak at Mountaineer functions. Gone. Reputation in West Virginia — shattered. He will become persona non grata for Hoopies and their school. Reunions of the team that won the Fiesta Bowl will not include him.
The question isn’t if WVU AD Ollie Luck fires Stewart, but when and is there a proper clause to fire him without any pay.
Luck will survive as AD, but he’s in a different trouble. He’s the one that forced this situation and completely misjudged how Stewart would handle this. Admittedly, this particular scenario wasn’t easy to predict, but he created the tension. He put all the people on the couch. I’m guessing that he doesn’t have quite the power position he did a few months ago in the WVU administration and fanbase.
Holgorsen is naturally in a tough spot. Some created by his own habits. The casino incident created the opening for things to be spread and written. He’s got a short leash, and likely is facing a divided locker room and maybe coaching staff.
Crack open a beer and grab a seat. Probably a few more events before it all finishes shaking out.
I am not defending Stewart but Stewart feels betrayed and this is his way to get a bit of payback. Stewart isn’t the brightest bulb in the pack but year in and year out WVU has been competitive and he has been a loyal solider and team guy.
I feel Stewart is going to be fired for some type of ethics clause, Holgorsen will be appointed head coach for the 2011 season and Luck better pray everything works out because to go from an offensive coordinator to a head coach is a big step and a difficult transition.
Holgorsen is the second coming of Billy Gillespie. All that cash and the hoopie life will be too much temptation!
My guess is that barring any more revelations, Stewart is gome while Luck and Holgerson stays .. with both on a short leash
Read more: link to post-gazette.com
Ta da! Look at all the money that would be saved and could be passed out to the players.
Way to go, kid.
To parrot Rev. George… Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
What really convinces me that this former P-G reporter is acting in the most self serving manor, and I do believe what Dunlap is saying is true, is that he tweets that he’ll have “News that will rock a BE team for five years” just a day before going public with this. Wow – talk about timing.
It is pretty obvious that Dunlap held this info until he himself felt he could use it for personal gain… and gain from this he will as this is the only time in his career anyone at all, especially nationally, has been interested in him personally. And viola’! He breaks his silence just when he happens to be out of a job.
Sorry folks, I can’t get behind his actions even thought they are centered around negative WVU press. His was a chickenshit move in the extreme and, when looked at this neutrally, didn’t have to be made public at all… especially when he could have made this fact available at anytime when his actual job was reporting on WVU sports.
@ TX Panther – you need to look at the timeline more closely. Stewart did this back in Dec of 2010 before Holgorsen had any incidents while in WVU employ.
Also, as weak as it sounds, AD Luck is correct in that this is a personnel issue with the university and thus covered under the Privacy Acts. There is no way he or any other member of the WVU admin should discuss anything about Stewart or Holgorsen publicly. He can talk about the coaching situation in broad strokes but since it is pretty obvious that WVU will be digging to be able to can Stewart on a breach of contract (ethics probably) he has to remain closemouthed on any details.
2nd, I agree that Dunlop probably should have withheld the information, but on the other hand .. don’t shoot the messenger. I believe the reason that Dunlop talked about this at this time was not for personal gain (as I don’t see how he benefits), but it was in respoonse to the reports that it was Stewart or his wife that were responsible for the Holgerson propaganda .. and his evidence only reinforces these reports.
The fact is that Tressel was making > $3m per year based in large part for recruiting the likes of Pryor, Clarrett and Smith, to only name a few who have been implicated through the years while Tressel maintained his holier than thou persona. There is substantial evidence that there has been wrongdoings since his days at YSU in the early 90s … but of course, it is all Pryor’s fault for all that is wrong at OSU.
I couldn’t have said it better. For most OSU fans Pryor is now the poster child for all that is wrong in society and Tressel is the beloved saint. Poor Ohio State and its coach were blemished by such an unscrupulous player.
Nevermind the fact that the trail of evidence followed Tressel from as far back as the 1980’s.
Maybe has no intention of getting involved in journalism again, and just figured, one big story before I go??????
Another interesting angle – with all of the attention on Stewart and the alleged backstabbing, Holgorsen’s behavior has essentially gone back under the radar. It will be interesting to see if/when that comes back to the surface. Nothing that has happened with the Stewart allegations has convinced me that Holgorsen is not a ticking time bomb.