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June 7, 2011

…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.





The precise scenario as it has unfolded may have been difficult to predict, but it should not have been hard to predict that this process would not go smoothly. If Luck was that dissatisfied with Stewart, he should have just fired him outright. Instead, he made an unstable situation even worse, at least for the short run. I am a bit surprised that Luck hasn’t received more heat in the maintstream press for this. I think he is a smart guy, but this will not be remembered as his finest moment.

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.

Comment by Pantherman13 06.07.11 @ 11:00 am

there are rumors they are bringing in Tommy Bowden. being from clemson, i can tell you this would be great news for pitt. tommy couldn’t win anything important without richrod. let’s hope this blows up further, as this drama is really keeping me entertained while i study for the bar exam.

link to collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com

Comment by Greg in New Orleans 06.07.11 @ 11:42 am

Luck has handled the situation very poorly, he should have fired Stewart prior to bringing Holgorsen on board.

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!

Comment by WLAT and the Big Beat! 06.07.11 @ 12:38 pm

Face it, while you certainly can’t condone Stewart’s action, this was all precipitated by ‘the Stewart in purgatory and and Holgerson the head coach-in-waiting’ scenario which was about as ill-conceived as anything I’ve seen. And, AD Luck just pretty much confirmed that in an interview this morning on the Fan when he admitted he would probably do things differently if he had the chance.

My guess is that barring any more revelations, Stewart is gome while Luck and Holgerson stays .. with both on a short leash

Comment by wbb 06.07.11 @ 12:42 pm

I’m not so sure Coach Stewart’s intentions were to drag down the university or try to save his job…Maybe the guy really does care about the University and more importantly his players…Maybe he saw what a complete A#@H%^&* Holgorsen was and took drastic action to save his players from him…Would you want your son to play for Holgorsen? Would you want this man shaping your sons behavior over a four or five year period…May coach Stewart did backstab the Univeristy, but that may be a price he was willing to pay to protect his players.

Comment by HbgFrank 06.07.11 @ 1:07 pm

We just found an AD that handled the coaching situation worse than Stevie P. Way to go Olie!

Comment by TX Panther 06.07.11 @ 1:34 pm

I’ve seen this situation in business. The hot-shot young Turk naturally causes resentment in the old lion. Neither is at fault. Given time to foment, anger in the one being displaced will explode. I wouldn’t read much into Stewart’s reasons or thinking. He wasn’t thinking. Just like road rage, he lashed out at what he perceives is unfair treatment.

Comment by 66Goat 06.07.11 @ 1:38 pm

But Holgy provided the ammo or gasoline by not staying out of trouble. Stewie then used this against him as would I very discretely. There is nothing wrong in telling someone the truth about something being covered up and then that someone (investigative reporter) letting the world know without ratting you out. Stewie needed a better Deep Throat.

Comment by TX Panther 06.07.11 @ 1:55 pm

…and we all thought that our coacing fiasco in December and January was bad…seems the ‘eers have topped us again with the gift that keeps on giving…

Comment by Leaseman 06.07.11 @ 2:14 pm

“I don’t care, we could have no coaching staff next year”

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.

Comment by steve 06.07.11 @ 2:48 pm

So King Greed rears his ugly head again. Why read a horror story or view a Sci-Flick when one can absorb the drama on the sports pages. Tressel, Pryor, Rich-Rod, the USC debacle, the Pitt panic when the super loyal Coach Wannstedt was released “under pressure” for not winning ebough, and now the Sheakesperian drama in Morgantown in regard to(as A.D. Luck terms it: } a personnel problem”) Undoubtedly there is more to come from the affluent towers of college sports. “O what fools we mortals be.” When Greed is the monarch only a “Bishop” such as “Mr. Clean” at State College is unscathed. Rev. George in Columbus

Comment by Rev. George Mehaffey 06.07.11 @ 4:17 pm

Is it me or is Dunlap being a punk in rolling over on Stewart? I think his sources will need to think twice before talking to him.

Comment by Chuck Morris 06.07.11 @ 5:31 pm

Between this and all the fun going on at tOSU, Pitt should put together one killer recruiting class this year (and next).

Comment by merlin 06.07.11 @ 5:40 pm

Agreed Merlin, but Graham better start really selling this program to that big 2012 local class. I’m interested to see how he does recruiting wise considering he’s never been in a position to recruit this kind of talent. Anyway, the recent turmoil will definitely narrow the field a bit and we go head to head with PSU for W. PA recruits.

Comment by Alex P 06.07.11 @ 7:38 pm

Chuck I had that same thought– I believe Dunlap resigned from the P-G but this does not speak well of him if he’s looking at staying in the journalism field in some way. It’s not like he was subpoenaed for this info…

Comment by Jason 06.07.11 @ 7:59 pm

Prior quits / ask to leave Ohio State…I look forward to being served French fries at Wendy’s from Mr. Prior!

link to m.post-gazette.com

Comment by Marco 06.07.11 @ 11:14 pm

I have to agree with the posters above who are skeptical of Colin Dunlap’s motives in going public with this info – six months after the fact.

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.

Comment by Reed 06.08.11 @ 6:07 am

1st off, FWIW, Kevan Smith was drafted by White Sox in 7th round

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.

Comment by wbb 06.08.11 @ 7:20 am

About Pryor … while I don’t condone his actions, I find it totally amazing that here in Ohio, Pryor is the villain and once again Tressel is coming off as a saint.

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.

Comment by wbb 06.08.11 @ 7:26 am

wbb,
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.

Comment by Bowling Green Panther 06.08.11 @ 7:42 am

Agreed with above posters also, Dunlap’s credibility has to be shot with any sports figures in the future. He said he resigned to take care of his kids, wife has a good job, and left paper amicably, and sounded believable.

Maybe has no intention of getting involved in journalism again, and just figured, one big story before I go??????

Comment by Dan 06.08.11 @ 9:01 am

As a reporter, when you have journalism integrity you report the story and don’t become the story! I don’t care if this helps Pitt in someway, Dunlap is a disgrace.

Comment by WC Steve 06.08.11 @ 9:14 am

I don’t want to go too far in defending Tressel because his actions at OSU were clearly wrong, but the issues at YSU were not represented accurately in the SI article. Everyone involved at YSU has come out and said that the fact pattern in the SI article was either incomplete or incorrect. For example, there is no solid evidence that Tressel arranged a job for Ray Isaac. All parties involved stated that he introduced Isaac to Monus aat a basketball game, nothing more. Again I’m not saying Tressel is without fault but his past at YSU was not as shady as the SI article would indicate.

Comment by Yoshi 06.08.11 @ 10:21 am

… and the OSU President (Orvile Reddenbacker) just made a statement yesterday that Tressel’s resignation was not precipitated by the NCAA allgeations!!!

Comment by wbb 06.08.11 @ 11:27 am

Completely agree with Wbb and Bowling Green…Tressel was in fact one of the bad guys of college coaching…I said this before, OSU was the “U” of the Big 10 under Tressel…Look at their graduation rates, especially by ethnicity…Look at how major infractions either don’t get punished or get a slap on the wrist…From the day Tressel let Clarett play in the NC game against Miami, I had a feeling bad things would eventually follow for OSU. Yes, the players did bad things and deserve the consequences they get, but Tressel is responsible for the players that he recruits and the atmosphere in which his program operated. Recruit questionable kids and put them in an undisciplined atmosphere and bad things are going to follow. Mr. Tressel is surely a good coach, but he belongs in the NFL.

Comment by HbgFrank 06.08.11 @ 12:47 pm

tOSU is not only the laughing stock of college football, but its credibility as a university as a whole has been shot. This scandal goes all the way to the top, the university president.

Comment by dugdog 06.08.11 @ 1:12 pm

one of the NCAA sanctions should be to prevent tOSU President from selling any popcorn for a year.

Comment by wbb 06.08.11 @ 2:34 pm

[…] the rumors begat people publicly stating that Stewart was trying to get dirt on Holgorsen, it was all over but negotiating the buyout and confidentiality […]


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