Blogger Q&A: West Virginia

The series continues today with Mountainlair, a blog that covers West Virginia football.

Q: Before the season, there was a lot of talk that West Virginia would move to more of a pass-oriented attack this year. What’s your assessment of the offensive playcalling so far?
 
A: I say bad bad bad! There are some seriously skilled guys on the offense. Not getting them the ball in situations that they can succeed in is a complete failure. It should have been easy enough to see what worked and what didn’t over the last three years. But the coaches, more specifically Jeff Mullen the offensive coordinator, seems to be confused by this whole moving the ball down the field thing. I welcomed the idea of a more vertical passing game. But if it only works against 1-AA competition, it’s really of no use.

 
Q: Is it time for West Virginia to drop the 3-3-5 and move to more of a conventional scheme on defense?
 
A: You just got an amen from Morgantown! It can be a wildly successful scheme when you have experienced guys on defense, but it almost utterly fails when the guys are young. Also, if you want to draw top talent you need to have a scheme that translates well to the pro game. That has happened on offense, at least the type of running backs and quarterbacks we need to run the offense. It doesn’t translate well, but it has drawn some pretty good talent. The 3-3-5 was a good tool when we didn’t have a lot to work with, but now that the talent level has risen I would love a move to the 4-3 or 3-4.
 
Q: To this point, are there any more specifics on what has and hasn’t worked this season?
 
A: Honestly, I don’t know that anything has really worked to this point. It only took four games (sarcasm intended), but I think the coaches are starting to see what works and what doesn’t. It might just be that I’m (and the rest of Mountaineer nation) spoiled. But at the same time, I don’t see a bunch of guys going out there with any emotion. I can handle losing and stupid mistakes, but I hate watching a lethargic team.
 
I wish I could tell you that there were guys that have stepped up or been a pleasant surprise. But outside of WR Arlic Arnett, there really haven’t been any bright spots that we weren’t expecting. 
 
Q:  Bill Stewart seems like one of the nicer people in a very cutthroat business. Is he the right man to be head coach of West Virginia at this point?
 
A: He’s not the type of guy you refer to as a program builder. Recent success aside, I think we are all seeing that that is the type of guy you need at West Virginia. We’ll never have the cachet of a top tier program. We got the way we were by the players and coaches working harder than everyone else. So, no, he’s not the guy. The only way he is going to survive is by getting top assistans to run the program. Jeff Mullen, I suggest you start working on that resume, sir. 
 
Q: On that note, is college football an ultimately rotten business? Conference affiliations are mostly driven by the bottom line, and many athletic departments are basing their decisions on making ends meet. Whatever the facts were of what happened, it was a shame that Rich Rodriguez could not finish his career in Morgantown. Is this the way things have to be?
 
A: This goes back to me talking about WV not being a top tier program. The money just isn’t there, and it never will be. Even if I win the lottery. Rich Rodriguez, Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Bobby Petrino. That’s the type of coach the top programs are going after. They’re looking at Greg Schiano as well, but he doesn’t fit the “throw your grandmother under the bus to win” mold like those four. I don’t think you have to be an a-hole to win, but you do have to have some fire in your eyes. The only way West Virginia holds on to one of those type guys is if they really think it’s their dream job. Unfortunately, that’s the exception rather than the rule. So yeah, I think that’s the way things have to be.
 
Q: Big East teams haven’t fared well in OOC play up to this point. Is that an indictment of the conference of a whole, or just the offending teams to various extents? What does Big East football need to do, in your opinion, to secure its long-term viability, and is that even possible?
 
A: Outside of South Florida beating Kansas, I think we’ve all looked bad. Even the OOC wins haven’t been against elite teams from other conferences. This is just a down year. For us to have long-term viability, we have to split from the basketball only schools before we are going to even be able to do anything. No one wants to come in as a football only school. We have to secure better bowl affiliations. The 5-0 bowl record for the conference in 2006 looks great until you look at who we played and where we played them. That’s what we have to do, and then we have to get lucky. We can’t bring in just anyone. We need a Maryland or a Penn State to decide they don’t want to be in a big conference. How possible is that? Not very. I think every Big East AD knows this and they probably all have a plan on how to attract one of the other BCS conferences. Well, everyone but this one. He doesn’t seem to have a plan for anything.

Many thanks to John of Mountainlair for answering my questions.