WVU: The Case For Bill Stewart

(Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

A friend tells me that his WVU-alumnus son and his son’s pals refer to head coach Bill Stewart as “Luther,” after actor Jerry Van Dyke’s hilarious portrayal of an assistant college football coach on ABC’s television show-of-the-past “Coach.” 

There could be a lot to the Luther comparison, since polish is not one of coach Stewart’s strong suits. 

However, Rich Rod was the personification of polish, or sex appeal, depending on your persuasion, and he’s not very endearing to West Virginian hearts.

The point I’m making is this: polish can be acquired, but character, the good Bill Stewart type of character, you really have to work at.

I’m re-reading the late Gary Shaw’s Meat on the Hoof, the 1972 expose of the unpleasant side of University of Texas football as it was played in the mid sixties. 

Those Longhorn coaches, and others in the Southwest Conference and other major conferences at the time, were very polished, but they’d subject their fourth teamers and below to unimaginable “s**t” drills to beat them physically and psychologically until the boys would voluntarily give up their athletic scholarships. 

No accusations originate here, but there is one coach whom I am completely confident would not allow "s**t" drills to happen: Bill Stewart.

Another thing that coach Stewart can be credited for is the astute use of technology.  I’ve been following Luther’s tweets on Twitter for a couple of months.  I can say the West Virginia coach is getting his point across. 

He uses Twitter to augment well the head coach's bully pulpit, giving regular shout-outs to other coaches as well as congratulating his players and other coaches’ players. 

You also learn from his tweets that he digs classic rock; I mean, Good Golly, Miss Molly classic.  But, coach Stewart is in his best Lutheresque state when he’s proclaiming his Mountaineers Rules for Living. 

Here are samples paraphrased:

The world doesn’t care about your self-esteem.  Accomplish something, then feel good about yourself. (Flies in the face of pop psychology, doesn’t it?)

Before you were born, your parents were not as boring as you think they are. (Oh, so true.)

Be kind to nerds.  Chances are you’ll be working for one someday. (As a lifelong nerd, this is my favorite.)

And…

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?