You have all heard the tired, old cliché, “Nice guys always finish last.” In fact, the saying has been repeated so many times, it has almost become an article of faith.
But is it true?
As a long-time West Virginia football fan, I am troubled by the number of Mountaineer fans who, five games into this young season, have already given up on Coach Bill Stewart. It shames me to admit that some of them have even called for the man to be fired.
There are a number of Mountaineer fans who believe that Stewart is much too nice to be a successful head coach. Stewart’s kindness is often misinterpreted as weakness, an inability to instill toughness and discipline into his players.
No doubt these same fans also believe that a man of strong faith cannot win games in the violent world of college football. Most disturbing of all, some have even stooped so low as to ridicule Stewart’s faith and question his intelligence, as if foul language and rude personal behavior were the prerequisites of a winning program.
I recently had the privilege to hear a radio interview with former Alabama Coach Gene Stallings. Prior to hearing this show, I did not know all that much about the personal life of this fine and gentle man. Certainly I was familiar with his football victories and his great coaching reputation. However, I knew very little about the man himself.
“The Junction Boys” were a collection of student athletes who played for the legendary Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant at Texas A&M and were immortalized in a book and film by the same name. As one of the members of this team, nobody could legitimately question the toughness of Eugene Clifton Stallings, Jr.—nor should they!
During this radio broadcast, they replayed an earlier interview the former coach had given in regards to his son, John Mark Stallings, who was born with Down syndrome.
Then in the live portion of the show, they talked to the coach about this beloved son, “Johnny,” who passed away on August 2nd of this year due to congenital heart failure. With an obviously broken heart, this tough football coach shared his love for his late son and the deep and abiding faith that carried Gene and his wife through their painful ordeal.
15 comments Last one added 8 months ago — Leave a Comment
Jeff Mallory 9 months ago
I appreciate Stewart's purity and his genuine nice guy reputation. I think he would be an excellent next door neighbor. He has, however; shown no ability to improvise or react to dynamic conditions on the field. There is no reason that the offense should play so poorly other than weak coaching and play calls. The spped is amazing on this team, but it has become so predictable it is no longer shocking to our opponents. I believe we should say "nice try" and send Bill home before we lose all the gains from the last several years.
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Shawn Withrow 9 months ago
Jeff - Stewart is 5-2 as WVU's head coach with wins over in state rival Marshall, Big East foe Rutgers, and football powerhouse Oklahoma at the end of last season. Do you truly believe he doesn't deserve a chance to continue? That seems a bit ridiculous.
WVU lost a boatload of really talented players on both sides of the football team. Several to the NFL, which means they were pretty darn good. They replaced most of the coaching staff and they have a rookie offensive coordinator that is still learning the nuances of calling plays from the booth.
With all of those challenges, they have still shown marked improvement each week of the season. In fact they have already matched Rich Rodriguez's first season win total at 3 games.
Also your point about predictability makes little to no sense. The current staff is running a way more varied offense than Rodriguez and McGee did. I think we should wait until the end of the year before we can assess how Coach Stewart and his staff is doing.
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Shawn Withrow 9 months ago
Excuse me that should have been 4-2, not 5-2.
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RG Yoho 9 months ago
Thanks for you comments. I will not deny there have been some mistakes, but I do not see the same ones still being repeated. The team is improving every week and so is the coaching staff. Stew is not a novice to coaching and I still continue to believe he will do a good job.
Hang in there!
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Shawn Withrow 9 months ago
Good article RG.
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RG Yoho 9 months ago
Thanks, Shawn. You are already quite aware that Rod took a Nehlen bowl winning team and only won 3 games the following season. Stewart has already equalled that total and the team is getting better.
Increasingly, I fear that some of his critics are hoping Stew loses so they can say they were right. I urged patience for Rod his first season; I will do no less for Stew!
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mike hardesty 9 months ago
While I am disturbed by the lack of offensive continuity, there are many positve signs for this team.
1. The defense has steadily improved although it benefited from Teel's lack of accuracy on a few key plays; that said the rush defense has dramatically improved.
2. The offense just seems "a click away"; I feel we are ready to explode on someone once we find a rythem in the new play calling scheme.
3. Bill seems to be struggling more with taking the lead with the staff versus the players which is somewhat to be expected in hind sight give the depth of experience with the core staff.
4. I feel 9 and 3 is solid and 10 and 2 with another BCS bid is still in the cards if we keep improving and stay healthy.
Stew will be ok but he is also learning on the job as most mortals do in a new situation.
Gator
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RG Yoho 9 months ago
I am with you on all these comments, Mike.
Late in that game, I think we were taken out of our offensive rhythm by all of the injuries--some of them looking like Schiano tactics to stop the clock. Thanks.
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Shawn Withrow 9 months ago
RG thats a good point. It did seem like there were a suspicious amount of injuries to RU players in that game. I mean, I know our guys hit hard, and I'm not saying that I know anyone was faking, but still it was weird.
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Rich Boggess 8 months ago
With regards to your #2 point. I totally agree with your assessment that WVU's offense is "a click away." from exploding. If you watch the opening drive of the Marshall game, you can see it. WVU systematically marched down the field, chewing up chunks of yards. It's coming...you can feel it.
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Jonathan Lintner 9 months ago
We're seeing nice guys finish last in Louisville. Steve Kragthorpe is obviously a great personality, but he can't win games. Winning seems to be more important than turning out good citizens these days.
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RG Yoho 8 months ago
I can't really understand this. Kragthorpe appears to be a good coach. Although it takes some time, you would think you would start seeing some improvement by now at Louisville.
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Jonathan Lintner 8 months ago
Down 14-7 to MTSU at home. He's gotta go.
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Joe Baldwin 9 months ago
I'm proud to have Coach Bill Stewart representing our University and state, that being said I'm worried about our offense in general I understand the new coaches, young players etc but looking at this stretch of the schedule Marshall, Rutgers, and Sryacuse I thought our O-fense would "hit its stride" or close to that, but we havent, from one view it looks that we have kinda taken a step or two backwards against some inferior opponents you kinda expect improvement in about every game with new coaches and young players because what they lack is experience so lack of production tells a story that says we arent getting better, and that makes you question the coaches, not because they are good guy's or not, simply by seeing improvement thats whats its all about coaching players and executing, and in my humble opinion we have been "out-coached" in just about every game, we have won a couple on talent alone, with Auburn and the meat of the Big East coming up we cant do that anymore, we must be more aggresive, and need more attitude and intensity every play. By the way I felt bad for Jarrett Brown against Syracuse he just played awful and the fans booing him was very bad I hated to see that. So we know Bill is a good guy, and was rewarded with the keys to a very nice car I hope it doesnt end with a crash...
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RG Yoho 8 months ago
This would sure be a good week to break out. A healthy Pat White should help. And trust me, as an Alabama native, White wants this game!
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