West Virginia Football: Bill Stewart Needs Luck To Deal With Luck

As the season gets closer, the sights and sounds of practice have replaced the topic of conference expansion. Rest assured, the topic will resurface immediately, following the bowl games that represent the end of this season.

Even the doom and gloom from an NCAA investigation cannot squelch the enthusiasm that West Virginia fans garner for the coming season.

As with conference expansion, the NCAA investigation into WVU’s use of graduate assistants and support staff will become front-page news again. It is still uncertain whether the timing will be just before the bowl season, in early December, or in February.

For WVU, the man at the forefront of both topics is Oliver Luck. To state that Luck’s plate is full at the moment would be a tremendous understatement.

In fact, Luck has not completed his obligations from his previous job as the president and general manager of Major League Soccer franchise, the Houston Dynamo.

When he was hired, President Clements agreed with Luck on a six-month “NASCAR rolling start,” to his job as athletic director at WVU.

Even NASCAR doesn’t warm up this fast.

Apparently, neither man anticipated the storm clouds that were on the horizon, or did they?

Clements made it clear that Luck was his man from the beginning, and never interviewed any other applicants for the athletic director position. While Clements had other interviews scheduled, it simply wasn’t necessary to fulfill that schedule.

Certainly, Clements was aware of the issues facing WVU athletics, in general, and specifically with conference expansion and its NCAA investigation.

Was Clements addressing the issues of conference expansion, and the NCAA investigation by hiring Luck? Count on it!

As university president, Clements was fully aware of the entire scope regarding the issues at hand. Luck, who also resigned his seat on the board of governors of the university to accept the new position as athletic director, was as well.

Oliver Luck has entered his new position with eyes wide open. Keep in mind that Luck is an attorney who earned his law degree from the University of Texas.

Don’t be fooled for an instant into believing that Luck was caught off guard by the NCAA letter of allegation on Thursday of last week.

WVU's latest self-reported secondary violation could not be foreseen. Apparently, some of WVU football players wore light shoulder pads, called spider pads or vests, at practice on Saturday.

The NCAA provides rule 17.9.2.3, outlining a five-day acclimation period. Nothing but helmets is to be worn on the first two days of fall practice.

Which brings us to Bill Stewart. Stewart is responsible for the latest infraction; he is the head football coach. However, is it his fault?

I lean toward equipment manager Dan Nehlen for the latest gaffe. Nehlen has been in his position since 1988. With that much tenure in his position, Nehlen should have known better.

Luck stated the following last Thursday in his response to the NCAA allegations, “NCAA compliance is essential to our athletic success. Our commitment to rules compliance is clear: Nothing short of perfection is acceptable. If we fall short of that standard, in any way, we will acknowledge it and remedy it.”

WVU has fallen short, again, in two days. What does that say about the football staff’s dedication to the athletic director’s mandate? Possibly nothing or maybe volumes.

Stewart enters the 2010 season needing wins to quiet a fan base that became accustomed to winning, and winning big. With the advent of the NCAA allegations, and a self-report of another secondary violation so soon, Stewart could find himself on a very hot seat, very quickly.

While the latest infractions are diminutive by normal standards, these are not normal times at WVU.

A spotlight the size of the moon is on WVU football right now. For the near future, that spotlight will do nothing but get more intense. Political correctness counts, now more than ever.

It is my opinion that Luck has reviewed the possibility of replacing Stewart, as any good athletic director should do, as a “what if” scenario. I do not believe that Stewart is in danger of being replaced as head football coach.

However, Stewart and his staff must tow the company line Luck has provided. Further failures will not be tolerated.

There is no doubt that Luck has outlined a course for WVU’s future, and continued oversights will do nothing but hinder Luck’s ability to navigate that course.

The NCAA has alleged that Stewart failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance at WVU. Continued supportive actions to that allegation by Stewart will not be tolerated by Luck.

WVU has acknowledged their failure to achieve perfection. I am certain that the remedy has been addressed as well.

Bill Stewart needs to make certain that the ultimate remedy does not involve his replacement. Luck was hired to make the tough choices for WVU’s future; Stewart needs to make Luck’s choice on his future an easy one.