Bill Stewart's Hourglass Could Be Running Out of Sand at West Virginia

For all intents and purposes, Bill Stewart very well could be one of the nicest and kindest human beings currently residing in West Virginia, a state known for their population’s tremendous hospitality and welcoming demeanor. However, the 58-year-old head coach, who is now in his third season as leader of the West Virginia football program, may have finally reached the point where his aw shucks personality has worn just a little too thin with the school support system.

Ominous clouds of doom have seemingly begun gathering around Stewart since the end of the regular season, one in which his West Virginia team failed yet again for a third straight year to take home a coveted outright Big East Championship and attain the BCS bowl game berth that goes along with it.

Stewart’s 9-3 Mountaineers, who again looked full of promise with an abundance of quality senior leadership going into the 2010 season, will instead take part in the Champs Sports Bowl against North Carolina State on Dec. 28th in Orlando, Florida.

It’s a game that many around the program are starting to point to as Stewart’s final curtain call as head honcho in Morgantown.

Stewart, who has led the Mountaineers to three consecutive nine-win seasons, has been good during his three-year tenure as West Virginia head coach, but many blue and gold fans have felt and expressed that he just hasn’t been good enough.

That’s what happens when you start your coaching career off with a rousing upset win in a BCS Bowl game and then fail to duplicate the feat, coming up just short of the goal for three straight years. Patience may be a virtue, but don’t try telling that to college football fans.

While first year athletic director Oliver Luck, a former standout quarterback for West Virginia, has neither confirmed nor denied the reports the school is actively searching for Stewart’s replacement during this downtime, there seems to be a lot of writing on the wall.

In this case—that wall is the almighty rumor swirler known as the Internet.

The trendy name that has been popping up in regards to Stewart’s possible successor is Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen, who was recently viewed as a candidate for the Pittsburgh head coaching vacancy before that idea seemed to quickly turn cold.

This season Holgorsen revitalized Oklahoma State’s offensive attack in his first year on duty after stints leading high-powered offenses at Texas Tech and Houston. The Cowboys finished third in the country in scoring offense with 44 points per game and first in total offense with 537 yards per game.

Holgorsen, who is just 39-years-of-age, looks like he could be in the mold of Oregon’s Chip Kelly, who went from hot guru coordinator name at New Hampshire to architect of an Oregon team which will now be playing for a national title in Kelly’s second year on the job.

Holgersen’s youth, energy and offensive wizardry could fit right in with a West Virginia team that boasts some of the finest offensive skill talent in the Big East year in and year out.

Still, at this point, the rumors are just that—rumors. Hearsay and the “I heard it from a source” reports have a tendency to get blown out of proportion in this magnified Internet culture we live in these days.

For now, Bill Stewart is the head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers. But the recent reports do give the coach’s many naysayers, doubters and critics the chance to dream.

Stewart, whose been a great ambassador for both his team and his home state during his time as head coach, has just never been fully embraced by the West Virginia fanbase which seems to now be expecting Big East Championships on a yearly basis.

While he's proven his worth as a recruiter and a motivator, Stewart's lack of in-game strategy, management and clutch coaching ability could prove to be his downfall in the end.