Bill Stewart or Calvin McGee !?!
I’m getting tired of reading articles that praise Bill Stewart but completely forget to mention that Calvin McGee was at the game. It’s as if the world forgot that RR put the system in place, Barwis turned it into a machine, and Calvin schemed his ass off…which leads me to ask this question…
West Virginia went out and b-slapped Oklahoma all over the Fiesta Bowl field. Instantly the credit for this whipping went to the coaching and preparation of Bill Stewart.
Question-
- Did Bill call the offense?
- Did he do anything new with the defense?
I look at this and say…the assistant coach's did their job and Stewart was a figure head to rally the team. IMO, Bill gets credit for getting the team to the game…but McGee and the D-coordinator get credit for organizing the game.
So…What do you say? Beyond the players, who gets credit when an interim coach comes in and wins a big bowl game?
Yeah, I recall a lot of WVU fans claiming that Magee was finally free of RR after the bowl game. Magee, though, did an interview with the local WV news prior to the Fiesta Bowl where he discussed that very subject. Not surprisingly, it contradicts their claims. The video and original story are no longer available at wvmetronews.com but a WVU fan site has a copy:
Magee: I Wanted to Be Here
Even while Rodriguez was here, the play calls originated with Magee.
“I make the original calls. Rich lets it ride most of the time," said McGee. “Rich (was) the head ball coach so he always had the final say.”
http://www.wvupressbox.com/?p=2501Ghost
WVU's quick hiring of Stewart after the bowl game shows just how ass-backwards that athletic department really is. Stewart had a lifetime 8-25 record as a head coach before the Fiesta Bowl. He was RRod's QB and special teams coach until last year when he coached the tight ends and held the title of "associate head coach."
This felt like some sort of "we stick to our own" statement hiring to show everyone how loyal WVU is to their people in the wake of RichRod betraying them or something. Horrible hire, imo.
Look, WVU only lost 3 players on offense from last year (Slaton, Schmitt, Reynaud). Slaton is being replaced by Five-star, all-everything Noel Devine. They still have the same playbooks as last year. They're going to score plenty of points.
They lose 7 players on D, but still have their leading tackler and top pass-rusher. Also, their defensive coordinator, who has turned out top-20 defenses the past 3 or four years is still there.
Long story short, I don't know if Steward will be good for the long-term health of the program. But WVU, IMO will be better than Michigan next year.
WVU + Stewart = Miami + Coker
Year 1, Coker was off to a smashing start with his inherited team. He kept up the pace a couple more years with (mostly) Davis' recruiting classes. Years 4 and 5 were good, not great, but saw a very steady decline (especially the Peach Bowl FBD at the hands of LSU), culminating with a crappy Year 6 campaign that saw him get canned. WVU likely won't be winning a national championship on RR's coattails, but see a similar - if not accelerated - trajectory for Stewart. Once White is gone, it'll be interesting to see what happens to the offense.
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