West Virginia got its man. Less than 24 hours after leading the Mountaineers to a stunning 48-28 victory over Oklahoma in the 2008 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, WVU Director of Athletics Ed Pastilong introduced Bill Stewart as the schools 32nd head football coach in a news conference at the Scottsdale Resort in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The team delayed its charter flight back to Pittsburgh to make the announcement. Incidentally, Stewart is the second New Martinsville native to occupy the West Virginia coaching seat. Mont McIntyre coached West Virginia football to a 24-11-4 record from 1916-20.
When you begin to consider the hiring of Bill Stewart think of Lloyd Carr and Phil Fulmer, two coaching lifers that got their opportunities later in their careers and seized the moment. Both went on to exceed the legacies of their predecessors and won national championships. Bill Stewart could very well be cut from the same cloth.
Stewart said when he was announced as the schools interim coach three weeks ago that he wouldnt politic for the job. It turns out he didnt have to. What you do carries a lot more weight than what you say and that proved true for Stewart, whose audition Wednesday night against Oklahoma was a stunning performance on the highest order.
The fact that he performed so admirably under almost impossible circumstances made him a shoe-in for a job he callsthe greatest in America.Stewarts biggest endorser also happens to be arguably the best football player in school history: quarterback Patrick White.
He needs that jobhe deserves itthe head coaching job,said White.Hes a great man; a great coach. All the players respect him and love him. You couldnt ask for a better man to lead us to victory.
From the moment Ed Pastilong appointed Bill Stewart interim coach, which incidentally was also Pastilongs plan last year when everyone was convinced that Rich Rodriguez was leaving for Alabama, Stewart has measured up in every way, shape and form.
Whether it was using the right words to soothe a wounded fan base, reaching back and embracing our great past, or more importantly, letting the players know that they were the most important thing in the world to him and that he wasnt running out on themBill Stewart has stood 10-feet tall.
He didnt cuss the players, he built them back up. He didnt embarrass them, he told them that there were 1.8 million people out there in the state of West Virginia just like him that loved them and were genuinely interested in their well being.
He even chose to stand back and let the players take the spotlight. He did the remarkable thing of letting the seniors lead the team out onto the field before yesterdays game. It was a simple gesture that spoke volumes about the type of person Bill Stewart is.
After Wednesday nights game, Stewart explained that it was really an amazing bond among the players that kept a fractured family together.
The young men at West Virginia University have tremendous chemistry,Stewart said.Maybe its high school to some of you, maybe its old-school to some of youif it is old-school you should have a smile on your face.
Maybe to some its corny. You look at a group of guys100 plusand the leaders up here that bond like a group of high school military, church-type of guys. Theyre not all angels but theyre not bad lads,Stewart said.And the coaching staff, as professional as anyone could ever be. It was coaching staff that just jutted their jaws, bowed their backs, and stepped up to the plate.
Stewart then paused and looked at his son Blaine sitting next to him at the podium.
Maybe this old dog has a few more years in him somewhere and thats good. I hope so. Ive got this seventh grader beside me and he has five more years of high school and then five years of college because Im going to redshirt him,Stewart said.His mother doesnt know that.
He will be at one of those military schools. He will be a better man than his dad ever hoped to be. I need ten more years to pay these bills, get this guy to my right to be ready for life like these four, five guys here sitting next to us from this football team.
A few questions later a reporter got to the heart of the matter, asking Stewart point-blank what his immediate plans were. Do you want to stay in Morgantown? Do you want to go with Coach Rodriguez?
I want to tell you as calmly and rationally and as passionately as I canI will cherish the opportunity to be the head football coach at the state flagship universitythe finest institution in the countryWest Virginia University,Stewart said.
We have at West Virginia University a tremendous group in leadership. Our administrationand I will start with Deputy Director of Athletics Mike Parsons, hes a dear friend. Craig Walker, our Chief of Staff, hes pretty good friend although I havent known him as long. Were blessed to have an athletic director that I have known since I was 16 years old. He recruited my brother to attend Salem College,Stewart said.
Last but not least, weve got the finest president any school could ever have in Mike Garrison. Our committee is in good hands. Those four menand please believe thiswill pick the best candidate possible for West Virginia University, for the football players on the team, for our community and for our people of the Mountain State. They will do that. I believe in them.
They believe in Bill Stewart, too.