EDITORIAL: Bill Stewart and Jeff Mullen

It never fails…

“Fire Bill Stewart!”

“Bill Stewart must go!”

“Stewart made a mistake… he can’t be a head coach!”

“Jeff Mullen couldn’t call a play on Madden!”

“Jeff Mullen sucks!”

“How’d this guy become offensive coordinator!?”

Win or lose, you hear that from quite a few WVU fans.

Should Bill Stewart and/or Jeff Mullen be given the pink slip from Athletic Director Oliver Luck?

Since Bill Stewart became Head Coach, he has compiled a record of 24-10. Not bad for someone with little head coaching experience (his time at VMI left a lot to be desired.)

However, the first two years were inherited players (Pat White, Alric Arnett, Jarrett Brown, etc.)

This is his year, with his players. 5-2 is nothing to sneeze at, either. However… there should not have been a home loss to Syracuse, ON HOMECOMING!!

At the time of Stewart’s hiring, everyone was throwing rocks (so-to-speak) at WVU alum, booster, and managing partner of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Ken Kendrick for the following quote about the Stewart hire:

"Not everyone with an intererst in West Virginia football was pleased by the hire, however.West Virginia booster Ken Kendrick, who was outspoken in his support of Rodriguez following his departure, called it a “sad morning.”“He is so overmatched it’s not even funny,” said Kendrick, managing partner of Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. “He’s a nice guy and a father figure. But they had a wonderful architecht and they hired the painter to build the next house. I want Bill Stewart to win and I want our program to be successful. But I feel bad for our future. I’m very concerned.”"

It would appear that his concerns were not off-base.

Stewart is definitely one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet; definitely fan-friendly, definitely a good role model for the players, but he is proving more and more that he is NOT head-coaching material.

Jeff Mullen has proven from GO that he shouldn’t even be an offensive coordinator for a Fantasy Football team.

Everyone is demanding that Stewart and Mullen be fired.

Well, normally, I would say, “Go for it!” out of frustration, but…

Mid-season is NOT the time to fire a coach, unless you know without a doubt that you are not going to be bowl-eligible.

The Mountaineers are just one win away from post-season play.

THE FUTURE
Given Oliver Luck’s string of successes in life, he will not put up with mediocrity.

My solution: Wait til after the Rutgers game. If WVU falls below the BCS/Car Care/Champs Sports bowl into a lower-level bowl (such as the Pinstripe, PapaJohns.com, Liberty or St. Petersburg bowl), then it is definitely time for Stew & Co. to go. Ticket sales have dwindled a bit (I mean, they’re still available for the Cincinnati and Rutgers games), some MAC donors have withheld cash from the program, etc.

However, firing them MID-SEASON is a very asinine idea… the entire season would be a wash, players would just stop caring.

Let’s ride this season out. Any long-shot chance we had at a National Championship is gone. Now, if the BCS slips through the cracks, it may be time to start looking in another direction.