Coach-in-Hating

The idea of a coach-in-waiting is a pretty lousy one. The formula for it to work has to be absolutely perfect. Otherwise, it tends to blow up in the athletic director's face.

Exhibit A: West Virginia. What exactly was Oliver Luck thinking?

"Hi, Bill. I can't wait to take over for you." Awkward.

Imagine you're at work, and for the sake of this argument, let's say you love your job and don't want to leave. Your boss comes up to you and says, "Hey, we're going to replace you. This is Dana, he'll be taking over. Wait, though .We still want you to do your job for a year. He'll just assist you until then. Then you'll be out of here, and he'll take over."

Sounds like a formula for disaster to me. What Bill Stewart allegedly did (getting reporters to dig up dirt on Holgorsen) was pretty shady, but I can't say I wouldn't do the same thing. If I thought I was going a good job and some guy I didn't want around was brought in to replace me, I think I'd do anything I could to try to convince my boss in that last year that I was worth keeping around and that he's made a mistake. Obviously, the ultimate high road would have been to go out, hopefully win every game and leave Luck wondering if he'd made a mistake. However, desperate times make men do desperate things. Again, I don't condone it, but I understand.

I get why schools try the "coach-in-waiting" idea. They want some continuity with recruiting, especially when a successful coach retires. However, there are two key elements that a coach-in-waiting situation must have to be successful in my opinion.

Texas had a coach-in-waiting, then didn't.

1. Set a timetable. - The coach-in-waiting needs to know when he's going to take over. Ideally, this should only be a year. Setting an indefinite timetable only creates an atmosphere of impatience. This is where Texas went wrong with Will Muschamp. Sure, he was the coach-in-waiting for a great program. However, how long would he be waiting? Mack Brown never specified when he would retire. Muschamp could have been waiting 10 years before Brown hung it up. Why wait 10 years for Texas when you could have Florida now? In the end, all Texas did was put a target on Muschamp's back that said "this guy is a great coach," and schools around the country all agreed, including Florida. If Muschamp knew for a fact he only had two more years to wait to be the guy at Texas, would he have left? We may never know.

2. The head coach has to agree - This seems obvious, but I guess not to Oliver Luck. If the head coach isn't planning to leave or retire, don't appoint a coach-in-waiting to start pushing him out the door. If you don't want your head coach, fire him. Simple as that. The last thing you want is a head coach constantly at odds with the young coach who can't wait for him to leave so he can take over. That's what West Virginia created with this Stewart/Holgorsen situation.

For this season, the end result will be better for West Virginia. The Mountaineers now have the rest of the summer to let the bitter feelings go away and accept the fact this is Holgorsen's team now. It's a much better option than the team being divided into Team Bill and Team Dana.

I understand that some WVU fans had become disenchanted with the direction of the program. I understand that some fans think WVU sold itself short by giving the job to Stewart in the first place, and I can't say I disagree. The program was in great shape and probably could have gotten a higher profile coach back in 2008. I get that, and I get the idea of bringing in an offensive mind like Holgorsen to take over. However, it doesn't change the fact that Stewart was the head coach, and the coach-in-waiting situation was nothing but awkward. If Luck didn't like Stewart, he should have just fired him, dealt with the backlash, and told people to wait and see how well Holgorsen would do as head coach. Holgorsen may do great things at West Virginia. Hiring him may not have been a mistake. The way it was done certainly was.

The coach-in-waiting idea should simply be reserved for an aging coach who is ready to retire and wants to keep up the continuity of the program. When Joe Paterno decides he only wants to coach one more year (my guess is that will be when he's 100 years old), then Penn State could probably do it successfully. Jim Calhoun could do the same at Connecticut. For most programs, though, just accept the coach you have now as the only one you need. When he or she leaves, then that's the time to find a replacement.