Surely you’ve heard or maybe even made the Bill Stewart-Larry Coker comparison. Hell, the very day Stewart was hired, there was some lively debate on that very topic right here. Check the comments. Enlightening and in light of the chatter these days, fairly familiar, though I tend to think if Stewart was 5-0 and on his way to a national title his first year and a 24-0 start to his career, the comparison wouldn’t be made that way.

As it is, though, the whole longtime assistant-turned-players’-choice-head coach has some merit and, truthfully, only one man can speak on that. Fortunately, Coker is now an ESPNU commentator who will call Saturday’s WVU-Syracuse game very aware of the similarities between him and Stewart.

“The one difference between Bill and myself is that maybe he had a little more time,” Coker said. “He was hired right after their bowl. I was hired about five days before National Signing Day.”

Now, Stewart — as did Coker then — sometimes talks about the long voyage to get there, and you can grasp their appreciation for the opportunity to lead a top program.

They know football, but also understand coping is as much a part of the job as deciding whether to go for it on fourth-and-one. Their toughness and grit are common traits, too.

“I don’t know that the expectations and the fact that some people (didn’t think he should have the job) made it any tougher,” said Coker, 60. “You can’t look at it like that.

“I just made up my mind to do the job the best way I could and kind of go from there, and whatever happened, happened. You can’t worry about it. You’ve got to be little bit lucky, too.”