Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which feels both Luck and Payne today. Begin with the latter. There are indications Tom Izzo will be the next head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. I don’t know what to do with this information. I do know Adreian Payne — you remember him — had WVU in his thought process to the very end and ultimately picked Michigan State.

Perhaps, you think, he might change his mind if Izzo bolts for the CLE. And, why yes, WVU does have an available scholarship. It all lines up, right? Not exactly. Payne is apparently enrolled and already listed in the student directory at MSU. If he were to want out, he’d need to do so as a plain old Division I transfer and sit out one year.  

As for Luck, well, perhaps the details surrounding Oliver Luck’s sudden acceptance of the AD position are interesting — no one else interviewed, a round of weekend interviews were cancelled in the 11th hour — but maybe they’re a little irrelevant, too. I don’t think it’s any great secret to anyone who observed or was involved that Luck was a top candidate, if not the top candidate, from the very beginning. And it’s no wonder. The guy is tremendously accomplished and capable. This is a “big picture” time and this is a guy who sees and then sees through those very things.

So WVU identified, quizzed and remained locked on its pick. I’m sure people will find something wrong with the whole process and I’d listen to, understand and appreciate that argument, but in the end, no matter what WVU did it’s quite likely it arrives at the same conclusion.

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, mind the WAGs. (This is fantastic journalism.)

Oh, and we’re going to go pretty light on expansion stuff. Absolutely bizarre week and, as Drew said, “This is ludicrous.”

Jeff in Akron said:

The best thing that could happen for the BE is for the Big-12 to take the brunt of the early defections. If that happens, and the PAC-10 actually becomes the first super conference, it won’t be long until there are others.

It reminds me of that old black and white video of the guy standing in his house as it falls around him. Fortunately, out of shear luck, the wall that is falling on him happens to have an open window in exactly the right place.

That video could become a metaphor for the BE. By starting the dominoes out west, any conference with east in its name is better off.

Excellent. And it certainly appears it’s happening. In speaking with Ed Pastilong yesterday, we were discussing the obvious imminence and he said it’s going to happen fast. “Once the first school commits, there’ll be a major shift and it’ll be over quick.” Know what’s weird? When he first took over, Penn State joined the Big Ten and WVU, seemingly doomed, ended up well-positioned in the Big East.

Spatial Angel said:

Speculation is that Kansas could be a BE member…makes sense.
For months now, the BE has been singing ‘all we are is dust in the wind’.

This could make me chuckle forever. Of course, nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky.

Mack said:

If the Big 12 dissolves, then the only conferences left whose members would leave are the Big East and half of the ACC. I don’t think that any Big 10, SEC, or Pac 10 team would leave their current conference no matter what the situation was. The Big 10 can add Nebraska very easily, now that everyone else in the Big 12 has already left.

That leaves the Big East teams and, essentially the ACC schools that aren’t located in North Carolina. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t see NC State, Wake Forest, UNC, or Duke leaving the ACC. Virginia Tech, Florida State, Miami, Clemson, and Boston College would all certainly leave for any conference that offered them a better deal. I could see Maryland, Georgia Tech, and Virginia going either way.

At any rate, any Big East team that is offered to join any super conference is gone. The conference just doesn’t have the history or stability of any other conference. Any school that leaves will have coaches and presidents saying, “If we didn’t leave, then everyone else would have.”

So therefore you have six teams from the Big 12, eight teams from the Big East, and roughly six teams from the ACC that are open game. 20 teams total.

My dream scenario, to some extent, would be for all of the geographically outlying schools to leave the ACC. Then, have a conference that included WVU, Pitt, Maryland, UVA, Virginia Tech, UNC, Wake, NC State, Duke, and possibly Clemson and/or Louisville. A conference where you could theoretically drive to every single game. (What a concept!)

Actually … I see nothing wrong with that. It’s completely logical and plausible. And therefore impossible.

Ohem said:

Ummm, why do you think that the Pac 10 now holds all the cards and will strike first? Have you been paying attention?? Texas does not want to leave the current Big 12, and won’t leave, unless Nebraska and/or Mizzu leave for the Big 10. So if the Pac 10 strikes first and invites these 6 schools before the Big 10 does anything then the 6 schools will say no thanks- how is that having hand??? The only way the Pac 10 gets these teams is to wait for the Big 10 and hope they take Nebraska and/or Mizzu- until then, it ain’t happening. So it looks to me like the Big 10 is still in the drivers seat here. Am I missing something? The Big 10 can still do whatever they want, go in any direction they want, they don’t have to wait for the Pac 10 to see what they do and hope it helps them, heck, they could invite Texas if the wanted, but they won’t because they don’t want Texas’ baggage (Tech, and Baylor). If the Big 10 can land ND, they add them and stop at 12 teams- and the Big 12 stays in tack- dispite any offers from the Pac 10. If the Big 10 can’t get ND, then who knows whats gonna happen- we (including the Pac 10) will have to wait and see.

Ugh, I guess I’ll give this a whirl. Well … the Pac 10 did strike first with Colorado, so that’s one reason I think/thought that. The Big Ten didn’t go first with Nebraska and/or Missouri, which, as you present, would have given the Pac 10 incentive to invite. The large point here — and I know this is your first comment — is one we’ve made many times before: There is no right or wrong opinion. I’m not missing something. Neither are you. It’s all supposition and discussion, which is why we’re here. Now, that being said, the report of the Pac 10 inviting six teams was so based in legitimacy that it almost seemed as if it was accepted as fact. At that point, that made me think the P10 held all the cards. Even with inactivity, as brief as that period was, the threat of a mass invite was large enough to make that conference the biggest player. Just my opinion. Agreed, the Big Ten could/can still do whatever. No one’s arguing that. Nebraska looks like a done deal, too. But isn’t Nebraska made a little more available by the assumed state of disrepair in the Big 12? And how did the Big 12 get so shaky? The Pac 10 positioning itself to invite six teams contributed greatly — and at 11 schools, the Pac 10 is not done. I’ll agree on one thing: We all need to wait and see before insisting on conclusions.

wvmaniac said:

First round over. No Gyorko. I blame GVZ

I have nothing to add … but I was in Cleveland Tuesday to fulfill an obligation and went out that evening with some friends. I went to get a drink and this jackass comes over and offers me a Smirnoff Ice. I dismissed him only to have him come back with, “No, you’ve been iced, man.” I had no idea what this meant … but in my family, being iced means something very different. So I was quite clearly without words and the only thing I could offer this awkward scene was my sincere confusion. This guy insists I get on my knees and chug a Smirnoff Ice. I refused and walked away, but not before I caught the guy and his people reveling in the fact I can never “ice” any “bros” the rest of my life. This bothered me … and only about an hour ago did I discover this was some stupid game — “Bros Icing Bros” — that’s taking over the country. Now I’m furious. … Sorry, had to vent that.

SheikYbuti said:

Actually, one might think that having to play for GVZ ought to bolster one’s draft stock. If you want to blame Van Zant for something, blame him for the Gulf oil disaster. I do, and I feel much better about the situation in general.

Done.

Jeff said:

I blame the Casazza curse. Mike writes that he will be drafted first round. He wasn’t. Please Mike write a story about how England is going crush the US in soccer.

Can’t do it. I only write the truth. 

Josh24601 said:

It seems, Casazza, that it falls to you, as the minder of Cherry’s former beat, to coax Dave Hickman and his Goatee into the sun on the road. Standing by while Hickman glooms one hotel room after another is allowing Michael Stephens to win.

I’d be honored. It’s a big night if Dave enjoys a club sandwich at the Marriott bar. I get excited. But there are occasions when he’s up and out. Honest. We traveled to Tampa separately once. Big town. Somehow we ended up at the same seafood restaurant for dinner. Dave is also the guy who somehow convinces me I need cake or pie or something from the dessert menu at 11 p.m. And I don’t generally eat sweets. Fear not, though. Night living still exists. You can entertain yourself for an evening in the company of (in no particular order): the recent DA staff, Justin Jackson, Bob Hertzel and Colin Dunlap … though I fear this time next year he’ll be banned from at least one Big East city.

Mack said:

I think Oliver Luck is an incredibly good hire. A lot of people who post on the internet seem to only care that WVU hire a former athlete. Luck is that. But more than that, Luck is more accomplished than probably any other athletic directer, or even university president, that WVU has hired in recent memory.

It’s not simply a political hire, as the university has shown a tendency to do.

Very, very good hire.

You’ll have to search for someone to disagree. It satisfies all the “requirements” that were out there among the discussion.

Rob. W. said:

In my opinion, getting Oliver Luck to be our AD is an incredible hire and an incredible stroke of fortune. With all of the conference upheaval, his experience and his contacts thruout the business and sports world can only benefit WVU as it tries to position itself.

Maybe, just maybe, he can play a role in moving us up from being everybody’s third or second choice. “They’re a nice program, but….”

He’s a name in athletics and academics. He’s going to make friends and allies. He’s going to win over people with his strategic thinking. I’m very interested to see if/how he evaluates and maybe arranges the athletic department, too, because a lot of WVU’s future will be developed from the inside out.

Karl said:

Maybe he can expand Big East football to Europe.

Oui!

StraightOuttaNorthCentral said:

It’s now officially official.

The next news I expect to hear is that he is hiring Jim Harbaugh and that Andrew Luck is transferring. Just kidding, obviously.

And Andrew Luck package deal was actually asked about on the conference call. And it wasn’t even the worst moment. Not by a long shot. Buddy.

Shannon said:

Can I just say I’m shocked that WVU didn’t hire someone from within the current office. To hire Luck seems to indicate the school wants someone with experience as it expects the conference realignment to impact WVU in some ways. Luck has a lot of experiences and contacts. Great hire. I’m still shocked they did it.

It’s the Clements Era. He ran this thing from the very beginning, and although he’s hired a good number of people across the university already, this was the attention-grabber. I’d say he did a pretty nice job. He wanted Luck and he wanted Luck to want WVU. Eventually it all lined up … and it certainly helped that Clements could relate.

Jeff said:

Mike, I think Oliver is a great hire, but when he’s on the board of governors and you don’t interview another candidate thats questionable. Can’t you give some token interviews to make sure you check all choices?

I suppose you could and maybe even should expand the scope of interviews. I get that … and let’s be honest. WVU’s recent hiring practices in athletics have been called into question. But Clements told me “(t)he way the ad was written, we said we would interview until we found the right one. You can find the right one and when you do, there’s no need to go on. He’s the right one. He’s a proven leader and, we think, an unbelievable choice.” And once Luck interviewed, I really have to wonder if others would have agreed to interview. Luck was the guy and the interview was a strong, strong indication he was to get the job. The BoG point is a valid one and I’m certain there will be questions raised about “favoritism” and when and how he resigned his post. To be continued, I’m sure.

Alli said:

Both Karly and Keri made the finals! Karly came in 3rd in her heat at a sick time of 4:13.54. The top 3 were only separated by 0.4 seconds. Keri came in 6th, but her time of 4:14.87 makes her one of the 2nd fastest after the 10 automatic qualifiers (top 5 from each heat make it, and then the next 2 fastest times make it). They run at 11:18 EST Saturday morning. I think it would be on TV? Not sure though.

Alli said:

Sorry 1:18 like Mike said. I forgot they’re in Oregon.

Not sure about television. I’ll look into it. I welcome information as well.

oklahoma mountaineer said:

Probably the worst question for a good day for WVU fans, but one that has been asked and needs to be asked again: why is WVU the ONLY school in the Big East without a verbal for this upcoming year.

I know this does not mean anything early in the process and we had a number of guys use us as a placeholder while looking for another home, but am I the only one who see this as a problem?????…..

Is this a reflection of what Doc meant to recruiting……..maybe we can take comfort in the fact that ESPN does not show any recruit commitments to Marshall either.

Stewart told me they have players who have committed but they want to be sure before letting the players announce. He told another writer there were five silent verbals and he wanted the parents to visit campus before making any “official.”

Country Roads said:

As to the original post: I’m glad to see WVU is paying these assistants what they deserve. As Stew said, it shows that they are valued by the administration. While I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of these guys get poached for coordinator and/or head coaching positions down the road, it’s nice to know we have assistants who are viewed as commodities in the coaching profession.

I suppose that’s one way to look at it. It’s a lot of money, though not as much as pledged in the past.

Sam Wilkinson said:

I understand that we’re sports fans, but the notion that these coaches (or any coaches, really) “deserve” $200,000 a year is so ludicrously stupid that it boggles the imagination. The work they do is valuable for 15 weeks a year and, if I recall, these boards light up whenever their players don’t deliver on the field. Get back to me when we’ve won a national championship for what we’re paying. Otherwise, these guys haven’t even remotely earned this outrageous amount of money.

And there’s the other way to look at it. To think, if they win at a high level, they stand to make a good deal more money in incentives.

Drew said:

Sam: Make no mistake, coaching at this level is difficult. It’s a lot of long hours for the majority of the year. A lot of time on the road. Not to mention extremely high turnover rates.

It’s simple supply and demand. The market doesn’t lie. If they didn’t deserve the money, they wouldn’t be getting it.

There’s the argument: deserved vs. delivered. No one argues the nature of the work. They do wonder about the nature of the product as compared to the compensation.

The 25314 said:

Mullen’s offense has been an unmitigated disaster. He may turn it around in the future, but his first two years were failures and not worth the money he is paid. I often wonder: what would Charlie Taffe have done?

Enjoy the weekend!