(Sorry for the delay. Football practice in the morning, where we learned Brad Starks is out 12 weeks after surgery Friday morning to repair a sprain/separation of the AC joint in his right shoulder. Significant blow to the already-thin group of receivers, but also a significant opportunity for players to emerge.)

Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which is eight terms into a six-month contract. If you undertand that, you’re familiar with this Brady Ackerman fellow, who arrived in January and was gone in March. And if you didn’t understand that, I suppose that’s a pretty good point to discuss today.

Mr. Ackerman was a tertiary figure in the athletic department, apparently brought on in a consultant’s role and on a six-month contract to assist WVU by evaluating and advising in the reordering of the athletic department’s academic support program.

Garrett Ford was readying for retirement and the school wanted new eyeballs on the issue, as well as someone who, despite no background in academics or education, was thought to have some value because he played in college, he knew about kids in Florida and he knew some other people new to WVU.

I never met him. I never saw him. I heard about him, but I never visually or personally encountered him and I am not even close to alone in that regard. The story of his departure — as told here — flew across my radar immediately after the Big East Tournament. It was pursued, secured, then considered and then abandoned.

Yet, for some reason, Mr. Ackerman became a relevant figure. Ultimately, some of that was of his own alleged doing, which precipitated his exit, but a part of that was no fault of his own because, man, it seems like every so often people get a hold of a name around here and pump it up into something bigger than it really is.

This is true across recruiting, rosters, coaching and, for now, personnel.

That last part, when connected to the current state of affairs, is what seems to some to be an issue because the athletic department has been witness to change in several areas for nearly a year now. It’s never perfect. It can’t be. From what I gather, though, it’s supposed to be.

I’m not entirely sure how or why Mr. Ackerman matters. You can deliberate and discuss implications and project them forward into the future, but, for me, the guy is gone and he really wasn’t all too important when he was here — and I mean that as no offense to him. It’s just a reality. 

It seems like people are studying the armor and looking very hard for chinks. Maybe they’re there. I wonder if this is the whole story. Certainly we know better than to ever be really surprised by anything, but for now, it looks as though WVU put a fire out before the fire started. This isn’t about an institution or a dynamic that exists between two coaches or anything, really, beyond one guy who apparently rubbed others the wrong way.

Could things have been handled better? Sure. Do people across the board make errors? Sure. Beyond that, so what?

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, follow your convictions.

Parks said:

Eers, and anyone else who may know–how much of that revenue does WVU actually see? Isn’t the vending outsourced? If so, how do you turn that into profit for the university, especially with what we all know will be much larger numbers if beer is thrown into the mix?

Ooh, ooh, I know this! WVU is going to get a lot of the revenue, though not all of it. Sodexo is the concessionaire and has been for years. There will be a split — and not a small one — since Sodexo covers the license to sell as well as all of the liability for claims. That’s heavy. There’s what Oliver Luck called an “industry standard” the two will negotiate toward. So some money comes from there. Someone has to have the pouring rights, too. Anheuser-Busch has been a sponsor for some 30 years now, so perhaps they get the contract, but there’s money attached to that. Then there’s this: A-B has been a sponsor for 30 some years. The relationship is strong and it’s had nothing to do with beer sales. What if WVU bids out the pouring rights. Hypothetically, let’s suppose (pray?) Luck goes to his Cleveland roots and gets Great Lakes. They come in and throw all sorts of money at it. WVU has to take it. Why can’t the long-standing, alcohol-free relationship with A-B continue? Lots of layers here.

Birch said:

Barney Gumble and I approve of this measure. Something’s going to have to help pay for TEAM HOLGO Incorporated. I’ll take beer over more expensive parking and higher ticket prices.

I’m going to eventually get clubbed for being behind Luck on all these things, but you have to admire honesty in matters like this. For one, he’s the first to say money is behind this. Second, he was asked at the roundtable if the revenue could control ticket prices. Reply? “Doubtful. (crickets)” So get ready for the $7-9 beer and parking/ticket prices that will be higher in a few years than they are today, especially when they start building stuff at the stadium.

Dave said:

“The proposal is one of several changes the athletic department is considering for game day operations centered around improving security, fan behavior and public safety at Milan Puskar Stadium this fall.”

Let me make sure I understand … this (beer sales) is being advertised as part of an initiative to “improve security, fan behavior and public safety”?

At WVU football games.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

It’s obtuse, I’ll give you that.

pushthebutton said:

No, not kidding at all.

This is yet another example of how Oliver Luck is a genius.

In addition to the money, it will likely cut down on the inebriation inside the stadium, which seems counterintuitive initially.  But people are likely to spend less time boozing in the blue lot, because they know they can buy it inside. But they won’t be able to consume at nearly the same rate.

I didn’t see this logic at first. Then when I thought about it and told myself there was no way they’d go out with that explanation unless there was some sense to it, I started to see it. It does, on a certain level, make sense.

The 25314 said:

If 30,000 people buy 2 beers at $8/beer for 7 games = $3.3 million gross sales.

People are going to get drunk for the games. Whether that is drinking 10 beers before the game, sneaking flasks into the game, or drinking 4 beers at halftime, whether you sell beer in the stadium or not, people are going to be drunk. The absence of beer sales has yet to slow down innebriation. We might as well be the ones making the money rather than Dairy Mart.

The last paragraph is spot on, but that last sentence is the hammer. There’s talk about controlling the environment. Between the lines, there’s talk about controlling the spending, too.

KMS said:

In the blue lot, you can drink anything from wine coolers to moonshine. I see his point that it could tone down some of the behavior. The guy who went out to the lot and took six shots of Jack and stumbles back in sometime during the 3rd quarter is more likely to cause problems than someone who has had to stand in, what’s likely to be, a lengthy line to purchase a couple of beers.

Thank God my husband has quit smoking or that policy would have had him up in arms. But I’m glad to hear it’s being done. Many handicap folks sit in the concourse windows and watch the game. They (or anyone else for that matter) shouldn’t have to inhale the cigarette smoke.

Let’s be clear on two things: 1) The explanation to the beer sales has no legitimacy without the elimination of the pass-out policy. 2) You should not be allowed to drink wine coolers in the Blue Lot.

Dave said:

Hopefully they’ll provide barf bags on the seat backs like they do on airlines.

Overhead costs!

pushthebutton said:

For the record, I don’t see a problem with the university making “a money grab” if there don’t seem to be a tremendous amount of negatives.
I’ve previously stated why I don’t feel there are such negatives in this case.

Should the BoG pass this, there’s a fluid review involved. Luck said “unintended consequences” will be monitored and if it’s a bad plan and needs to be changed, or abandoned, that will happen.

Patchy said:

They will guarantee themselves an empty stadium for the 2nd half of all home games.  You can stop them from reentering, but you can’t stop them from leaving unless you lock them in – of course, that may be the next idea offered up.

Can’t argue the premise, but I don’t think you’ll see emptiness worse than the past few seasons. Then again, maybe the timing is right. Maybe fans and students want to see this offense and stick around more than they have in the past. Any maybe not.

Jeff in Akron said:

I wonder if the request will be expanded to include Hawley field. Baseball doesn’t draw a lot of fans, but, adding beer sales could entice more people to the stands, and increase revenue for the baseball team at the same time. The same could be said for the Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.

Mike, is this in the future?

We’re naive if we deny the possibility. What struck me about this is there is no experimental phase and WVU actually decided to begin with the largest on-campus audience. I thought before if the beer-selling day ever came, they’d start in the Coliseum because the crowd is 25 percent of the Mountaineer Field crowd and, thus, easier to control. WVU is instead going deep on the first play of the game. If it works, why can’t it work elsewhere? No reason, really, except you’d have to increase staffing and install the needed equipment at the other venues and take on all those costs. Perhaps it’s gradual. Right now, it’s not in the cards.

Josh24601 said:

The provision prohibiting the playing of Cotton-Eyed Joe during an event open to alcohol sales must have been redacted.

Must have.

SheikYbuti said:

Wouldn’t alcohol sales actually be helpful in tolerating CEJ? Yes, I understand that there’s a fine line between being buzzed enough to be only dimly aware that it’s playing and buzzed just enough more to start dancing in the aisles to it.

In your view, sure. In mine, I’d hope for a CEJ-inspired brawl as proof positive and eternal that that song has to go.

EersNC said:

“Nonintoxicating” Beer.

Quite a paradox — like “Ignore all the rules,” which is a rule you’d have to obey.

Dave said:

I seriously doubt students will buy $7 beers at games and at least when I attended, smuggling through the student section was quite a pain. Even on hot days in shorts and a t-shirt, I was checked many times.

Of course, my friends going through the pay gates literally took those can cooler sleeves drapped across their should without a word from security.

When I wasn’t a student, it seemed that the older ticket holders simply brought in booze. Beer was relatively bulky without much bang. But whiskey was not uncommon and comparatively compact.

As alluded to earlier, there is also the image problem. Asking to sell beer at a Duke game would go relatively unnoticed. I wouldn’t be surprised to see our request on ESPN, the way they treat WVU, every night of the week and brought up on every single telecast. And heaven forbid an incident occurs. It was bad enough following the coin toss during the Pitt basketball game.

Dave, I want you on that wall. I need you on that wall.

EersNC said:

$1 million per year in net earnings would be enough in and of itself to start new capital projects totaling in excess of $15 million. Let that marinate for a little while.

This one little change could effectively build something similar to the basketball practice facility; and it’ll cost virtually nothing to implement.

Luck is a smart guy, but this initiative should be filed under “low-hanging fruit.”

… and another …

EersNC said:

Those projects would already be funded, mind you.  No capital campaigns necessary to get them started, like Huggins had to do for the BBPF.  Speaking of, if beer were sold at the Coliseum, it wouldn’t be too far off to see another $750,000 in revenue from men’s basketball.

For those reasons and others, yes, the beer sales help a lot. More than it hurts? We’ll see.

Dave said:

Mike, I was going to go with a “think fast! What school has the same reputation as WVU fans in college football?” Or, “what other school was raked across ESPN for unruly fan behaviour during a basketball game two years ago?” Let’s forget that a VT game was stopped *twice* for unruly fans throwing things onto the court, WVU was a story every day for a week when the Pitt incident happened.

A riot doesn’t have to occur … a riot did not ensure when we’ve shaken buses or thrown objects … even when a two liter or so comes flying down into the lower deck. I would also point out the comparison made to UConn … given the per capita wealth distribution between Connecticut and WV (54,000 vs. 32,000 based on 2009 numbers). If I had an extra 22K a year, yeah, I might spend a bit more at a game. I don’t know if the cost of tickets is that big of a discrepancy, but I would think there’s a difference there too.

Maybe I’m off base on the subject, but if was attending (and drank), I would rather spend $7 on a small bottle to smuggle than a single 12oz 3.2 beer. Especially if I couldn’t leave the game.

And I’d believe that the topic of slamming 3 right before the game is moot … they’re still going to do it because they won’t have to buy as many overpriced beers inside.

Still want and need you on that wall. We have to remember, it is their belief it’s going to improve behavior. I happen to believe that, when the policy is coupled with the pass-out policy. We can agree people will still go on pre-game binges and still smuggle stuff, but they can’t do it outside and come back in. Even if you’re only eliminating half of the poteltial for problems — allowing fans to enter once as opposed to twice — you’re making a move to improve the behavior. The incidents you reference will, in their hopes, disappear. The per capita comparison is a very good point, but it’s safe to assume WVU will see some sort of a bump and that bump is extra revenue for WVU.

Fan in Waiting said:

two things:

Will the beer sales be only for Football or basketball as well?

on the money grab idea:
It seems to me that Oliver would have never hired Dana as our new OC and head coach, if he really wanted to drive beer sales at the stadium. Last year, I could barely get through a few minutes of the game before deciding a beer was necessary.

Bubble screen right, BS left, a run off tackle without a fullback – WVU would have made enough money on beer sales to build two basketball complexes and have enough money to put in those big recliners for seats rather than those hard steel benches at the stadium.

^ Included for humor.

Jeff in Akron said:

I’ve been saying this for a while now, I do not see the defense falling that far. The talent on this roster is better than the remaining talent on the 08 roster. Plus, for the most part everyone is playing a position they were recruited for. Not to mention that the defensive staff is not new, they’ve been working well together since that 08 season.

I just believe that if WVU falters this season, it will not be because the defense didn’t show up to play. With all of the undertones to the coaching changes something tells me there is a degree of competition between the offensive and defensive staffs. Not in a bad way, I have no insider info, just a hunch that Casteel and Co. will do their part to prove they belong.

This season could turn out to be a contract year for the d-staff. That is, if Luck hasn’t already addressed that and just not made it public. Either way, trust in this staff, they will keep up with “DH”.

The Mountaineers won’t have the immediate (quality) depth, especially in the back end of the defense, or the immediate experience and those are the biggest reasons you can assume the success won’t be as great or as consistent in 2011. But these guys are fast and probably faster than last year and there are a number of players who, with the proper molding, could make this work. Reminds me a little bit of 2008, except this is a more athletically capable unit. Also, I’d take Bruce Irvin as a teammate on IR who couldn’t play all year, but could still be there for presence alone. This man is energy and encouragement and inspiration from start to finish.

rekterx said:

The defense is reloading more than it is rebuilding. I am not saying that it will be as good as last year’s defense. But I believe the defense will be better than “good enough.”

While it is easy for people to make fun of Stew, the man actually had reasons for suggesting that this year’s team could make a run at the national championship. It had to do with the players they had recruited. Francis is a late addition. But he joins a cast of capable football players.

They’ve recruited pretty well on defense the past few years. For those guys, this is their time. Look at their depth chart at the end of spring and I bet you see a bunch of redshirt freshmen and sophomores in the mix.

glibglub said:

Love the optimism, but let’s not have a Holgasm just yet.

Circle that one. I suspect that won’t be the last we see of it.

Parks said:

how about a Holgorection?

Somewhere, overtheSEC runs to his mailbox to check for the royalty check …

Mack said:

The Big East needs another football team. The BCS needs legitimacy. Only one conclusion.

Whichever non-BCS team finishes with the top ranking in 2011 gets the last Big East spot. If that team ever finishes in last place, they drop out of the Big East and are replaced by the highest ranking non-BCS team for that year. It’s perfect! You add another good team and don’t have to add another basketball team.

You’re welcome, America.

I’ve been behind the relegation concept for a while, but it’s a logistical nightmare. I think the above is a pretty neat idea — at least a starting point for some creative thinking.

ffejboc said:

With Holgorson and Dawson’s ties to the Houston area, and Daron Robert’s ties to Dallas-Fort Worth, I think you could see 5-6 kids a year pulled out of Texas. I think the key is keeping them here. Homesickness + lack of immediate playing time can be a terrible thing (i.e. Barry Brunetti).

I’ll give you Holgorsen. I’ll quibble with Dawson because he was at a FCS school, and while he may have had and should still enjoy relationships with some schools, he hasn’t consistently worked with the top talent at those schools. But, sure, he knows the grid. Have to dismiss Daron Roberts, though. He’s going to need time to establish ties there. Three or four players per year might be more reasonable, but you’re right on the main point: Don’t take guys just to take guys and reach a number. Take the right guys.

rekterx said:

Mike, unless you have lived in Texas or spent a LOT of time in Texas you have no freaking idea of how BIG Texas is. And Texas, all on its own, has the 5th largest economy in the world. Plus, there really are gazillions of good high school football players here. (Yep. I am in Texas)

Something, however, is going on. Kids from Texas, and their families, are visiting Morgantown/WVU and are loving the place. I say if a kid doesn’t already have familial ties to A&M or UT we have a serious chance of becoming an attractive option for them. Not all of them, but enough kids to make it worthwhile.

UT doesn’t recruit as much as select. After UT, and A&M, what are the chances that a Texas kid is going play in a BCS bowl by going to Baylor, Texas Tech, Houston, UTEP, or another school? TCU has obviously stepped up. But there are a gazillion GOOD to GREAT football players in Texas that will never get sniffed by UT.

It may not turn out to be a “pipeline.” But I expect a lot more than a trickle of players from Texas.

Word of mouth from the Texans who come to Morgantown will create some interest.

Have you ever really seen UT’s Austin campus? It’s big. But it is no match for WVU’s two main campuses in Morgantown. It’s not even close. Frankly, the bigger college football playing schools in Texas do not have campuses like WVU. They can’t. It has much to do with the terrain and so forth.

And having lived in Texas for a number of years I can tell you that there are lot similar characteristics between Texans and West Virginians. Yes, there are some differences. But you have heard it from the new coaches and even from Ford Childress and his family. These folks feel comfortable in Morgantown. They may not yet have made it down to the coal fields in southern WV, but they are comfortable in north central WV.

Put me down as believing that we will get some really good football players from Texas who will help push our football program to the top.

Well, I think I have an idea having been to Texas a few times and to UT and maintaining a dream of relocating to West Texas, but your say stands. I like it. Good contrarian stuff. Morgantown and West Virginia have the same effect on kids from Florida, too. I’ve spoken with a lot of kids and coaches through the years, though, and they say many kids don’t want to leave Texas. That’s one in my column, but I’ll give you one, too. Something about WVU pulls players away from the state many don’t want to leave.

Karl said:

I think it could be a lot like our relationship with Florida, another huge and faraway state with an abundance of talent. Of course we’ll never put together better classes of Floridians than FSU, Miami or the Gators, but we get enough meaningful players down there to spice up our recruiting classes every year. The only major difference I can think of between Florida and Texas is that WVU is better exposed in the Sunshine State because of its ties to USF and formerly Miami. TCU’s arrival should eventually do the same for us.

Very good. TCU does indeed facilitate the relationship. I bet WVU is praying there’s an open week after the games in TCU just to stay on the ground and go recruit for a few days — same as the USF trips.

Chris in DC said:

I cannot wait for this year’s Backyard Brawl! Not only do you have several of WVU’s old staff coming in, but you also have the rivalry between Holgs and Graham. I hope that Holgs and Casteel want to run the score up on Pitt as much as the fans do!

Also, seems like a group of DBs led by Tony Gibson would be ripe for the picking for Geno! Remember the 3-3-5 days before Lockwood came along? I do, and it was called Michigan football the past 3 years. Also, how do you think Calvin Maghee is going to be welcome back to Mountaineer Field after calling everyone a racist as he walked out the door? Gotta feeling they never anticipated coming back to Morgantown on the Pittsburgh team bus!

Brian Bennett should have let you write that story … And just published that.

The 25314 said:

I, embarassingly, don’t remember Paul Randolph. Mike, can you help me out?

2001

DC/S – Phil Emassion
DL – Jeff Casteel
LB – Todd Graham
CB – Tony Gibson

2002

DC/DL – Casteel
DC/LB – Graham
CB – Gibson
S – ? (Is this Paul Randolph?)

2003

DC/LB – Casteel
DL – Kirlav
CB – Gibson
S – Bruce Tall

One and done. He was the defensive line coach in one of the Rodriguez years without  Kirelawich. Nice guy.

The Artist Formerly Known as EER96 said:

I can’t wait for the halftime interview with Graham during the Brawl:

“Excuse me, Coach Graham, how do you intend to slow down this offensive onslaught that the Mountaineers are putting on your defense?”

“Well, as a wise mine once said, I guess we will just have to run faster!”

Nobody caught the malaproprism there?

rekterx said:

Two Things I Want To See This Football Season:

1) Doc Holliday darn near speechless after the Marshall/WVU game while smoking tire marks are on the backs of his players.

2) Todd Graham in darn near the same condition as #1 after the WVU/Pitt game.

Enjoy the weekend!