Welcome to the Friday Feedback, still working without a buyout after all these years and suitors. Hey, liquidated damages are common, but they’re not for everyone. Yet for some reason, they seem perfectly suited for West Virginia University.

We spent a bit of time in this abbreviated week looking at and talking about Rich Rodriguez’s notable contract extension at Arizona. It has a buyout that doubles if he leaves the Wildcats for WVU.

And Doc Holliday has pretty much the same thing in his contract at Marshall, except his exit fee is a flat, cool $3 million.

I really have to wonder — and I’m looking into it — how many schools are mentioned in multiple buyouts for head coaches? But that’s just one of many thought-provoking items that come from this … I don’t know, is it an ordeal? Is it a saga? Is it a blip?

It is May.

I think we can agree it’s a thing and it’s a thing you really have to actively think about now because clearly there’s potential for something somewhere in this. You have to recognize that. The industry tells more secrets than it keeps, and this is the beauty of open records. (Also: This.)

But this is also a little awkward, too. I’m not advocating a coaching change. I’m not even operating under the assumption one is coming, and that that particular action will trigger a specific reaction. I’m just looking at what’s in front of me and doing what a lot of other people are doing.

Well, isn’t this something?

What I want to get to, though, is probably different. I know why it’s included. I have a feeling Arizona has a feeling, too. I know what it means. I figure there might one day be a legal battle about how the contract is designed to punish Rodriguez for picking WVU.

But I’m not interested in that. I instead wonder if WVU fans are ready to open their minds and treat Rodriguez in a way that might make a reunion possible. And mostly I wonder if hiring Rodriguez, if it ever becomes a possibility, is a good idea. Those are the questions that ought to matter most.

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, know your surroundings.

I love you, Doug! said:

Great, Mike goes away and Logan Moore gets a scholarship, implicitly making him the favorite to start going into fall camp.

Right?!

(Just trying to manufacture *something* here.)

True story: I, um, succumbed to the rigors of the Vegas trip Monday night into Tuesday morning and had a very vivid dream. I woke up ready to call Dana to do a story about Paul Millard transferring to LSU. Then I had some coffee.

SheikYbuti said:

It makes him a favorite to start at gunner on that apocryphal third side of the ball that HCDH is always talking about.

I was similarly cloudy when I got to thinking about the restraint you all practiced to keep us from another round of “Logan Moore Stinks…No He Doesn’t.” (Also, remember when Oll Stew spok about using Pat White on kickoff returns?)

Bob Hertzel’s Clown Comment:

Is there a better name for a sports dietician? I hope she doesn’t run the kitchen like a circus…see what Ol’ Bob did there?

Bravo. Nettie Fleshour has a ring to it, but her full name — she kept her maiden name in place of a middle name she never had — is Nettie Puglisi Freshour. Ringier? Yet instead of dietitian — a word I almost literally cannot spell — I still keep thinking of Pagliaccio’s wife. But I think I revealed enough in the post about what’s going on inside my head.

glibglub said:

I didn’t think anything would ever sail higher over my head than the periodic pro wrestling and MMA references that come up around here, but Maimonides did. Mazel tov!

1. Footnote.

netbros said:

He is setting things up nicely for the future with players per class and per position. Now, if he can just hold onto them. The personnel turnover is what’s killing any continuity and has to be doubling the recruiting expenses.

I’m the same age as Huggins and I have to believe he can’t enjoy all the extra recruiting trips. When I was a young man just settling in to a career in business, I loved to travel all over the country for work. The older I got, the less appealing it became. Now in his 60s, the planes, airports, strange beds, rental cars, funky food at funky hours, just to chase teenage kids with the egos of the next MJ has got to be tiresome.

Sure, it’s part of the job and he gets paid very, very well, but whenever one kid leaves that probably means at least 10 more trips on the recruiting trail to find the next one. Here’s hoping the group he has now will stick around for awhile.

…and I’m starting to think about changing careers. But seriously, well said.

KeatonsCorner said:

JT,

dead period ended today. There’s Martin, the Xavier kid……. but there are at least 2 more JUCO options that WVU is looking at. The issue with them? They’re trying to graduate early in order to join the 2014 class, instead of 2015. TJ Dunans and Luis Montero

Dunans is a 6’5 wing who put 40+ points up in one of his JUCO tournament games last month.

Montero is a Devin Ebanks replica (6’8, 190lbs plays positions 1-4)

Email I got last week: “Keaton’s Corner posting on your blog now! Big time acquisition of talent. Good wingspan. Bouncy.” Welcome to the party, KC.

Parks said:

Mazey is without a doubt the best hire ADOL has made. I can see progress made with HCDH, even if others can’t, simply around the program itself. I really hope he’s allowed to develop this program as I really think it will pay off in the long term.

If you look at what Butts or Kramer took over, they had (and continue to have) a lot of changes to make. Without the support your major sports, which I now include baseball in, it takes more time. Time will tell on some of the others, including ones that just got here but I really like the Henson hire.

All of that said, the trend I see with the hires is that they’re all relatively long time assistants who’ve never gotten a real shot to be a head coach in their field but have been apart of very successful teams in the past. Generally those teams have played in or against Big 12 competition. I think ADOL wants coaches that know the mid-west, that have had years to understand how Big 12 teams play in each sport so that they can translate that over to the student athletes.

My boss is actually working on this story, so I don’t want to give away the finish, but you saw something I saw. Not a lot of head coaching experience with the hires and none at all at this level, though ECU baseball isn’t a small thing for Mazey to claim. Only one sitting head coach has been hired, too.

Oklahoma Mountaineers said:

I will say this — this is a lot of hiring actions…..that said, you can see a trend. People who appear to be up and coming, who work at good programs, and ones in the footprint of the Big 12 conference.

I don’t know anything specific about the wrestling coach other than he came from Missouri……the same Missouri who qualified all 10 wrestlers for the NCAA tournament. Missouri may have their best days behind them in terms of wrestling solely in that they have left once of the best conferences for wrestling and joined one of the weakest. Big 12 wrestling before Missouri and Nebraska jumps ship is one of the best, if not the best, in the country.

Only hire that draws real fire in this list is Holgerson — he’s the main bread winner at the Flagship University……..and he’s got a tough hand again this year with the Tide in the opening game slot. Hoping and praying that we see a bowl this year or he may have to do another hiring action……..

You found one, too: Luck is (usually) pulling people out of major conferences. True, the SEC, which houses Missouri, isn’t a big-time wrestling league, but Henson was in the Big 12 when it was really, really good. Also, why isn’t the SEC great at wrestling?

chocolate covered bacon said:

Agree with Parks and Oklahoma, I would only add that all seem to say the correct things and appear to want to build their respective program at WVU. They all say, in one form or another, they’ve found a home. It will be interesting to see how many of those names are still in Morgantown in say 3,4,5 years.

HCDH seems to be in the most precarious situation, coming off a bad year and having the toughest football schedule in the Big-12 this year. I probably shouldn’t mention this, but I wonder should the season go all bad, if Luck hasn’t already hired his next head football coach in that event. A 2-4 start to the season and it will get ugly fast for HCDH. Much like Mazey calls for a relief pitcher, I keep getting the vision in my head of Luck tapping his right elbow and looking at Tom Bradley. I think of Bradley as a head coach in waiting that isn’t a head coach in waiting.

At least on paper, Luck has done a fantastic job of staffing his athletic department with quality coaches. It doesn’t hurt that he inherited two quality basketball, and soccer coaches either.

Should we list LeBlanc too? Didn’t Penn St. make a run at him right after Luck was hired, or has the tea effected my memory again.

Eh, I don’t think MLB wanted to leave, so let’s not credit Luck for that one. But to your first point, yeah, I see that too and I see something there. Most of these coaches have moved around and had only been at their most-recent place a few years. They’re tired of moving or don’t want to move or want to start something after chasing it so long. Since some of the teams need to be rebuilt or rearranged, time and patience are valuable qualities that are difficult to acquire.

SheikYbuti said:

Well, ccb, it didn’t take long for Samara to leave after Luck hired her. She was a big upgrade on what we had previously, but I can’t get a read on Lisac yet. Arguably, women’s tennis was in the worst shape of any program upon ADOL’s arrival, and that probably includes golf (which is saying something).

Samara took more money at a Big Ten school, where she has not been all too successful. Other than than that, I don’t know much about her situation, but you’re right: It was a mess and it’s conceivable she got a look at it and split. That’s why I think identifying people who don’t want to bounce around and do want to build may have become part of the search for Luck. Samara just wasn’t here long enough to know much about — and she has no Wisconsin ties — but I do know if you google her, there’s a really interesting suggestion that pops up in the bar.

 anxiouseer97 said:

Another common denominator among the new hires – little to zero prior history with WVU or WV. I’m not faulting that, but I think it’s telling – of something.

Remember when that was essentially a requirement? And I still can’t get over the fact that Dana, the guy so many people present to be an outsider determined to change the culture to fit his vision, is the guy who’s making hires and decisions that rebuild and reinforce the West Virginia value system. I feel like that’s gone way under the radar, and I know I play a role in that. It’s been too long since I talked to Dana.

JPWVURFL said:

I think Holgs is the only one that we have a clearer picture about, but that still needs to play out. Mazey has undoubtedly been a great hire. I think everyone else is a wait and see because some of those hires have happened only in the past couple of years or last month.

Not only have the coaches been changed, but so has some admin positions at the AD. Luck is changing and molding the department to his vision of success. An all-around healthy department means a lot to a conference and associated contracts. Remember when the Big East got rid of Temple? We don’t want to be the Temple of the Big XII.

For the older generation, the change might be viewed negatively (i.e. Mickey). For most others, change is necessary. If you aren’t willing to change, you’re being left behind. It’s the rule of the modern world. Luck is in tune with that and is using it.

Let’s wait 5 years and see where we are. A lot can happen between now and then and will be more telling of his decisions, whether he is still here or not.

Can’t and won’t argue with any of that. I do want to point out one thing you hit on: Guys like Matt Wells and Mike Szul are really important to coaches like Mazey and Henson and Butts and Kramer. They want to market (Wells) to generate popularity. They want to know what they can spend (Szul) on trips and infrastructure and the like. That’s a big part of the small sports.

Karl said:

I sometimes wonder if, hypothetically, WVU was in or on its way to the Big 12 conference at the time Luck was easing Stewart out, whether Holgorsen would have been that hire. The Air Raid offense gave us a schematic edge in the Big East for the same reason Rich Rod’s zone-read and the Casteel stack did — no one else was running it, so it was difficult to prepare for.

On the other side of that coin, I thought Don Nehlen’s decline could partially be attributed to the fact that he was running basic I formation schemes against other teams that were, but some of those other programs had the resources to recruit better athletes. It’s tough to succeed when you’re doing the same thing as your competitors with inferior personnel.

Isn’t that where we are now? It’s going to be difficult to keep up in a conference where six of your nine competitors (OSU, Baylor, OU, Texas Tech, and now TCU and ISU) are running a variation of the same offense. And what does it say that KSU and Bill Snyder, who play old school power football, consistently overachieve with way inferior recruiting? Might Don Nehlen actually be a better coach for WVU in the Big 12 than Holgorsen?

Now this is fun. In your scenario, I have to think Holgorsen would have been a name for Luck to consider. Luck believed, and still does, that you have to score to win (and to recruit, which helps you win) and that passing scores points (and scoring and passing sells tickets and get you on TV). That always intrigued me because he saw a lot of Stanford football and Stanford skins the cat much differently … more Snyder and Nehlen than Rodriguez and Holgorsen. WVU has struggled with familiarity, and admitted as much, but it’s benefited, too. WVU was very talented and pretty deep in 2011. I don’t think WVU was as talented or anywhere near as deep in 2012. We can agree last year’s team lacked talent and depth and was inundated with other issues. But this year’s team might — might — be the most talented and deepest Big 12 team Dana’s had, which should arm it better to combat the familiarity. But that’s just me. Say I’m wrong and WVU goes 1-11 and Oliver makes the move. That’s where we can answer your final question, which really has no wrong answer. Would Oliver look at Rodriguez or a Scott Frost? Jake Spavital or Chad Morris or Neal Brown? Or would he go with Pep Hamilton or someone similar from a smaller fraternity?

 glibglub said:

With all the capable football coaches in the world, the idea of RR as WVU football’s “man on horseback” has always struck me as a tremendous failure of imagination. Surely there will be equally good and even better options available when the time comes.

I think a lot of Luck because, you know, he feeds me every one of my stories and pays me a stipend to be nice to him, but I really do wonder if he’d be comfortable doing something that’s already been done. There’s no searching and fishing and turning over stones. He flexes no mental muscle, he exercises no influence if he hires Rodriguez, right? And Louisville already pulled off the awkward reunion. Then again, it would have a lot of people talking about WVU for a long time and Luck is just not afraid to do something bold. Bringing Rodriguez back wouldn’t be original, but it would be bold.

Kevin said:

Looking at the situation, it doesn’t surprise me that media and fans would speculate about his return if Holgy doesn’t have a good enough season. It just surprises me Arizona was concerned enough about it to put it in a contract. Do they feel he would be twice as likely to come to WVU?

His results since leaving WVU make you wonder if he caught lightning in a bottle with White, Slaton & Co., but I just wonder if WVU and Rodriguez would want to deal with the politics, media and fan reaction that would come with his hire. Hiring a new coach usually brings optimism and curiosity. This would be some mix of damage control and justification.

Then again, Louisville was ok rolling with Petrino again….

Man, that “lightning in a bottle” thing is a great point. And it’s common. I talked to a bunch of, I guess, boosters this week and many of them mentioned that. “If he could get 5 and 10 together again, yeah, why not?” There was a laugh, but it was kind of nervous and seemed like a lukewarm endorsement of the idea, if not a masked expression of doubt. Because, honestly, what’s he been without them? I know, I know. Transcendent talents. Rare to have two at once. But has he been close? I think that’s a fair point to raise.

netbros said:

Rodriguez’ offense isn’t nearly as innovative now as it was 12-15 years ago when he was tearing up defenses at Tulane, Clemson and WVU. Defenses understand the concepts now and are more adept at containment than they were a decade ago. I give the spread no more than 8-10 more years, maybe less, of effectiveness.

I suspect as long as he remains at Arizona, they will remain a middle-of-the-pack team in the Pac-12, and were he to return to WVU, that is probably the best to expect in the Big-12 as well. He is still a good coach. He just doesn’t have that lightning in a bottle that Kevin mentioned anymore.

It seems that big-time college football is about due for another sea-change, one like the spread offense that RichRod helped introduce 20 years ago. Perhaps it is the turn of the defense. Young innovators who are limiting the effectiveness of the spread will be the next line of head coaches in demand.

Counterpoint: No one in the Big 12 is doing what Rodriguez does. Might that help? Some teams run some of the things — zone reads, pop passes, etc. — but not exclusively. Arizona’s system is much more common in the Pac-12. The Big 12 has sleeker defenses designed to better defend the pass. Might a running offense take advantage of that with linemen and receivers who can get out in space and block? Talking point, is all I’m saying.

Dann White said:

Mike,
Any idea why it now takes about 1-2 minutes to load the page? I have a 30mb connection and it is slower to load than when I had a 1mb connection, two years ago.
What changed, brother?

That’s Portuguese to a paisano. 

SheikYbuti said:

I respect the opposing viewpoint on the matter, and I’ve been proven wrong before, but, short of some 3-9 debacle, I don’t see Dana going anywhere. It’s always darkest just before dawn, and I think ADOL knows that. The pieces are falling into place, and if Crest really can play QB, that might be the final piece. And that may not happen til next season.

Pressing reset is a huge blow for WVU, so, yeah, debacle might have to be the trigger. Anything else? I have serious doubts about a change. I gather that if Dana is the coach for 2015, he’ll have an extension, too. He’s covered through the 2017 season and coaches and programs don’t like recruiting with question marks surrounding the fourth year. 

Karl said:

I’ve said on here before, as a Yankee fan who remembers the tail end of the Billy Martin-Steinbrenner soap opera well, don’t count this out. Sometimes people are just fated for to be together, no matter the drama.

Yes!

Ricky Ricardo from Grant Town said:

Who’s handling the booking for Jerry Springer anyways? We need to get on that, STAT.

Enjoy the weekend!