Welcome to the Friday Feedback, honest with you from the git go. We weren’t supposed to be here today because I’m stealing a few off days before the season starts — and I’m doing it next weekend, too — but I didn’t want to leave without making the bed. That nonsense from Monday and then Wednesday deserves more attention than I’ve given it, but I’m going to warn you now that my opinion is strong and firm here and it might not be popular. I don’t want to leg drop the Macho Man, but here goes.

First, I understand my opinion isn’t any better than anyone else’s. These are opinions and not facts, and the biggest reason we’re all here is because we have and share and defend and sometimes change our opinions. You and I are coming from different places and we want and admire, we frown at and are disappointed by different things from the head coach.

But, man, I have a hard time thinking on the same level as the people who didn’t know what Dana Holgorsen was saying Monday. And my opinion is that if you were offended or appalled or shocked by Dana stating what’s a commonly accepted reality, you probably don’t have a right to be offended or appalled or shocked. That conversation isn’t for you and you shouldn’t be shaping it.

Stop here for a moment … before you leave forever. I’m not saying you can be disappointed Dana said it or that you can’t wish the coach of your team had exercised better judgment. You can. We’re dealing with different emotions there, you see? I understand, never mind condone, that particular response.

But the people who have an issue with Dana going where he went, who decided to make that a headline? Nope. Nope.

This is a big part of a big reason why I don’t think press conferences should be televised or streamed. I post them here. But I do not like it. I pushed back against it for a long time. (Something about giving away the quotes before I write the story bothers me to this day.) But now I accept that if I don’t someone else will, and I risk losing you to some other place. But they’re press conferences, not public conferences. They exist for us to ask questions and then take the information contained within to the public. A portion of the audience doesn’t … speak the language, so to speak … and there’s no translator to Dana’s left or in a little box inset in the corner. People hear and react and things start spinning.

Let me ask you a question: Who among the people in that room that day, or even the people who cover the team who weren’t there that day, made a meal of it? Your answer should be “Nobody.” Isn’t that odd? Yet that’s the reality because those people know and who are around Dana, who know what he says and how he says things and the difference between the two, they knew the conversation we were having. I don’t want to get into the matter of who made a deal of it and why. I feel like we  just had a similar conversation. And I think my point speaks louder.

We’re going to talk a lot about this after this, so I’ll wrap this up now, but what Dana did Monday was essentially admit to speeding. Someone’s going to say, “Why is it so hard to obey the speed limit?” And I’ll reply, “You must be fun at parties.”

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words … not uh, can’t get past it … MOTOR BOAT!

Dann White said:

Are you saying that you didn’t want to spill the beans here about another beat writer? It appears that in this day and age, a reporter can make news by reporting it, or tweeting it; if there’s a difference. Is that OK?
I wonder if the party that tweeted those remarks feels any responsibility for the furor they caused? Seems unfair to publish quotes out of context and/or without explaining it was said as a joke, because that is truly how it sounded to me. The over-reaction to the coach’s remark was straight out of Watergate or Lewinsky-gate.
I probably wouldn’t be so curious about this most recent gaffe, but after seeing HCDH letting Hertzel slide so generously, I don’t like seeing him embarrassed or undermined by those he opens up to. (I guess I’m starting to like Dana, I don’t recall feeling protective of him before)

I’m saying I’m not prosecuting a fellow beat writer. We don’t do that, or at least we shouldn’t. We shouldn’t delight in a coach or a player or an administrator blowing up a fellow writer. Again, I understand why it happened, and maybe on some level of recourse or closure, it had to happen. But I’m not going to applaud it. I’m on the other team. And I’ve been in that seat before. That medicine tastes awful. I’m still angry there were some “reporters” laughing about it. I don’t want any of them on my side of the fence. 

I love you, Doug! said: 

I’m taking the minority position here and saying Holgorsen needs to be accountable for all his words said publicly and everything he says in front of any reporters — beat or others parachuting in for one story — or in front of boosters or at football camps with kids on Twitter. It’s all on the record. He can’t even claim this was taken out of context: “You lie a lot” is fine in the coaches’ meeting but reporters are not — and should not be — your friends. Too often, reporters suffer from institutional capture and let stuff slide — or accept stonewalling or don’t ask questions or report questionable comments — then public figures see that, and push a little farther, and then get more slack from the local press and then you get Penn State. I’m not comparing this to that in scale or severity; I’m just glad it was reported. Learning the public part of being a big time college football coach is hard. Dana will learn from this. You can still be funny and accessible and not make cheating jokes.

I can’t get into the accountability thing because I’m one of the people who thinks he didn’t say anything wrong. But where do we stand on it being taken out of context? Because I sort of believe it was. The question was about pitching what WVU will do regarding NCAA reform while others are pitching their own way. I’m not sure the headlines were in line with the response relative to that question. I also don’t think he was joking. And I don’t think he’ll learn from this because I’m not certain what he’s supposed to learn, except that people will overreact. All that “He should understand he’s a public figure” stuff was submitted to the registrar after Cross Lanes.

smeer said:

ILYD – I’ll take the opposite just for the sake of debate – he’s tired. he’s made to do another presser because of our insatiable hunger to hear anything related to the status of our team. he meant to say that in recruiting everyone over sells, everyone over promises – he’s lazy with words “everybody lies” and then admits the truth will come out via the players – actually quite a noble statement – we encourage our recruits to ask our players anything.

the media wolves have chewed him up because they eschewed context and that is what sucks. soundbites rule and we live in an insanely idiotic time because the truth isn’t important. selling newspapers and blog hits are. (which is why Tier 4 is great because it gets hits by building a gracious and truth-seeking clientele)

it’s a slow sports time of year and there’s enough other crap in our world getting all the press so the sports leaches manufactured a story

that’s okay – just one more way to motivate a team – us against the world has served us well in the past . . .

I’ll agree with this: He could have picked a better work. “Lie” is strong language, but fabricate, exaggerate, embellish, those would have all worked better. But should he have picked a better word? It was an on-the-spot moment and a total change of pace. I thought I saw break lights, and I think the salesman comparison was lost on many, where that was the point he was trying to make. You stretch the truth. You do.

CornHole Harry said:

The media is not you friend. The media is not your friend. The media is not your friend. The media is not your friend. The media is not your friend. The media is not your friend.

The media is not your pal. The media is not you buddy.

The media is a means to to attract money through advertisers. Period.

The more hits you get, the money you make. And money is what keeps food on the table for reporters, even for those in public broadcasting.

Did I mention that the media is not your friend?

Now you’re fabricating, exaggerating, embellishing with unfairly broad strokes.

JC said: 

Dana calls a student-athlete a meathead, next on a First Take…..

Haven’t seen it yet, but give it time.

Clarence Oveur said:

I love what Holgorsen said and am glad he’s willing to be open and candid with reporters. It’s refreshing and it beats the canned responses we often hear from coaches and those in collegiate athletics.

That someone made a meal of this is f***ing pathetic.

#FreeDana

Anxiouseer97 said:

I’m actually put off that he issued a clarification. He doesn’t trust media. This won’t help

He trusts some media, but, yeah, this does happen to him. I wouldn’t lose site of the possibility things he says are, say, 20 percent more combustible because he said them. Les Miles has the same appeal, though it’s more congenial. 

Mack said:

Most web sites now simply hope to have a catchy headline that will cause people to click on it. “Dana Holgorsen admits he lies to recruits” makes for a pretty catchy link. After that, the story is irrelevant.

Agreed.

ffejbboc said:

Anxious, I’m fairly confident that the higher ups “encouraged” him to issue a clarification. Not Holgorsen.

I admire his honesty and wish he didn’t have to apologize, but unfortuantely we live in a politically correct, TMZ-heightened world.

The line between “news” and “entertainment” gets fuzzier every day.

I’ll turn off the lights in the Tier 4 studio if he came up with the idea to clarify. You have to craft a statement like that and in turn you have to craft a new version of events. That wasn’t a lighthearted moment. It was an honest moment.

Down South said: 

This whole kerfluffle about “lies” to recruits reminded me of the first time I met HCDH. He was at a meet-and-greet with some other coaches in my part of the state shortly after he had been hired. I was on my way home from trying a criminal case in another county when my law partner called and said I should stop by. When I came into the restaurant, there were several people there along with the coaches. My law partner and a good friend were on one side of the room talking with Robert Gillespie. I remembered Gillespie well from his time at Florida and thought it was pretty neat to meet him. As the four of us talked, Gillespie wants to know all about the case I had tried that day. Long story short, guy and girlfriend get into a pretty bad fight. Girlfriend winds up with two black eyes. Police and EMT’s show up. Girlfriend says eyes got blacked by guy. Guy says girlfriend has mental health issues and injured herself when he tried to leave her, then blaming it on him. Girlfriend made statements at the scene suggesting she was suicidal. Guy gets charged with domestic assault, goes to trial and is found not guilty. As I finish telling the story, Gillespie says “So you got the guy off by convincing the jury that she blacked her own eyes.” There was a little more to it than that, but that’s kind of how it was presented. Gillespie says “Man, nobody can tell a lie like a lawyer.” At that point, we had a debate about the fact that, with the possible exception of car salesmen, nobody lies more than football coaches. I explain to Gillespie that they lie on injury reports, they lie in recruiting, they lie to players to motivate them and, most of all, they lie about what they think of their next opponent. Not that I think it’s a bad thing. It just isn’t always their job to be honest. As we are having this conversation, HCDH walks up and asks about what we are discussing. We tell him about our conversation and I give him my position on the honesty of football coaches. He looks at us and says “That reminds me, I was on a radio interview with a Pittsburgh station yesterday. The host was asking me questions, and you could tell he was trying to stir up a little bit of the rivalry with Pitt. I just told him ‘I have nothing but respect for Coach Graham and his program.’”

Neat story. Oh, hey, remember Gillespie? And remember when on signing day in 2011 WVU issued a statement he was staying in Morgantown? Remember why? Because WVU was trying to get Andrew Buie, who Gillespie recruited, and schools were telling Buie that Gillespie was was going to Florida, where he played. A few hours later, Buie signed. That happened. And that happens all the time. 

tls62pa said:

Not sure how to interpret, “Andrew Buie has been Andrew Buie.” There are multiple variations of Andrew Buie. You have “Running into block’s backs” Andrew Buie. You have “Orange Bowl and Texas” Andrew Buie. And you have “Take my ball and going home” Andrew Buie.

Good point.

PeterB said:

We’re talking about “absorbs way to many big hits for a guy his size” Andrew Buie

Good looking out.

philip said:

the parenthetical “unfortunately for him” seems to indicate an andrew buie who will make it that much tougher for dreamius smith to get playing time.

while unfortunate for smith, i’d say that’s a good thing for the offense.

Not quite. I meant that unfortunately for Buie, he’s been banged up in camp and thus unable to put his best foot forward. So Buie is making it hard on Buie. Smith is fine. He aced that practice Monday that was focused on him.

I love you, Doug! said:

Regarding the just-released team picture: How do they decide who sits where? Looks like Quinton Spain right next to Holgo, which seems right, but then a No. 4 who doesn’t look like Smallwood’s headshot sitting on the other side.

We need a Kremlinologist to explain the seating positions vis a vis each other and Holgo.

Comrade Mikhail Casazza?

I’m not going to lie to you.

smeer said:

my thoughts on qualifiers is that HCDH now has enough bodies that he can gamble on a couple of reach players because if they do pan out, we get some serious talent and if not, we can try again next year.

i can just imagine how relieved HCDH is about having enough bodies (not necessarily QBs) to run practice and handle the regular season attrition

Mike want to do an article/interview HCDH on that? (not that we haven’t gotten this in snippets) (but then we don’t want to jinx him on depth either (waiting for the Fall))

when we joined the B12, my eyes were focused on comparing our talent to the rest of the league. we more than held our own for five games then . . .

two years in and the disparity hill was about depth and that’s been a big eye opener for me. there’s a talent component to depth, but much of that is overcome with experience. (coach em up.)

(sorry for train-of thought-rambling)

You first graf is on point. They’ll never say that, but that’s largely true. That’s why they were so careful last year. As for the benefits, I had it in a notebook. They’re able to go live in practice much more. You have to rep more people, so you have to run more live stuff. There’s still a risk of players getting hurt — and I guess that’s a larger risk if you’re playing more — but there are more players on the depth chart to play with if someone gets hurt.

Mack said:

McRary was coached by Damon Cogdell in high school, right? If so, then I would imagine the coaches had a very good idea of what his grades were.

If a non-qualifier goes to Marshall, he still has to sit out a year in order to get his grades up so he can play, right? Whereas at a JUCO, he can play immediately, in theory. So, two years at a JUCO and back at WVU is probably just as “short” a play as going to Marshall, sitting out a year, and then playing a year. Either way, it all comes down to playing well on the field and getting good enough grades to stay eligible.

Nah, different school in Miami. But WVU knew the score. As for his play, good point. He’d have to sit out and pay his own way for a year as a non-qualifier, but you’re assuming he could get in. Seeing as if he didn’t choose the short play and opted for juco, we can assume he wouldn’t have gotten in at Marshall.

smeer said:

how can a coach known for his prolific passing Os have a shortage of WRs and too many RBs?

Bizarro world, but it wasn’t created in a day, either.

Down South said:

Are we absolute certain that the guy with the dreadlocks in the # 11 jersey is not Bruce Irvin?

Certain, but the skepticism is understood. He’s gigantic.

Bobby Heenan said:

Down South – We could always find them both, line them up, and make them run a 40. My money is on Irvin being the fastest (seriously). Then, we could throw them fade routes and the guy who catches the most is also probably Irvin (only kind of serious).

Smeer – I too have been a little surprised about the shortage of WR’s. Dana has had at least some hand in getting a TON of high impact guys (both inside and outside WR’s) into the league – Welker, Blackmon, Crabtree, Amendola, Bailey, Austin et al. I’m sure Dana was not involved in the recruitment or talent eval of each of them, but he’s clearly shown he can display your talents on the field and get you in the league.

“…also probably Irvin.” For the win!

Josh24601 said:

Does anyone else wonder whether Dawson would like to go back to the post-Orange Bowl offseason and take one of the head coach or up-ladder offensive coordinator jobs he was offered?

I do from time to time. That’s natural. I don’t think they were the best offers or strong enough to pull him away. He’s known Dana half his life, too. But mostly I don’t think he could have thought the fortunes would have changed so quickly and so dramatically. Now I have to think he thinks they’ll change again

anxiouseer97 said:

Dawson gave half hearted effort – and still caused a fumble.

I caught that.

The VLS said:

I was too busy laughing at somebody (maybe Jed Drenning??) saying, “Look at you. You are Tony Stark.”

That was him.  That’s a game people play with me, too. It’s fun.

lowercase jeff said:

mack, i keep an open excel file at work all day, with the depth chart entered manually. just something to kill 5 minutes here and there. today was the first day i moved shell to first team. i, also, am very excited about that.

i am very excited about everything with the team.

i am very happy with the direction of the program.

Um, I want to see the latest depth chart. I’m not alone, right?

Jason B. said:

Mike,
To fix the loading problem have your tech guys get rid of the script on your blog page that tries to access “http://openx.cnpapers.com/www/delivery/ajs.php” That is what is causing the 20 second delay for everyone when the page loads. It’s in the bit of web code that builds the little “advertising” string under the search bar.

Fixing this load time will greatly enhance the Tier 4 Fan Experience!

Awesome. Thank you. A lot. Let’s keep this between all of us, OK? But this stuff sounds better in the office when it comes from you.

glibglub said:

20 second delay? Did he leave off a digit?

Enjoy the weekend!