Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which is so glad it took time to go in on that unbeaten men’s basketball team yesterday. My bad. West Virginia played about six minutes of high-level basketball last night and about 34 minutes of ordinary basketball and came undone by not being able to do simple things — make free throws, rebound, make layups, guard, so on and so forth.

I’m not sure you should feel one way or the other about this team because of that game, but I think it’s fair to understand what the team’s flaws are and how they can become regular and heavy factors. If the Mountaineers don’t get/make easy baskets, they can struggle. That’s the same for a lot of teams, but because so much of what WVU does now is based on accentuating strengths (depth, speed and the press) and hiding weaknesses (half-court offense, shooting and possibly also size) those strengths can be sapped and the weaknesses can be highlighted if, you know, you miss 2-footers.

The Mountaineers missed eight layups, had more turnovers than assists (and had a really hard time passing), gave up 50-percent shooting after halftime and got crushed on the boards — wait for it — in a one-point loss.

“We’ve done things great at times and we’ve done things very poorly at times,” Staten said. “Right now, we’re an inconsistent team and we need to keep working and keep practicing our principles so they transfer to the game.”

We’ll give that a little more time once we begin, but before we begin, the answer to a question many of you have asked or at least wondered about lately. The football team, which is about to hand out $115,000 in bowl game bonuses and $75,000 in a retention bonus, has five assistant coaches who are working on expiring contracts. The deals for Joe DeForest, Lonnie Galloway, Brian Mitchell and JaJuan Seider expire Jan. 30 and Shannon Dawson’s expires in June, which, no, isn’t immediate, but is before the start of the 2015 season.

Dana Holgorsen likes continuity and decision have to be made, perhaps sooner rather than later.

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, understand the message.

I love you, Doug! said:

So many winners! Had a least three LOL moments. Nice work everyone!

Here, then, are my regular-season grades for unit coaches:

– Dawson: C+ Yes, on paper, the numbers look good. But think of the times this team needed one first down this season and couldn’t get it. Think of the stubborn refusal to dump plays that are clearly telegraphed. Dawson and HCDH need some new tricks for 2015.

– Gibson: B+ Improvement everywhere especially in effort. Not worth an A, but worth a B+. Defense didn’t lose WVU games for first time in a couple years.

– Galloway: B- For vast improvement in White and Alford and integration of Thompson. Gets the minus for virtual disappearance of Shorts and failure to develop viable backup receivers.

– Seider: B – For general competence among backs. Gets the minus for failure to teach/enforce ball control.

– Crook: C- Maybe he didn’t have the horses, but offensive line’s play degraded during the season. Showed little resemblance to Crook’s units at Stanford. Needs to improve in 2015.

– Bradley (as senior associate head coach): B For stabilizing presence, ability to impart experience and maturity.

– Bradley (as defensive line coach), Codgell: C- Riddick was key player in key win of the season — Baylor — but non-factor rest of the season. D-line, save for Texas, played run well but could not put any pressure on QB. Needs to establish pass rush in 2015.

– Mitchell: B+ Cornerback play largely solid, especially after losing Worley and Chestnut.

– DeForest (safeties): C+ Play largely solid but one play — Joseph’s out-of-position moment vs. TCU — turned the entire season. Can’t happen.

– DeForest (special teams): An easy F and not just because he’s the whipping boy. Let’s tally. Offsetting Alford’s KR returns, this season on special teams we saw: punt return fumbles, punt return fumbles (lost), *no* punt returner, running into the kicker, offsides, kickoff out of bounds, punt return for a TD, kickoff return for a TD, fair-catching punts inside the 10, multiple penalties on one punt, blocked FG attempt and, in the final insult, allowing the worst team in the league to successfully execute a fake FG. I’m sure I’m missing some from our Bingo card. If HCDH renews DeForest’s contract, that alone should be grounds for HCDH’s immediate dismissal.

A dissenter appeared this week, because he liked the idea of grading coaches and was happy to see that someone did it and that people picked up on it, but he disagreed with Special Teams Joe DeForest. “You have to give him an E. It wasn’t an F because of Lambert, but you can’t give him a passing grade.” 

smeer said:

tls61as Mike talked of grooming Crest for wildcat/redzone offense QB very early in the year

and considering that even in “good weather” this team had its struggles in the red-zone

my vote for the bowl QB is that we start Trickett IF healthy AND the coaches have most of December to install a red-zone package for a mobile QB by the name of Skyler

he has a much better arm than Trickett even on his best days. anybody think Trickett makes that needle throw to Mario for his second TD? when the gaps grow tighter in the red zone – without a power line/running game, you better have a QB with an arm and/or mobility. It’s not just Skyer’s legs – he has a better arm.

And I am a Trickett fan.

It’s not a bad idea, still, because Howard puts pressure on a defense in the red zone. Defenses are really good at compacting space to shut down passing lanes and room for routes to develop. That’s a skill. But everything changes when a QB is able to get outside, whether by design or desperation, and put pressure on the defense and pull players out of zones and assignments. That’s why you see a lot of rolls and sprints in the red zone and on the goal line. The trouble is Dana has been against packaging plays or situational uses for a quarterback … but maybe he’s evolved there, too.

tls62pa said:

So much for Brandon Napoleon reaching “And Also” status (transferring)

So sad. Might be Nana Kyeremeh’s time.

Mack said:

Does Paul Rhoads keep his job after the season ends?

I’d be shocked if he gets canned. He’s got seven years left, which means a $5.425 million buyout. But they’re a young team and lost some good players to injuries. And who else are they going to get? That said, he might need to make a bowl next season.

 Mack said:

1. Colleges with more alumni donations are able to build facilities that are better than other colleges (not to mention pay players).

2. TV money comes along. Teams jump to conferences that pay them the most money so they can continue to build facilities that are better than other colleges (not to mention pay players).

3. Everyone makes so much money from television that everyone has amazing facilities. Teams – still looking for a competitive advantage – then agree to pay their players so they can tell the athletes that they can legally pay them.

4. Eventually, a downturn in interest in college football hits – coinciding with a decline in cable rights fees – and all of the colleges have facilities they can’t sustain and players they can’t afford to keep paying. This also coincides with a decline in loans given out to students due to the upcoming student loan crisis that is coming – and thus, decline in number of students enrolled at each school – and thus the educational wing of these universities will not have the money to bail out the athletics department.

This is and isn’t connected, but I feel like the UAB story hasn’t gotten nearly the attention it rightfully deserves. UAB didn’t fold because it was about to be asked to pay its players, but it’s silly to think the Blazers would have been in on that. It’s kind of scary, because No. 4 is real. I’m not sure if we’re worried about it happening of if we’re seeing it happening. The Big 12’s announcement this week isn’t a game-changer, because it was already in the works and the schools in the league can afford it, but the effects down the line and further down in Division I can’t be ignored. I hope there’s foresight because here’s something interesting: UAB and Marshall require the same amount of money to run their athletic department. The same. Marshall has a greater history and a larger fan base and better donors, and no one is actively trying to kill the program, but it’s not an unfair comparison. It’s interesting to think what the new facilities in Huntington and the success this season did to secure the future there.

JC said:

I’m cool with HCDH’s stance on this. Clint deserves to start, if healthy. What I wouldn’t be cool with is if he consumes the majority of the reps in these additional bowl game practices. Take enough snaps to keep timing and rythmn, then give the rest to Howard, and even Crest, if healthy.

They’re shutting Crest down until the winter. He’ll do his throwing progression program, but there’s no need to practice him because he’s not playing in the bowl. It would nix the redshirt and it would take practice reps from Howard. 

Rugger said:

One thing I’ve learned about Dana is that he lies like a rug and I mean that in the best possible way. If Clint were going to start, Dana would be saying he’s not going to start, right? Or are we now using reverse psychology?

A month of first team reps would be valuable for SkyPilot and Dana is not the sentimental type thus I’m betting on Skylar starting and Clint starting on his coaching career.

“Lie” is a bit strong, but he does store the truth in hard-to-reach places, and he can because the way the media dates are structured. Sneaky smart this season was moving Tuesday interviews from before practice to after practice. It got the players out of the building an hour or two earlier, but it also kept players and coaches from answering questions about who did and didn’t practice. That was surely part of the decision. Also, I’d like to steer clear of who should and shouldn’t start right now because I know nothing of Clint’s health and what concerns do and do not exist about longterm health. And I don’t want to project, either. 

Mack said:

I can’t help but wonder if a bit of Tricket’s issues could be mental… just from the stand point of a guy who can stand in the pocket and make all the throws… then you jack him up a few times and then all of a sudden he’s not so keen on standing in the pocket and making all of the progressions.

Someone mentioned that Holgorsen lies. It seems pretty clear that Holgorsen’s two-part philosophy one interviews is 1) during the week, I won’t tell you anything that is legitimately useful for the upcoming game and 2) after the game, I will tell you everything you need to know.

Well, Dawson said two weeks ago Trickett was bailing on reads and plays because of real and imaginary pressure. He was seeing ghosts, which means he was getting worn out from hits and from ends and linebackers peeling around his tackles and then knocking him down. That’s not unusual and it sure looked, and then sounded, like it was a factor.

Drew said:

Bowl games are rewards. Let’s be honest. This bowl game, regardless of which one it is, will not be particularly meaningful. Clint has earned the right to play his last game, given he’s cleared.

Agreed, but it’s a nice reward to end the season with an eighth win and take a lot of momentum into the offseason. Dana owes that to his players. 

netbros said:

Taking care of some old business:

Following the Texas loss, I made an unnecessarily bold prediction that Holgorsen, Dawson and DeForest would be fired on December 1. Since that date has come and gone, and the three appear to remain on the payroll, I will fall on my keyboard and admit that I was wrong.

Having said that, Oliver Luck has obviously been wrapped up in his Playoff Committee responsibilities the past few days and simply may not have had the time to devote to a matter that requires undivided attention. My prediction may still happen. It just won’t be on December 1.

Before this season started most of us, myself included, would have accepted 7-5 and 5-4 as reasonable progress for the football program. However, the manner in which 7-5 was achieved just seemed a little disappointing when it could have been so much more. This season could have easily been 9-3, but it also could have just as easily been 5-7.

It is quite obvious the player development part of coaching improved significantly. Bravo for that. The defense and recruiting have also improved considerably and the coaches responsible for that should be commended.

In my view, there still exists the same in-game deficiencies that we have observed throughout the Holgorsen tenure. Clock management, ability to adjust on the fly, remaining composed, dealing with adversity, leadership. Those are all areas of improvement that still need to occur with this head coach. Should Luck decide to retain Holgosen for another season, it is my wish that he will do so with a strong suggestion to Holgorsen that he spend the summer looking in the mirror, seeking advice from peers, and working hard to improve himself.

In fact, that will also be my own personal goal for 2015.

I don’t believe Dana’s leaving — nor do I believe an extension is coming — but decisions on DeForest and Dawson loiter and there might be orders to address one, the other or both. I think many people are overlooking what might grow out of continuity and that it’s an itch WVU might want to scratch. If Dana grew this season — hard to argue he didn’t despite timeouting — then it’s fair to consider giving him a shot to keep watering the plant.

abpriddy said:

I like everything going on here. I like HCDH taking care of a guy in CT who has earned being taken care of. The job is his if he’s healthy IMO, but you also need to split those reps – and you’d probably want to do that regardless of CT’s health. Bowl games are as much about the next year as the current year.

As far as Luck’s evaluation of HCDH, remember that he’s Luck’s guy and you’ll always give a lot more rope to the person you hire. I think with the recruiting upgrades and the coming facility improvements and general trend of program he’s done more than enough to warrant staying around for at least a couple more years. More than that Luck is a smart guy who plays the long game and I think he knows this job is what it is – a job that could quickly become a stepping-stone type job but hasn’t because of the people that have held it – at least most of them. In HCDH I think Luck sees a guy who isn’t looking for stones to step on and will stick around for a while if things work out, so he’s going to give him a pretty good amount of rope to work with – it’s an investment from his standpoint. Mike, as someone close to the program I’d be curious if you get that feel at all or if I’m just making things up.

As far as evaluations, this year is the first time the coaching decisions have stood out so blatantly to me. They’ve always kinda been there, but were also obscured by depth (2012) or injuries (2013). This is the first time I felt that the in-game decision making stood out enough that it would make it on a “list of concerns to address in the offseason.” With that said be interesting to see if/how that’s addressed or more accurately if we’re looking around in October next year and thinking “wow, someone got to HCDH and advised him on some of this stuff.” Or maybe since it didn’t really cost any games Luck just leaves well enough alone.

Final point – will DeForest be around this time next month? I’m genuinely curious. On one hand it’s hard to feel good about what we saw from ST this year and a few of those problems have plagued the STs for a couple years now. But on the other I’m sure HCDH wants to maintain staff continuity and even more keeping DeFo around would seem to fit in his M.O. of enjoying subtly telling people to piss up a rope.

Flattered you think I’m that close, and I’ll repeat what I always say: You’d be surprised how far away they keep us. I do think the Big 12 sort of sunk the stepping stone. Anyone can leave one major conference job for another, but there isn’t an Arkansas State or Central Michigan or even Cincinnati job out there in the five big leagues, it seems. I don’t think WVU is that. So it’s hard to answer that … but given how Oliver and Dana have worked on fixes for and additions to the program, I think it’s fair to say there is a longterm view they share. That said, what does it mean?  It can change fast. As for DeForest, I hear arguments both ways and I know Oklahoma State is looking for a cornerbacks coach, which is to say I don’t know.

netbros said:

Thanks, as always, for the game summary Mike. It’s been an up and down season and you’ve been there after every game to help us understand what worked, or didn’t, and why. You simply don’t get that from other beat writers. Bravo!

Thanks. You’ll be glad to know I get weird looks from beat writers who don’t get why I do it.

I love you, Doug! said:

Second netbros. Nice work.

Loved Rose’s spin move, too.

In one game, #freemius became #seeyamius. Write in Shell’s name at the top of the depth chart for at least one more season and leave him there.

I hope Lambert becomes fully appreciated for how money he is. We may end up remembering him in the same breath with Woody and McAfee.

Wonder if Howard’s relationship with Shorts came about because they’re both backups, in a sense, with Shorts having become the fourth option at best. Wonder if they ended up repping a lot in practice, while Trickett was throwing to White and Alford.

I think coaches try to pour water on the “Second teamers unite!” thing, especially when you have as many practice snaps as WVU does. Those high-volume rep teams are able to make sure their top receivers work a lot with both quarterbacks and both quarterbacks work a lot with all the receivers. The backups do work more together in skeleton drills, but that’s not much use for games.

Rick said: 

Mike is so money and he don’t even know it!

Not entirely true.

ffejbboc said:

Mike, I like that the coaches are playing the backups now. They were obviously reluctant to do so earlier in the year, and I think that has really hurt the team’s performance overall, but especially on the OL and DL.

I think they should have spelled more guys sooner, regardless in the perceived drop off in performance level.

They would have never known what “gamers” Skyler and the backup OL were if they hadn’t been forced to play them due to injury. Sometimes you just don’t know what ya gt until you put them in a game. Horrible practice players might be awesome under the lights, and of course visa versa.

Difficult to dispute that, but I’m not sure any of these backups would have earned starting spots. WVU’s starting lineup is pretty good. The amount of time those guys had to play needed to be looked at sooner, I think.

Oklahoma Mountaineer said:

I don’t know that you can overstate the impact that Dillon and Chestnut stepping up have had on this team. I know you can say 7-5, big deal, but 4th rated defense in this conference means something…..particularly from where we came from.

I don’t know that anyone could have seen this coming — I know I didn’t.

Dillon’s got a lot of room to grow, particularly in coverage, which is why he’s closer to the line now. It exaggerates the strongest parts of his game. Chestnut’s been a very nice surprise, to the point now you sort of forget it’s a surprise. 

Clarence Oveur said:

Speaking of Wrinkles, on the Bob Stitt motion-tip play I’d like to see Sky Howard fake the tip and go on an option read with his running back to the vacated side of the play (if the receiver came in motion from right to left, run to the right side). I bet the defense would be pulling to the left in anticipation of the tip pass and leave some space on the weak side. If executed properly, imagine how much green there would be to work with.

To sum it up in one word: misdirection.

Circle it!

glibglub said:

Macon does not make his bacon at the FT line.

Fact.

jtmountaineer said:

Thanks for putting us in the top 10, Mike. This one’s on Tier 4.

I re-read it this morning and it was more presumptive than I intended. I was not assuming a win against LSU, but I was saying, “Hey, if this team is indeed No. 16 and it wins tonight … well, the top 10 is very much attainable.” But I’ll take the bullets.

avb31 said:

You just can’t lose this game at home. LSU is mediocre at best.

Come March, the “Bad Loss” section on this team’s resume will say: vs. LSU.

Agreed that it’s bad to lose at home, especially in December, but are we sure LSU is “mediocre at best?” I would argue no, and that the SEC will give it some wins. Gray’s a player, Martin and Mickey have pro potential, Quarterman is a nice offensive option off the (short) bench. Seems like a lot to work with. I’d give them a chance. 

avb31 said:

The truth is that this will be a bubble team at the end of the year. Other than the D-League team playing in Lexington, the SEC is terrible, and a home loss to a middle of the road SEC team will hurt on Selection Sunday.

We’re going to take some lumps in the Big 12, and you just can’t have losses like this hanging over your head at the end of the year.

Deep breaths. There’s one hard non-conference game left (N.C. State at MSG). Let’s say 11-2 in nonconference play. Fair? Now the question is if WVU can be no worse than .500 in conference play. I think nine wins is needed to get in, so is that something this team can do? As for the Tigers, if the SEC is bad, the LSU figure to benefit and that should look better for WVU. Additionally, beating a ranked UConn mitigates some of the damage, no?

50yr fan said:

vab31 is right on. This team still has a big problem to overcome, THEY can’t shoot the BALL! Nor stop guards that can drive to the basket.

…I think we’ve heard this before. And Huggins got into the “It’s hard when you’ve got new guys,” line last night. Who had Dec. 4? 

jtmountaineer said: 

It seems a bit pessimistic to call these guys a bubble team when they’ve only scratched the surface of their potential. They rattled off 7 straight wins largely on energy and Staten’s leadership. Let’s hold off and see what they can do now that they know energy and athleticism ain’t gonna get it done every time.

This game was a should have had, but not a must have. Not nearly as deflating as Va Tech last year or Kent State a couple of seasons ago.

I had a coach tell me a while ago that young teams provide a lot of fool’s gold and in two areas in particular before the so-called Brick Wall. They seem to surge in the non-conference/fall break time where they travel to invitationals and/or have no school and thus no distractions from practices and games. There’s an uptick. There figures to be another during the winter break before conference play, except young teams tend to get a little sluggish and homesick and play down to competition. If that’s true, and that’s a big if, then we probably saw the uptick. We might witness the dip. Either way, WVU can get a lot better because it does have flaws that will be addressed. The Mountaineers can’t shoot and make really bad passes, which both hurt half-court offense, and they struggle to stop the ball and stall straight-line drives. But again those aren’t new issues, and if the players are new, you look for a common denominator and realize it’s not necessarily the same players, but the same type of players.

Sir2fyablyNutz said:

My glass is half full. I’m enjoying the game this team plays more than I have others in the past few years. I tend to feel the LSU game was more of a growing experience than one of not being very good against an average opponent. Time will tell, and it would surprise me if we don’t make the dance in March. Clearly, this team has room to grow and improve, as it wasn’t their best performance. Win or lose, they are fun to watch.

That was a fun game, and WVU’s going to bring a frenzied style to most games and out of most teams. LSU was able to play that way and exceed WVU’s speed and desire. I just wonder about fans. That was an OK crowd last night (10,800), but people were pouring out of the place when WVU was up 68-62 with 3:41 left and then when WVU was down 72-71 with less than a minute to do. WVU lost, and W and L is a language fans speak. Has this start done anything to change the crowds?

The 25314 said:

Devin Williams has a pro body and a high school touch. A bit Deniz Kilicli-y.

I’ll allow it. While we’re here, I understand whey he was on the floor for the last possession. He’s a wide body who can string the ball handler out wide on that drive until the guard can recover, which Phillip messed up, but Williams isn’t going to do anything above the rim to block the shot. Help defense would have been nice there, but that would have been a hard play for Williams to make. WVU’s other three defenders: Gary Browne, Daxter  Miles and Juwan Staten. LSU had a small lineup and was definitely going to spread the floor and dribble drive. But LSU had one shooter (Hornsby) who had an out-of-character 3-for-3 night from 3. I wonder why Holton wasn’t in the game, either in Williams’ spot or for one of those guards (probably Miles). He can guard and he’s their best shot blocker and he would have given WVU a good chance to stop Gray’s drive with some help defense, either from the screen or from the perimeter. That, and Phillip getting beat early on the foul-to-give, and Huggins sticking with Phillip on the ball and later lamenting he should have put Browne on the ball, made for an odd-looking finish. 

JP said:

Everytime I see Holton shoot a 3, I realize why he’s so open.

Enjoy the weekend!