West Virginia, which for all of its time in the Big 12 has had the smallest football staff, or at best among the smallest staffs, in the conference (more on that in a moment), is joining the arms race and adding analysts. One was unveiled in March. Job openings for two more were posted last week.

This is part of the commitment to the coach, the program and the entire department when a coach wins 10 games and gets a contract extension, but it’s also time for the Mountaineers and Athletic Director Shane Lyons to do this.

“Our revenue stream from the Big 12 is a lot different than it used to be in the old Big East, so it’s a matter of looking at how we’re going to put resources toward the program and make it work,” Athletic Director Shane Lyons said. “This is one of the things we continued to talk about, and it seems like now is the right time to add one or two and keep moving forward with it and see what happens.

“I’m not a firm believer that just adding to the staff is going to make a difference, but if they have a specific role and function and purpose, I think we can get some good out of it.”

The analyst position, which Holgorsen desired for a few years, is common across Power 5 staffs. Teams find ways to accommodate former head coaches, coordinators, assistants, players and graduate assistants to work on offense, defense, special teams and even recruiting. Many teams will use analysts to fill future vacancies on the coaching staff.

The Mountaineers are now in the same game with a leader and two associates, and the new additions will be available to help in a variety of areas.

“Dana and I had conversations previously about what he needed and what he wanted, and I think we’re in a position where we could get a couple analysts in to help us,” Lyons said. “I have to look at it like football is my revenue sport, and in order for this entire department to go, I have to have football going in the right direction.”

Now, where do things go from here?

Already, WVU has the Senior Football Analyst in Dan Gerberry, who was seemingly brought back to be the 10th assistant coach — remember, his Twitter bio listed him as the fullbacks/tight ends coach. We thought the 10th assistant would be added to staffs this year, but it’s going to sit out this season. Gerberry is the head analyst, if only for a year, and the Mountaineers have options about the two new analyst spots.

Let’s assume one will work with offense and one will work with defense, and perhaps in future years WVU adds to account for recruiting or special teams or whatever else. There’s room. Alabama has eight analysts, and Lyons came from Alabama and said he understands the need for and value of the staff members.

Already, WVU has two offensive and defensive graduate assistants and one offensive and defensive quality control coach. There could be could be a promotion from there — offensive G.A. Mike Burchett, who works with quarterbacks and knows the offense and the league, remains well-regarded — but WVU would also be wise to go outside and get someone. Do what others do and stash a former … well, is WVU going to get a former head coach? … but get an out-of-work assistant or coordinator. Pluck a G.A. from a Big 12 staff. Use it. Lyons said the Mountaineers are going to be flexible and reasonable about salaries.

So that’s promising and worth tracking.

But this happens under an umbrella we ought to acknowledge. Football staffs are out of control and the NCAA, which put together a survey on the topic, is placing this on the agenda for competitive purposes. (You’d think this would be a hard conversation to have because of autonomy, except the disparity within the Power 5 is significant.)

There has been an outcry from coaches and reformers about staff sizes as they relate to competitive advantage. Bowlsby said last month staff size would be one of two up-front issues to get a comprehensive look by his committee this year.

At one point on a conference call last month, Bowlsby made reference to unnamed program that had 97 staff members.

Bowlsby and NCAA Council chair Jim Phillips stressed the preliminary nature of the survey numbers. That suggests the survey — besides being way early in the process — is at best incomplete and sometimes inaccurate.

It is largely perceived in coaching circles that Alabama, not Notre Dame, has the largest staff. In the survey, Alabama is credited with a total staff size of 31. According to the survey, that would tie Missouri and Ole Miss for sixth in the SEC and tie for 28th nationally.

The Crimson Tide are credited with just one strength and conditioning staff member. A quick check of Alabama’s own website shows the program employs the NCAA maximum five strength coaches.

“We’ve got some work to be done,” said Bowlsby while commenting on the survey’s preliminary results.

The same is true of WVU — excuse me … — the University of West Virginia, according to the NCAA survey. The numbers are wonky. For some reason, the NCAA couldn’t find out how many graduate assistants WVU has. It’s four. Add that to the NCAA tally of 23. (Then again, is it 27? Are there G.A. positions in the strength and conditioning or recruiting offices? It’s not transparent, so you can understand the uncertainty.) Oklahoma State is credited with 20, which might seem surprising but ought not be, but then again, since the NCAA only went as far as checking athletic department websites, it couldn’t tell how many strength and conditioning coaches work with football. It’s more than zero, I promise.

Either way, Texas has 44 staff members. The second-highest total is 33 at Texas Tech. Six of the 10, including Oklahoma, are under 30.

This is interesting. WVU is watering its football staff and giving it sunlight. It wants to it grow, but it might only be able to grow so much. This is not in the story up top, but Lyons said he has to watch and learn, because the parameters are likely changing.

“There’s a lot of talk about the future. What can they do? What can’t they do? How many can we have? Those are the big kind of discussions we’ll have in the next six months, 12 months,” he said. “The football oversight committee will have those questions answered. Do I think there’s going to be potential legislation and limitations to some degree? There could be.

“It’s the same thing we’re doing with coaching limitations. We’re going to have 10 coaches, so is there going to be a limitation for the number of analysts or something else, like the number of people wearing headsets in the game? That’s going to be the charge of the oversight committee. They’ll take a look with a broad view at what’s happening in college football with coaches and coaching staffs, and ultimately we’ll see where we land in the future.”