One thing continuously used against Bill Stewart is the process by which he was hired not long after the 48-28 Fiesta Bowl victory. He’d never formally interviewed — though what’s a more practical interview than what he did as the interim coach? — and WVU was getting deeper and deeper into a search.

Yet in the early, early morning hours following the game, calls went out to reporters and columnists and people who wear WVU hats to press conferences that Bill Stewart would be announced as the new head coach that afternoon.

There was lively debate — remember this back-and-forth? — with four distinctive camps: right guy, right guy but wrong process, wrong guy, wrong guy because of a wrong process. Not to say Stewart didn’t earn the job, but it always seemed to me a majority of people would have been more comfortable had WVU gotten some sleep, resumed the search and then made a decision.

If WVU picks Stewart, then good for everyone involved.

Nearly three years later now, we learn that was the plan. Former President Mike Garrison had already interviewed and spoken to some head coaches and assistants and there were appointments to do more of the same following the bowl. The idea was compromised after Garrison said he was pulled into a hotel hospitality suite after the victory to speak with three influential voices.

“I was by no means the only voice in the process, but when you’ve got the chair of the Board of Governors and the athletic director and the governor meeting unto themselves and with who knows who else, it’s challenging to try and unravel that thing,” Garrison said.

Hours later, WVU officials were calling reporters who had covered the Fiesta Bowl and waking many of them who had early flights back to Morgantown. The instructions were simple: Rearrange the travel plans. Bill Stewart would be named the head coach that afternoon.

“It was clear to me that the train was on the tracks,” Garrison said. “That was the decision. It was a decision I didn’t think was a bad decision, but I thought the timing was bad. There was no reason to do it then.”