By Dave Morrison
Connecticut coach Randy Edsall is correctly considered to be great at his craft.
And for good reason.
Just the job he did preparing his team for its game at West Virginia during what was anything but a typical college game week is proof of that.
His week included the following:
Identifying the body of one of his best defensive players, Jasper Howard, who was tragically stabbed to death early last Sunday morning after a university-sponsored dance.
Calling Howard’s parents with the news.
Preparing his team for the WVU game.
It would have been understandable if UConn hardly showed up Saturday in Morgantown. But they did and gave the No. 20 Mountaineers all they could handle and led, 24-21 with 2:10 left. Then Noel Devine struck with a 56-yard run and the Mountaineers held on for the 28-24 win.
That’s one heck of a coaching job by Edsall, whose team is 4-3 and 1-2 in the Big East.
The guy on the other side of the field, Bill Stewart?
If you listen to a portion of WVU’s fan base, Stewart is little more than a high school coach masquerading as a Division I coach. A guy in the right place at the right time who was hired only on the strength of a Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma after Rich Rodriguez bolted for Michigan.
I call those fans Stewbirds, as in boo birds. I came up with that when the wailing about his hiring started happening moments after it was announced in Arizona. There are other words but that’s not important.
What is important here is these so-called “fans” are dead wrong.
They don’t like the fact that Stewart is a genuine person, and often uses his down home way of getting points across.
He often calls his players “lads.”
For that he is called a Gomer, I suppose like Gomer Pyle, from “The Andy Griffith Show.”
He is accused of not being tough enough.
Ask Jock Sanders and Scooter Berry about that.
Or the official he went after during the Marshall game.
And, oh yes, he doesn’t try to hide his faith.
Some, for whatever reasons, have a problem with that.
Stewart knows the prevailing opinion.
He was a bit snippy during his press conference after the UConn win.
Several times he noted that he wasn’t as smart as “some people,” saying it “took a while” to figure out UConn’s defense, that went from 37 blitzes in 400 base plays coming into the game to nearly a straight blitz package in the first half. UConn led at that point, 17-14, scoring late in the half.
“I was confused because — that’ll make all my (pause) fans excited, ‘Dummy admits he’s confused’ — but I was confused because that was big and we had to get in there and get them on the blackboard,” Stewart said.
Well, he did get them on the blackboard.
He made great adjustments.
It was a great performance.
But some will never admit it.
The geniuses with their heads in a computer, now they know football.
Stew can’t coach. Can’t win the big one (Fiesta Bowl, remember that) and he is just too nice to be a major college football coach.
For the record, Stewart is 16-5 at WVU. He is 2-0 in bowls. He is 7-2 in Big East play.
That’s a better start than anyone’s had at WVU. Not Rich Rodriguez, not Don Nehlen, nobody save Ira Errett Rodgers can say that.
He was recently named to the Bryant Award — nation’s top coach — Watch List.
“They have the wrong Stewart,” the coach said. “He must be another coaching out west somewhere. I will tell you what that is. That is a real tribute to our staff. I think we have the best sideline adjustment people in the game. When we have problems, we stop ourselves.
“Our staff has never quit believing, but most importantly, our players rally around each other, and they believe in our coaches. That is the bottom line. That watch list is nothing but a testament to the best staff that I have ever been around and to the greatest group of young men.”
Don’t take my word. Or his.
Ask Mike Tomlin, the Pittsburgh Steelers coach who won the Super Bowl last year.
“I’ll tell you, he is a special man in my life for a lot of reasons,” Tomlin said. “He gave me my first job. He showed me how to express the love and enthusiasm I have for the game as a coach. He cares about people. It oozes out of his everyday existence. He is an awesome coach. He is an awesome man. I am extremely happy for him. I am happy for West Virginia. They truly picked the right man for the job.”
And I guarantee you that none of the Stewbirds know more about football than Tomlin.
Lovie Smith, coach of the Chicago Bears, said he would “”like for my kids to play for a coach like Bill.”
Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer is considered a great coach, right?
“Coach Stewart’s love and enthusiasm for West Virginia, coupled with his outstanding knowledge of football, tells me he is going to enjoy great success at WVU.”
If you want to prove your ignorance on a Web site under a goofy user name, go for it.
Stupid is as stupid does.
And Stew keeps doing what Stew does.
It’s just sad that he doesn’t get the recognition he deserves.
