Former WVU coach Don Nehlen sounds a little bitter to me. I don't think it's particularly helpful for former coaches to be bashing the league.


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http://www.register-herald.com/todaysspo...VU-coaches


Of course, it isn’t exactly Nehlen’s schedule the Mountaineers now face.

He faced the likes of Penn State, Miami (when it was the U) and Virginia Tech yearly.

“Honestly, the league is weak,” Nehlen said. “You could hire a baboon, and you should win eight games. Look at the teams I had to play.”

He wasn’t downgrading the league coaches, or players. Just stating an obvious fact. And he was right.

West Virginia should, in fact, win at least eight games.

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No comment on anything Don Nehlen has to say about the Big East.

(06-20-2011 08:35 AM)wvucrazed Wrote:  Former WVU coach Don Nehlan sounds a little bitter to me. I don't think it's particularly helpful for former coaches to be bashing the league.


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http://www.register-herald.com/todaysspo...VU-coaches


Of course, it isn’t exactly Nehlen’s schedule the Mountaineers now face.

He faced the likes of Penn State, Miami (when it was the U) and Virginia Tech yearly.

“Honestly, the league is weak,” Nehlen said. “You could hire a baboon, and you should win eight games. Look at the teams I had to play.”

He wasn’t downgrading the league coaches, or players. Just stating an obvious fact. And he was right.

West Virginia should, in fact, win at least eight games.

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That quote is utterly in accurate for Louisville already went this route, and the best he was able to do was 6 wins. OH wait a minute a Baboon not a ******* then maybe he is correct.

crazed, was the misspelling of Nehlen's name intentional? I wasn't sure if the slip up was an unintentional subconscious thing, or deliberate to emphasize your point...

I'm sure Nehlen is a little bitter. He spent 20 years on WVU's sideline, when he could have taken jobs elsewhere with more pretige and money, and built a couple of the best teams in WVU history during his tenure. He was forced out the door before he was ready to call it quits. It rankled. I remember the old man and Nehlen talking about it by phone after it happened. I only caught one half of that conversation. But I heard enough to get a feel for how the man felt, and he wasn't at all happy about it...

On a side note... I find it funny that some of the people upset about the lack of loyalty WVU has shown to Stew were the sames ones that were crying loudest for Nehlen's ouster. Nobody said anything about Nehlen's long history of loyalty to the state and the university when WVU made the decision to hire RR. But Stew was "folksy" and I guess that counts for a lot to some. This was despite the fact that as a nice guy, Stew would always lose out when it mattered...

(06-20-2011 08:54 AM)bitcruncher Wrote:  crazed, was the misspelling of Nehlen's name intentional? I wasn't sure if the slip up was an unintentional subconscious thing, or deliberate to emphasize your point...

I'm sure Nehlen is a little bitter. He spent 20 years on WVU's sideline, when he could have taken jobs elsewhere with more pretige and money, and built a couple of the best teams in WVU history during his tenure. He was forced out the door before he was ready to call it quits. It rankled. I remember the old man and Nehlen talking about it by phone after it happened. I only caught one half of that conversation. But I heard enough to get a feel for how the man felt, and he wasn't at all happy about it...

On a side note... I find it funny that some of the people upset about the lack of loyalty WVU has shown to Stew were the sames ones that were crying loudest for Nehlen's ouster. Nobody said anything about Nehlen's long history of loyalty to the state and the university when WVU made the decision to hire RR. But Stew was "folksy" and I guess that counts for a lot to some. This was despite the fact that as a nice guy, Stew would always lose out when it mattered...

Fixed it - was unintentional. Spelling has never been my strong suit

I don't doubt he had a right to be unhappy; we've talked about this before. There is no question he wasn't ready to retire when he did.

Yet let's remember - - 9 straight bowl losses at one point. Declining fan interest. Mediocre seasons. And he points to Miami, Penn State, and VPI (after Beamer got them going) - and he usually lost to those teams.

A change had to be made; it was time for Don to retire. I wish he had been shown a little bit more appreciation and grace by the fanbase, but let's face it - - - college athletics is a tough business. They raise you up and then pull you down. Look what happened to Bobby Bowden at FSU.

Don isn't giving enough credit to the teams currently in the Big East, IMHO. The Cincy teams that won the league were pretty damn good. Last year was a disappointment; but overall the league has performed very well out of conference. And anyway, even if what he said was true, why try to make himself look better by bashing the league? It's petty.

Spot on Crazed. Nehlen may have a right to be bitter, but that doesn't give him the right to belittle the rest of the Big East.

College football is a business. Stew and Nehlen were economically unviable in their positions at the time of their ouster. None of it surprises me, except for the reactions of some of the fans...

(06-20-2011 09:28 AM)bitcruncher Wrote:  College football is a business. Stew and Nehlen were economically unviable in their positions at the time of their ouster. None of it surprises me, except for the reactions of some of the fans...

It was getting bad towards the end with Nehlen. I remember the planes flying over the field with "Nehlen must go!" type banners.

I'll never forget the last game at Mountaineer Field, against ECU. It was a cold day, dreary, a few flurries, and let's face it - not the best opponent, especially late in the year. But it was Nehlen's last game and if I recall correctly there couldn't have been more than 40k in the stands.

Which is why I shake my head when fans go crazy when a successful coach leaves for a higher paying gig and accuse the guy of not being loyal. Get over it, college football is not about being loyal and a coach that is successful and loved by the fan base and administration could turn into one being fired by the same group after a couple of losing seasons. Its all about what have you done for me lately.

Nehlen needs to shut his trap regarding the BE. You play the teams on your schedule. He lost to alot of teams on his schedule. And it wasnt just Miami and Penn State and VT that he lost to regularly.

I don't see why Nehlen's opinions should be ignored. He has a perspective that is relevant at this point in time. He's seen it from both sides. It was nasty at the end of Frank Cignetti's time in Morgantown, and Cignetti laid the foundation for Nehlen's early success. But he never expected such vitriol aimed in his direction, especially after such a long and mostly successful career at WVU...

(06-20-2011 09:54 AM)bitcruncher Wrote:  I don't see why Nehlen's opinions should be ignored. He has a perspective that is relevant at this point in time.

He has a right to his opinion for sure, but he hasn't coached in the current Big East. USF wasn't even a program when he retired and UCONN was in 1-AA, and Cincy was nowhere near as good as they are now as a program. I doubt any of the coaches who are currently in the BE or have recently coached in the BE would agree with his comments, and they are in much better position to judge.

(06-20-2011 09:12 AM)BJUnklFkr Wrote:  Spot on Crazed. Nehlen may have a right to be bitter, but that doesn't give him the right to belittle the rest of the Big East.

What gives him (or anyone else) the right to belittle the Big East (or Big 10, or SEC) is freedom of speech. Plus, as bit alludes to, Nehlen isn't just anyone, his participation in Big East football over a long period of time qualifies him as something of an expert on the topic.

We're all entitled to our opinions, the issue is whether Nehlen's is correct or not. IMO, his 'baboon' talk is obviously pure exaggeration, but it's also undeniable that as a football conference, we have a lot of room for improvement.

Nehlan has always belittled the BIG EAST since realignment so this isn't new. But what funny is that WVU hasn't won the league in 3 years and since realignment the old C-USA schools have 3 of the 6 titles and UConn which came from DIAA has one as well. So 4 of the 6 titles since realignment came from schools really outside Old BIG EAST Football

Wow...I randomly looked up a WVU schedule from when it was an Eastern Independent

1986
Northern Illinois
@ East Carolina
Maryland
@ Pitt
@ Va Tech
Miami (Fla)
Boston College
Penn St
@ Rutgers
@ Louisville
Syracuse

I'm sorry, but if you don't think that schedule is vastly better then the one WVU played last year, your crazy (keep in mind that Pitt and Syracuse were Eastern Powers). You may not like the way he said it, but there's nothing wrong with calling a spade a spade.

I know this may be tough for some of the guys here who are fans of programs that see the current BE football has their historical high water mark in terms of association/conference, but I don't think there is any question WVU played a better schedule year in and year out (and one that would draw more fan interest) when it was an Indy

Jackson

the big east is getting stronger ndue to good coaching. thats why the tv money is crucial, if we can get 16-17 mil per fb team and strengthen the leauge coaches may stay.
the key is keeping coaches.

(06-20-2011 10:53 AM)Jackson1011 Wrote:  Wow...I randomly looked up a WVU schedule from when it was an Eastern Independent

1986
Northern Illinois
@ East Carolina
Maryland
@ Pitt
@ Va Tech
Miami (Fla)
Boston College
Penn St
@ Rutgers
@ Louisville
Syracuse

I'm sorry, but if you don't think that schedule is vastly better then the one WVU played last year, your crazy (keep in mind that Pitt and Syracuse were Eastern Powers). You may not like the way he said it, but there's nothing wrong with calling a spade a spade.

I know this may be tough for some of the guys here who are fans of programs that see the current BE football has their historical high water mark in terms of association/conference, but I don't think there is any question WVU played a better schedule year in and year out (and one that would draw more fan interest) when it was an Indy

Jackson

A couple things:

I'm not sure UL, VT, or especially RU, were making a whole lot of noise in 1986. UC, as bad as it was, had at least one win vs. all three of them (multiple vs. UL) in the 1980's. I think UC even beat BC and PSU once in that decade as well.

I'll give you Miami and SU. PSU was very good in the 1980's but I think they were having a pretty bad year when Major rolled to an 11-0 record.

Nonetheless, it's all well and good to say WVU played a tougher schedule in 1986. Even so, why does Nehlen single out the BE? I think Marshall, Liberty (or JMU, or whoever), UNLV and the like contribute a hell of a lot more to that schedule deficiency than the current BE lineup.

But, I'll let the guy prattle on. We won't have to listen to it forever...

(06-20-2011 10:53 AM)Jackson1011 Wrote:  Wow...I randomly looked up a WVU schedule from when it was an Eastern Independent

1986
Northern Illinois
@ East Carolina
Maryland
@ Pitt
@ Va Tech
Miami (Fla)
Boston College
Penn St
@ Rutgers
@ Louisville
Syracuse

I'm sorry, but if you don't think that schedule is vastly better then the one WVU played last year, your crazy (keep in mind that Pitt and Syracuse were Eastern Powers). You may not like the way he said it, but there's nothing wrong with calling a spade a spade.

I know this may be tough for some of the guys here who are fans of programs that see the current BE football has their historical high water mark in terms of association/conference, but I don't think there is any question WVU played a better schedule year in and year out (and one that would draw more fan interest) when it was an Indy

Jackson

Was it really that much more difficult, year in and year out?

Let's take 1986 as an example (a year in which Penn State won the National Title).

The average record of WVU's opponents that year:

6.5 - 4.5

The average record of WVU's opponents in 2010 (minus the 1-AA game):

6.7 - 6

Obviously given a 12 game schedule and far more bowl games, the numbers are a little hard to compare exactly. And win-loss record by itself isn't an exact measurement of the relative quality of a team.

But it's fairly close, even with PSU's undefeated season in 86.

Rutgers and Temple were on our schedule pretty much every year, and they were horrific most seasons (the year you cite, 1986, Rutgers had a rare winning record). Maryland has been generally far better after Nehlen left than they were before, Cincinnati is far better, and Louisville (a somewhat regular opponent) had the best years of it's program after Nehlan left.

Would I love to see Miami, VPI and Penn State on our schedule year in and year out? Sure. But when you are taking a look at an entire schedule, year in and year out, was Nehlen's average schedule tougher than what we have now? Perhaps. But not by a huge, dramatic margin. There are some good teams and programs in the BE currently.

And the reality is that Nehlen's comments - even if his point about the strength of schedule is 100% accurate and true - sound to me like sour grapes.

I think WVU should listen to Neheln and save some money by hiring a Baboon. Many teams would be happy with 8 wins per year. Neheln's idea could save WVU a ton of cash going forward. Maybe Baboon can be a good recruiter too :)

Here are couple applying for the job now I personally like #4 below

(06-20-2011 12:05 PM)SF Husky Wrote:  I think WVU should listen to Neheln and save some money by hiring a Baboon. Many teams would be happy with 8 wins per year. Neheln's idea could save WVU a ton of cash going forward. Maybe Baboon can be a good recruiter too :)

Baboons don't get plastered in public until 3 AM either