Friday, July 25, 2008
Mountaineers say there’s no doubt: West Virginia is ‘big-time’
More musical selections in this week’s poll
Doug Doughty
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Doug Doughty is on vacation. His NotebookPlus column will resume Friday, Aug. 8
My neighbor and I were walking our dogs before 7 o’clock this morning when I decided to address one of the major issues raised by last week’s Notebook Plus.
No, not the poll in which readers were asked to choose between Led Zeppelin and the Who (there will be more on that later).
Rather, it was the reference to Morgan Moses, a 6-foot-7, 332-pound offensive lineman from Richmond’s Meadowbrook High School, whom I rated second among the state’s top uncommitted prospects.
Here’s what I wrote about Moses:
“Virginia and Virginia Tech are competing for Moses, but he also has offers from such big-time programs as Florida, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama.
“I don’t know if you put West Virginia in the same category as those schools, but the Mountaineers have offered Moses, too.”
Here’s a sampling of the response I received:
Craig Lowe wrote, “I thought reporters were supposed to be unbiased in their reporting, but obviously this doesn’t count for your column.”
Josh Hall of Carnegie, Pa., wrote, “You can't be serious if you are hesitant to add WVU to the short list of big-time programs in the mix for Moses. How many of those programs have won two BCS bowls in the last three years? Now, the past is gone, so what about the future?
“…The bias in Virginia against West Virginia is really a bit sad and old. Morgantown has become a great small town in the past decade. And of course, WVU is on a roll both on and off the field.
“ Hopefully, you will reconsider your thoughts on WVU football next time. There is no question that WVU has become an elite program. None at all whatsoever.”
MY NEIGHBOR, RICK HEFNER, grew up in Buckhannon and has been a lifetime WVU fan. He did not attend WVU but he and Mountaineers’ head coach Bill Stewart share an alma mater, Fairmont (W.Va.) State. Rick and his wife are former West Virginia season ticket-holders.
So, I asked him, “Should West Virginia be mentioned in the same breath as Florida, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama.”
Then, I put it another way. Does West Virginia have the same “marquee” value as those other schools?
No, he said. He wouldn’t go that far. What he did say, and I didn’t disagree, is that West Virginia has played at the same level as many of those schools over the past five years.
But does that mean West Virginia is big-time?
“Is Virginia Tech big-time?” he asked. “If Virginia Tech is big-time, then I’d have to say West Virginia is big-time?”
I don’t think there’s any question that Virginia Tech fans think of Hokie football as big-time and I’m not here to argue that point.
I think, when it comes to recruiting, that the four above-mentioned programs find it easier to get in the door with top recruits.
When it comes to recruiting, I think that Tech and West Virginia are more comparable with Virginia, say, than they are the Penn States and Ohio States of the world. Virginia Tech dominated in-state recruiting last year, but the Hokies and Cavaliers basically have the same inside-out recruiting strategy.
Tech signed Pennsylvania running back Kevin Jones when he was one of the elite prospects in the country. Even so, the Hokies would be the first to admit they have a regional approach to recruiting.
West Virginia is a little different in that the population in its own state is not sufficient to sustain a high-level program. The Mountaineers have to go to places like Florida, where they have enjoyed considerable success, but they’re not going to make a living with players who are also being recruited by Florida and Georgia.
THE ABOVE-MENTIONED Craig Lowe points out that West Virginia already has taken commitments from four rising Virginia juniors, including quarterback Tahj Boyd and wide receiver Logan Heastie, both rated among the top five prospects in the state.
“I think WVU has as much of a chance of landing Morgan Moses as any team in the country,” he said.
That might be true, but when you talk about the Virginians who already have committed to West Virginia, do we attribute that to West Virginia’s new “big-time” status? Or do we cite the influence of first-year WVU assistant Chris Beatty? His Tidewater ties have been well documented.
I will say this: if West Virginia hadn’t beaten Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, Beatty might not have gotten the same reception from prospects. And, new head coach Bill Stewart certainly should be commended for adding Beatty to his staff. It’s one of those perfect-storm situations and the Mountaineers should ride the big wave as long as they can.
One of West Virginia’s 2008 signees, linebacker Donovan Miles from Stafford, committed to the Mountaineers at a time when Beatty was still on the staff at Northern Illinois and before WVU had played in the Fiesta Bowl. Miles was recruited by Tech and UVa and was a good get for the Mountaineers, but was WVU coming into Virginia and regularly beating the two state schools? Not by my count.
Compare West Virginia’s record to Alabama’s over the past five years and it’s no contest. The Crimson Tide has gone 4-9, 6-6, 10-2, 6-7, 7-6 over that span. If the Mountaineers were to go 33-30 over a five-year span, would Bill Stewart be able to go recruits’ homes with the same selling power as Nick Saban does now?
That’s all I’m saying.
Hey, I was a West Virginia fan until I went to college. My father was born there. I’m told my grandfather was the mayor of Ronceverte (still trying to confirm that). More power to the Mountaineers.
NOW TO THAT other issue, the one about which Chilhowie’s favorite son, Doug Wright, has been calling me non-stop.
Robert Plant will be delighted to hear that 69.86 percent of the respondents to last week’s Notebook Plus poll said that they preferred Led Zeppelin to the Who, which/who was my choice. Wright, a retirement-community CEO, picked Led Zeppelin.
There were 647 respondents, many of whom offered their comments, some of which follow.
>> “Robert Plant got to hang out with Allison Krause. Daltrey played a blind guy with no lines!! Winner Zeppelin.”
>> “This is like asking which is better, a Bentley or a Rolls Royce? They are both the same. It''s more of a personal preference thing.
>> “Doughty is still the best softball coach I ever played for. “
>> “Your column sucks.”
THE INSPIRATION FOR THIS WEEK’S poll is Michael Colley, an assistant sports information director at Virginia who was last mentioned in this column when he was spotted picking through the trash for leftover pizza in the Micronpc.com press room.
Colley and I were hanging out at a UVa football practice during the 2007 preseason when a Van Halen tune came across the loudspeaker. (Coach Al Groh pipes in music. No kidding.)
So, I asked Colley who he liked better. Van Halen or Bon Jovi? I wouldn’t rank either at the top of my list, but when I said Bon Jovi, Colley quickly responded, “Van Halen. No question.”
Here’s this week’s Notebook Plus poll:
