Post by elp525 on Nov 2, 2011 5:09:14 GMT -5
Wednesday, November 02 2011
Garrett Cullen
MetroNews Sports
Both WVU athletic director Oliver Luck and president Jim Clements credited past Mountaineer coaches and players for helping position West Virginia where it’s at now entering the Big 12 Conference.
“We are at this point because of the work of dozens, if not hundreds of coaches, who’ve coached here and hundreds, if not tens of thousands, of student athletes who’ve competed here and hundreds of administrators,” Luck said. “For all former Mountaineers in all of our sports and our academic side as well, we appreciate the work that you have done because you’ve helped build the foundation which allowed us to be here today as the newest member of the Big 12.”
One of those guys who played a pivotal role in West Virginia’s past athletic success, of course, is Hall of Famer Don Nehlen who has a history with Big 12 interim commissioner Chuck Neinas.
“Chuck and I go back a long way,” Nehlen said. “We’ve had some good times together and I don’t know if a lot of people know this or not, but Chuck Neinas is responsible for putting sanity into the recruiting rules of football.
Nehlen, meanwhile, said he had discussions with Neinas amidst all of the conference realignment about WVU.
“I don’t know if I told him anything he didn’t know, but I said ‘If you’re going to expand your league, there can’t be a better candidate than West Virginia,’” Nehlen said. “’Our fan base is just sensation and they’re loyal and they’ll follow us.’”
Nehlen said the loss of Pitt, Syracuse and expected member TCU left West Virginia with no other choice than to find a new conference home.
“In my opinion, we were on a ship that was sinking and we had to do something,” he said. “And I think that Oliver Luck and Jim Clements did a great job.”
Still, the former Mountaineer head coach admits there will be challenges for WVU moving to the Big 12.
“In my opinion, the league we’re leaving is a weak football league,” he said. “The one we’re joining is a very difficult league. It’s going to be week in and week out – it’s not going to be like having a chance to catch your breath.”
Nehlen compares the Big 12 somewhat to the type of schedules some of his Mountaineer teams faced before the Big East first lost Virginia Tech, Miami and Boston College.
“Most of years when I coached here, if I was not a top 20 team, we would have a losing season,” he said. “You would throw Penn State in there, along with Virginia Tech, Boston College and Miami and we played four or five football teams that were in the top 10 or top 15. That’s the kind of league we’re going into.”
And the key for West Virginia competing in the Big 12?
“You either get better or you get worse and everybody thinks we have great facilities – and we do – but, we better keep going because I guarantee you all of them have every bit as good as we have,” he said.
But overall, Nehlen’s just pleased to see West Virginia find that conference stability that it needs to move forward.
Garrett Cullen
MetroNews Sports
Both WVU athletic director Oliver Luck and president Jim Clements credited past Mountaineer coaches and players for helping position West Virginia where it’s at now entering the Big 12 Conference.
“We are at this point because of the work of dozens, if not hundreds of coaches, who’ve coached here and hundreds, if not tens of thousands, of student athletes who’ve competed here and hundreds of administrators,” Luck said. “For all former Mountaineers in all of our sports and our academic side as well, we appreciate the work that you have done because you’ve helped build the foundation which allowed us to be here today as the newest member of the Big 12.”
One of those guys who played a pivotal role in West Virginia’s past athletic success, of course, is Hall of Famer Don Nehlen who has a history with Big 12 interim commissioner Chuck Neinas.
“Chuck and I go back a long way,” Nehlen said. “We’ve had some good times together and I don’t know if a lot of people know this or not, but Chuck Neinas is responsible for putting sanity into the recruiting rules of football.
Nehlen, meanwhile, said he had discussions with Neinas amidst all of the conference realignment about WVU.
“I don’t know if I told him anything he didn’t know, but I said ‘If you’re going to expand your league, there can’t be a better candidate than West Virginia,’” Nehlen said. “’Our fan base is just sensation and they’re loyal and they’ll follow us.’”
Nehlen said the loss of Pitt, Syracuse and expected member TCU left West Virginia with no other choice than to find a new conference home.
“In my opinion, we were on a ship that was sinking and we had to do something,” he said. “And I think that Oliver Luck and Jim Clements did a great job.”
Still, the former Mountaineer head coach admits there will be challenges for WVU moving to the Big 12.
“In my opinion, the league we’re leaving is a weak football league,” he said. “The one we’re joining is a very difficult league. It’s going to be week in and week out – it’s not going to be like having a chance to catch your breath.”
Nehlen compares the Big 12 somewhat to the type of schedules some of his Mountaineer teams faced before the Big East first lost Virginia Tech, Miami and Boston College.
“Most of years when I coached here, if I was not a top 20 team, we would have a losing season,” he said. “You would throw Penn State in there, along with Virginia Tech, Boston College and Miami and we played four or five football teams that were in the top 10 or top 15. That’s the kind of league we’re going into.”
And the key for West Virginia competing in the Big 12?
“You either get better or you get worse and everybody thinks we have great facilities – and we do – but, we better keep going because I guarantee you all of them have every bit as good as we have,” he said.
But overall, Nehlen’s just pleased to see West Virginia find that conference stability that it needs to move forward.
