Up Close with PSR
Bill Stewart

Bill Stewart was named West Virginia University's 32nd head football coach one day after leading the Mountaineers to a remarkable 48-28 victory over Oklahoma in the 2008 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

Stewart was appointed interim coach following Rich Rodriguez's resignation to take the Michigan job. He had previously been the special teams and tight end coach for the Mountaineers. In the middle of an incredibly busy time, the New Martinsville, WV native talked with PSR Editor Tony DeFazio about the challenges of hiring a coaching staff, the turmoil at West Virginia and his team's prospects next season.

PSR: You are trying to put together a coaching staff, keep a recruiting class in tact, and prepare your team for off-season conditioning and get ready for spring - what is your greatest challenge right now?

Stewart: Tony, just keeping it all organized is tough enough. With the staff, we have seven coaches in place and we need two more (Editor's note: Stewart has since hired Jeff Mullen as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach and Lonnie Galloway as wide receivers coach), so that's been very, very big - I mean colossal big - because these kids need to know who's going to coach them.

Secondly we're trying to keep all the recruits in the fold, and that's happened for the most part, so we're fine there. We did lose a couple, but we've gained some, so I feel really good about that.

Other than that, what's been tough is finding time to stop and smell the roses. People ask me if I've seen the bowl game yet, and I say, "Well yeah, I saw it live!" I don't have time to see the game. I have not watched one snap, and I won't till recruiting is over. I can't.

It's been a little bit hectic, but you know what? It's nothing this old boy can't handle.

PSR: So you really haven't had a chance yet to sit back, take that deep breath and say to yourself, "Wow - I'm the head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers?"

Stewart: No, I have not. Not for one second. I have taken the time at night to pray, and say, "Thank you lord for blessing this old country boy." Because I've got the best job in America. You have to be a West Virginian to feel what I feel…

Once a Mountaineer, always a Mountaineer - it's such a great, great place to be. It's always been home, and I'm home now for what I hope is the final ride in this long tour that has been my career. I just can't begin to tell you how thrilled and excited-and how humbled-I am to be the head football coach at West Virginia University.

PSR: You hired several coaches who worked under Don Nehlen - how important was a familiarity with WVU to you when you were looking for assistants?

Stewart: It wasn't the main ingredient, but you know when you look at our defensive staff and see a guy like Steve Dunlap who has been a defensive coordinator for years (including 10 at West Virginia under Don Nehlen). David Lockwood came back to coach the cornerbacks - he had been a defensive coordinator at Minnesota. So with (current WVU defensive coordinator) Jeff Casteel and these guys-and they get mad at me for saying this, but it's true-we have the best defensive staff this side of the Mississippi.

Then on offense we have Doc Holliday, probably the best recruiter in college football. We brought on Chris Beatty and we just hired David Johnson. Four of these guys are former Mountaineer players, so they have a love, they have a passion, they have a special bond for this place - you think they won't be able to sell that? You think they won't be able to coach with a passion? Holy Toledo, my job was easy recruiting those guys.

PSR: What kind of impact is this lawsuit with Coach Rod, and the file issue, and the all the sniping on both having on the program?

Stewart: Well…I mean this sincerely. We need to have closure. All we want to do here is press on. That's all we want to do.

We're recruiting student-athletes, when signing day gets here we'll start conditioning drills and get ready for spring football, get ready for summer workouts and then get ready for the season.

But closure needs to be closure. We need to stop. Shut our jaws, bend our backs and press on and focus on this football program and this great school and that's it. That's it. That's all I need to worry about, talk about and think about. That's what I want in the worst kind of way. We need to seek closure - whatever is out there, let's stop it, let's press on and let's continue to build this football program and keep it going.

PSR: Will the best way to get it all behind you, and get a sense of normalcy back, be to get out there and play football?

Stewart: Absolutely. That's where you divert all of your attention and resources. Everything goes boom - right to the task at hand. It becomes the subject matter. You have to be able to handle the subject matter. When a task comes up, you have to be up to the task at hand. It adds a little edge.

There's always long range planning, but what it comes down to is handling what's on your plate at the time. There's always going to be curveballs, there's always going to be an adjustment here or there, but this is a great, great time to be a Mountaineer and we need to enjoy it as we go through it

PSR: What are your thoughts on next season?

Stewart: We want to win with defense…Like I said, we have three defensive coordinators-successful defensive coordinators-on the same staff, so I told these guys, it starts with you. That's what beat Oklahoma.

Special teams, well I'll be coaching there so I'll be accountable. We have to get better in the kickoff game. We stunk. I coached it, so I gotta get that thing straightened out.

Now the offensive line - what are we going to change? We're not going to change much, I'm not a fool, but we're going to add wrinkles. I'm a motion guy. More plays to the tight end. I want to throw the ball deep. You saw it in the bowl game, Tony - you crowd that box on us and we're going to throw the ball downtown. So we're going to have a few wrinkles here and there, throw a little motion in there to help (quarterback) Patrick (White) out, and whoever our tailback may be. But the biggest thing we have to do is find another Owen Schmitt, that's my biggest worry on offense.

Just know this - we're going to give everything we have to give and we're going to be fun to watch.