College coaches weigh in on the West Virginia job
In June of 2023, West Virginia head basketball coach Bob Huggins resigned. This comes after an active off-season that saw the Mountaineers bring in seven new players from the transfer portal.
Less than a week later, long-time Huggins staffer Josh Eilert was named the Interim Head Coach. A tag that has not been removed throughout their 9-19 season, 4-11 in the Big 12.
I became curious, just how good of a job is West Virginia?
I reached out to more than two dozen coaches, across the high-major basketball landscape to discuss the perception of this coaching opportunity. Generally speaking, the coaches I spoke with feel like it is a major opportunity, with many citing good NIL and a great fanbase.
“They have an unreal commitment by the university and its donors,” an ACC coach said. “They also, have the best facilities and NIL around.”
There were some drawbacks too, namely various aspects of the school’s location.
Let’s go through some of the conversations I had with high-major college coaches regarding West Virginia.
NIL Was Often Brought Up.
“They have NIL money and you can get players to play anywhere with good NIL,” one SEC coach told me.
In a report I did this summer, speaking with college coaches about NIL, many coaches said that the subject is one of the first things brought up by transfer portal prospects.
“Their NIL is solidly in place and they showed that with their last transfer class,” a Big 12 coach said.
NIL Collectives have started to form around programs, allowing schools a dedicated third party to help players earn money off of their name, image, and likeness. A collective for West Virginia is called Country Roads Trust, which On3 named one of the landscapes’ 20 most ambitious collectives.
“Country Roads is an incredible collective that has already helped attract top portal talent to Morgantown,” an ACC coach said.
The general perception around college basketball is that West Virginia has solid NIL backing, which is an attractive piece for a prospective head coach.
However, a couple of college coaches did have questions about West Virginia’s NIL opportunities.
A Big 12 coach asked rhetorically, “Is their NIL tied to Huggins? Will there be a divide about getting rid of Huggins that will cause a divide in the money people?”
“If the money guys hold back with the new coach,” the Big 12 coach added, “this is a tough job.”
West Virginia Built Tradition in Recent Years
Since 2000, West Virginia has made 13 NCAA Tournament appearances, been to seven Sweet Sixteens, two Elite Eights, and a Final Four.
“They’ve been to the Final Four in the last 15 years and they want to win by any means necessary,” an SEC coach told me.
West Virginia’s last two head coaches, John Beilein and Bob Huggins combined for a 449-263 record. The Mountaineers’ only two head coaches since the 2002-03 season combined to win 63.1 percent of their games while heading up the program Morgantown.
“They have a strong tradition there, which is attractive,” one Big East coach said. A coach from the ACC added, “They have a history of success, which has created a great fan base.”
“It’s a good job,” a coach in the Big Ten said. “John Beilein and Huggs gave them a nice tradition.”
West Virginia is the Easternmost School in a Conference Moving West
Being a part of the Big 12 Conference was both a positive and a negative for coaches in these conversations. Some, like one coach in the Pac 12 stated, “They are a part of the best conference in the country.”
Other coaches, however, have brought up some glaring hurdles about West Virginia being in the Big 12 conference.
“West Virginia is the easternmost school in a conference moving west,” a coach in the Big 12 said.
That coach went on to say, “Outside of a couple of schools, the entirety of their in-conference road games are in a different time zone. Good luck with travel. A Saturday game at BYU, and travel back for a Big Monday game at home. Good luck.”
Other coaches expressed concerns with West Virginia’s location within the confines of the conference.
“They are in the wrong league,” an ACC coach told me. “Maybe that can work itself out, though.”
A coach in the Big Ten had glowing things to say about his perception of the West Virginia job, but then added, “The downside of West Virginia is the travel. The Big 12 is all tough flights that take place outside of their region.”
Small Town West Virginia
While many of the coaches I spoke with cited the fan base and the resources the school has, they also spoke about the location of Morgantown, West Virginia.
One SEC coach said, “The drawback for West Virginia is that the school is in small-town West Virginia.”
“It’s a rebuild that is in a challenging location,” a Big 12 coach said.
The issues with the location of the school seemed to be broken down into a couple of sub-categories –the travel for in-conference play and the perceived small-town nature of Morgantown. Coaches also shared some worry with the school’s recruiting base.
“The location could be a challenge,” a coach in the ACC said. “They don’t really have a natural recruiting base to pull from.”
“West Virginia (the state) is not a traditional hotbed for talent,” a coach in the Big 12 said. “They are having to go into other states and win recruiting battles. Their surrounding states all have flagship universities, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, it is difficult to go out of state and consistently win recruiting battles for tier one players.”
A coach in the Pac-12 shared a similar concern, but also came with a positive spin, “The only drawback to the job is the location, but no one cares if they are getting paid.”
So Who is the Right Candidate for the West Virginia Job
Most of the coaches I spoke with felt that this job would attract a lot of great candidates. Even with some of the negative perceptions, the coaches overwhelmingly felt that this was a good to great job with a lot of resources available and a great fan base.
“West Virginia is a prominent job that will draw tons of suitors,” an ACC coach said.
Another coach in the ACC went as far as to name a specific name he felt strongly about,” I think someone like Dustin Kerns at App State would be good here.”
There are some specific traits that coaches around high major basketball feel the head coach at West Virginia needs to have.
“They need to hire a coach that is really good in the transfer market,” a coach in the Big 12 said. “And a coach that is adept at playing 9 or 10 guys to keep up with the restrictions their travel schedule can put on a roster.”
“They need a coach that can navigate their surrounding areas,” a Big East coach suggested concerning the program’s natural recruiting base.
“The coach needs to be someone with a personality that embraces the role of being a big face in the state,” an ACC coach told me. A separate coach in the ACC added, “They need to hire an up-and-coming, current sitting head coach with energy and the juice to get it rolling again.”
So a coach that is good in the transfer market, who plays a deep bench, that can recruit the surrounding states, and has the personality and the juice to be a notable figure throughout the state.
Also, “They will need to go get a hustler/blue-collar guy that can relate to their fan base,” a coach from the Pac 12 said.