Josh Eilert thanks Bob Huggins for providing him with opportunity as staffer

Josh Eilert is the new head man, at least in the interim, in Morgantown. However, he made sure to recognize the role that his predecessor, Bob Huggins, had on him and how he could continue to impact him moving forward.

Eilert praised Huggins in his introductory press conference at West Virginia earlier this week. He said Huggins is the one who gave him his first shot in Manhattan which, in turn, has eventually led to this new position as the Mountaineer’s head coach.

“17 years ago, Coach Huggins hired me to be his (grad-assistant). There was a change in coaching leadership at Kansas State and Coach Huggins took me on. He gave me a chance,” Eilert said. “A year later, my wife and I are packing up, heading to West Virginia just for an opportunity. We wanted an opportunity in this business and we had full faith in Coach Huggins. He has given me that opportunity so I want to thank him and tell him how much I appreciate him and love him for giving me that opportunity.”

After talking about the past, though, Eilert looked to the future and did say that he plans to utilize a decent amount of Huggins’ philosophy into his coaching style. He even says he might call Huggins from time to time if he feels the need. With that said, he’s focusing on putting well-informed people around him to help him navigate his time at the helm.

“Coach Huggins’ coaching philosophy will be engrained in me for the rest of my life,” said Eilert. “There’s no question about that. He’s a very defensive minded coach. I think I’ll take a lot of his principles defensively. Offensively, I’d like to change some things.”

“As a head coach? I haven’t been one. There’s gonna be a lot of questions raised about that. But I have full confidence in myself. And I feel like, every step of the way through the years, I’ve kind of been Coach Huggins’ voice,” continued Eilert. “A lot of times he’d reach out to me and I’d give him guidance. I think that’s the character of a true man in terms of putting good people around you and surround yourself with good people and let them help make decisions for you. I’m not going to sit here and say I know all the answers right now. But I’m certainly going to put people around me that can help me make good decisions.”

“I have a lot of influences in my life,” Eilert said. “If I need to reach out to him, I promise you that he’ll take my phone call.”

Eilert has done it all over 16 seasons as part of West Virginia’s program and Huggins’ staff. He has helped lead them to plenty of success in March Madness and, because of his loyalty, was a natural choice to succeed Huggins, if only for the short-term, following his resignation.

Now, ahead of his season in charge, Eilert shared a message of appreciation to the Morgantown community for allowing him in while also speaking to others about waiting patiently for the right opportunity.

“We’ve worked the way up the totem pole, so to speak, in this profession. But I’ve had patience with it. When I first got here in Morgantown, West Virginia with my wife, they adopted me. The people adopted me, we got engrained in the community,” said Eilert. “It’s just been a special, special time for us.”

“I had patience through the whole process of my career here and it’s paid off,” Eilert stated. “I think that’s a lesson to all you young guys out there. Don’t jump ship just because you always see greener pastures. Things can work out in your favor if you’re just loyal.”