The confirmations of Dana Holgorsen moving from Oklahoma State to West Virginia are now pouring out at a prodigious clip, all but assuring what began as mere speculation is all but a done deal.
Both Tulsa World and the Charleston Daily Mail are reporting that Holgorsen is expected to become the Mountaineers’ offensive coordinator for the 2011 season, then take over as head coach in 2012 after Bill Stewart steps down.
The Daily Mail also reports that Holgorsen and athletic director Oliver Luck worked out the arrangement last week and are working toward finalizing the specifics of a contract. There does appear to be some dispute regarding Stewart, however; the Charleston Gazette reported that Stewart would accept an arrangement that included Holgorsen as a coach-in-waiting, while the Daily Mail writes that “Stewart is not comfortable with having an offensive coordinator forced upon him and could resist working with a coach-in-waiting.”
CFT can also confirm that the parameters of a deal are in place with Holgorsen, and that Stewart is indeed “very pissed off” as to how this went down -- i.e. the involvement of boosters and months-long back-room dealings -- and, as of this morning, was resisting having a coach-in-waiting foisted upon him.
It would seem that any resistance on the part of Stewart would be futile given the spate of reports and whispers coming out of Morgantown, however, and could expedite the current head coach’s move to another position within the athletic department, where the Daily Mail writes Stewart is headed once he steps down following the 2011 season. It should be noted that this is not a done deal with Holgorsen and there’s certainly a chance it could far through, but “it’d take an unexpected setback” according to the people we’ve spoken with.
Finally, the Austin American-Statesman is reporting that Holgorsen will sign a six-year deal with WVU -- one year as offensive coordinator, then five years as head coach.