Early this morning -- very early, to be exact -- word broke that West Virginia offensive coordinator/head coach-in-waiting Dana Holgorsen was reportedly escorted out of a casino in Charleston, WV, in the wee hours on May 18 for what essentially amounted to a behavioral issue. Reports from the The Dominion Post indicate that Holgorsen was asked to leave the establishment after Holgorsen reportedly had too much to drink.
“If the bartender feels like you have had too much to drink, they will refuse to sell you any more alcohol, and I believe that was the case in this incident,” Nitro Police spokesman H.R. Blake told the Post.
As one would imagine, WVU’s fine assistant AD for communications, Mike Fragale, has been working to smooth the incident over by releasing the following quotes from WVU AD Oliver Luck and Holgorsen himself:
“After looking into the details and throughly investigating what took place last week, I believe inappropriate behavior did occur,” Luck said. “Coach Stewart and I have made it clear, and will reiterate, that our coaches and staff are representing the University and the state at all times. We expect them to always display appropriate behavior.
“I take this matter very seriously, but I do not plan on commenting on it further.”
“I learned a valuable lesson from this incident. As a football coach, I am always in the public eye and I have to hold myself to a higher standard, which is what I ask our players to do,” Holgorsen said in his own statement. “I’m sorry that this incident has put the University and the football program in a difficult position. I will not put myself in that situation again.”
While no arrests were made during the incident, it’s important to note that Holgorsen is Luck’s hire to replace current head coach Bill Stewart and, already, he’s been involved in an off-the-field incident without having coached a down in Morgantown. Luck is currently facing some heat from fans for allowing “considering” the sale of alcohol during football games and this little tidbit certainly doesn’t help his cause.
Because, in the end, say what you will about Stewart, but he wouldn’t be caught getting escorted out of a casino at three in the morning.