It’s hard to believe, but it almost feels like the events surrounding West Virginia earlier today are yesterday’s news given the latest headlines at Ohio State and Texas that have come forward toward the end of the day.
And, if you were to ask the Mountaineer players themselves, they’d probably tell you they want it to be yesterday’s news.
Like all other programs, West Virginia is currently in the middle of voluntary summer workouts, but many of the players were in the gym today during an organized media schedule. Of course, rumors of recent events involving offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen as well as current coach Bill Stewart were the hot topics. Here’s what a few of the players had to say:
Junior safety Terence Garvin
“I don’t know what’s going on. We’re focused on getting better, getting a conference championship and maybe something bigger. We’re really focused on that right now, not looking at anything else.
“I might have seen them [Holgorsen and Stewart] last week but that’s it. When I’m around here I’m kinda quiet and keep to myself. It’s not like I talk to them outside of football. I haven’t really seen or talked to them lately.”
Sophomore receiver Ryan Nehlen
“We all just to come in the weight room and focus on getting faster and stronger, getting the offense down. We’re all here to play football. Can’t worry about all the outside stuff.”
Senior lineman Jeff Braun
“Nothing distracts us; in the end we still gotta go out there and play and that’s all that’s going to matter to me. Making sure my teammates have my back and I have theirs. We’re the ones that are going to do the work. We’re playing and no matter what happens, I don’t care if we have no coaching staff we’re still gonna field a team and I’m going to go out there and play and I know my teammates are.”
Senior defensive end Bruce Irvin
“It’s unfortunate. You never want this type of stuff around your program but it is what it is and we’re not going to let this stuff bother us. All the distractions we can’t control…The extra stuff is irrelevant to us right now.”
The Mountaineers definitely know how to say the right things during a turbulent time, but what will ultimately matter is how well they perform on the field this fall as an already awkward situation just got even more so.
(Big thanks to my boy, Chip Fontanazza, for getting the quotes)