Holliday back with Mountaineers
By JIM BUTTA
POSTED: January 13, 2008
MORGANTOWN — Parkersburg High School senior lineman Josh Jenkins will have not one, but two visitors on Monday when he returns from his weekend visit to Florida State.
Recently-named West Virginia University head coach Bill Stewart already had made plans to visit with the nation’s top-rated offensive lineman.
Now, following Saturday’s announcement that John ‘Doc’ Holliday will serve as WVU’s associate head coach, recruiting coordinator and tight ends and fullbacks coach, it appears Stewart won’t be making the recruiting visit to Parkersburg alone.
“Doc and I will be in the home Monday night of what we believe is the most outstanding lineman in the country,” Stewart said during Saturday’s teleconference to announce Holliday’s hiring.
Holliday, who was expected to join former players Steve Dunlap and David Lockwood as well as Northern Illinois runningbacks coach Chris Beatty as coaching announcements on Friday, finally cleared the school’s background check later in the day, sending Stewart back to the podium on Saturday for the announcement of his fourth assistant.
The hire leaves WVU’s 32nd head coach with three more slots to fill on the coaching staff as well as finding a replacement for strength and conditioning coach Mike Barwis, who took his staff to join former head coach Rich Rodriguez at the University of Michigan.
“Doc Holliday is one of the top recruiters in college football today,” explained Stewart. “He knows West Virginia University and this football program inside and out. He is a tremendous competitor and knows the game of college football as good as anyone. Having worked on both sides of the football at the I-A level, he brings a level of coaching pedigree that will help make our program that much better. We are happy to have him here.”
That impact could be immediate as Holliday, who brings 29 years of collegiate coaching experience back to Morgantown, is expected to provide Stewart with the much-needed help he will need in keeping WVU’s recruiting class intact while the Mountaineers’ newest coaches get their feet under them in the recruiting game.
“He will be the troubleshooter for us,” said Stewart.
West Virginia fans will get a sudden dose of what Holliday, who served as the associate head coach and safety position coach for the past three years at Florida, can do.
Jenkins, the first Mountain State player to participate in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl game, had committed to play for WVU following his junior season.
However, the two-time Hunt Award winner elected to de-commit following Rodriguez’ departure to Ann Arbor and the apparent confusion surrounding the coaching search for his successor.
The appointment of Holliday may prove to tip the scales back in favor of the gold and blue.
A 1979 graduate of WVU, Holliday spent 21 years on the sidelines for the Mountaineers, serving as either a graduate assistant (1979-80), a part-time assistant (1981-82), full-time assistant (1983-99) or as the assistant head coach under legendary head coach Don Nehlen.
He helped WVU to undefeated regular seasons in 1988 and 1993. The 1988 team played for the national championship.
Following his first stint in Morgantown, Holliday took over the associate head coaching and wide receivers coaching position at N.C. State (2000-04). He coached three of the top-eight receivers in N.C. State history.
The Hurricane High School graduate and former state high school wrestling champion took his talents to the University of Florida, where he was named as one of the Top 25 recruiters in the country by Rivals.com in 2005.
“He (Holliday) will be a tremendous, tremendous asset to the West Virginia football program,” said Stewart.
Holliday joins an offensive staff decimated by the defections of coordinator Calvin Magee and position coaches Tony Dews (wide receivers), Greg Frye (offensive line) and Rod Smith (quarterbacks).
Replacements for those positions as well as for Barwis will occur over the next weeks. But, no timetable has been released by Stewart.
“I have no comment on those positions,” Stewart said.
“I am still in the process of talking to a number of the top coaches in the country. We are going to take our time to make sure we get the best coaches we can get for our kids.”
Contact Jim Butta at jbutta@newsandsentinel.com
