After more than 48 hours of silence, West Virginia announced Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen will be the Mountaineers’ head football coach in 2012.
Holgorsen, 39, will replace current WVU head coach Bill Stewart following the 2011 season. Stewart will take an administrative position inside the athletic department following next season. Holgorsen, one of the country’s hottest coaching commodities, will become the Mountaineers’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach following the Champs Sports Bowl Dec. 28. He will replace much-criticized offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen.
“My goal is to win a national championship at West Virginia University,” Holgorsen said in a statement. “I firmly believe that Coach Stewart has built a solid foundation which will allow us to compete with the very best in the country.”
Holgorsen will make $800,000 in 2011 and $1.4 million plus incentives as head coach in 2012. It has been reported that the deal is for six years, but that could not be confirmed by WVU Sports Information Director Mike Montoro.
Holgorsen’s head coaching salary is an increase of $400,000 over what Stewart expected to make as head coach in 2012. Holgorsen could be the fifth-highest paid coach in the Big East depending on Pitt’s coaching hire.
Holgorsen, who had been previously mentioned as a candidate for the opening at Pitt, made $360,000 this season at Oklahoma State, but reportedly never signed that contract. He also lived in a Stillwater hotel, another indication he didn’t plan to stay with OSU long term.
Reports have said Stewart was not completely sold on the idea of Holgorsen being named “coach in waiting.” Nevertheless, the deal was finalized Wednesday by WVU’s first-year athletic director Oliver Luck.
“The transition year for Coach Holgorsen will be very beneficial to the football program, and the opportunity to learn from Coach Bill Stewart should not be underestimated,” Luck said.
WVU players were not notified of the decision. The players are in the middle of finals week and coaches have been on the road recruiting this week.
Defensive tackle Scooter Berry tweeted “na no heads up … I’m sure we’ll have a team meeting Saturday.”
Senior linebacker J.T. Thomas could only respond “Wow” over Twitter when the deal was made official.
All current WVU coaches will stay with the team until after the Champs Sports Bowl. It is not clear whether Holgorsen will keep parts of the current staff following that game.
Stewart is 28-11 in three years at WVU after taking over for now-Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez. His team finished 9-3 and won a share of the Big East title in 2010.
“I am proud of what we have accomplished in the last three years, culminating with a Big East championship this season,” Stewart said. “I took over as head coach in a very challenging time, and we have faced every obstacle with a passion to bring nothing but the best to West Virginia football.”
Holgorsen has never been a head coach, but has been offensive coordinator for high-powered offenses at Texas Tech, Houston and most recently Oklahoma State.
When Holgorsen was at Houston in 2008-09, Luck was working in the city as the president and general manager of Major League Soccer’s Houston Dynamo.
In his lone year in Stillwater, Holgrsen led the Cowboys’ offense to a No. 1 finish in total offensive yards. It also scored the third-most points in the country. He is a finalist for the 2010 Broyles Award, given to the country’s best assistand coach.
“We know that coach Holgorsen will bring a high-powered offense that will be incredibly entertaining to watch at Milan Puskar Stadium,” Luck said.