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John In Chicago, a regular on the WVUSports.com Message Board, and fellow Parkersburg native had this to say. . .
ok don, then let's look at the record...
Posted By: john in chicago
Date: Tuesday, 5 October 1999
Nehlen apparently is falling back on his record at wvu as a defense for the malaise the program is in...
He points to the two "undefeated" season, the national title games, and the bowls, among other things...
ok, lets check the record:
"Undefeated" seasons-- in all honesty, they were not undefeated seasons, they were 11-1 seasons in which wvu got hammered in both bowl games...one against notre dame in which a win definitely would have brought a national title, the other against florida which maybe would have brought a split national title with florida state...ok, i know, you're referring to the regular season, which were great seasons to be sure, but they were 11 and six years ago, respectively, and last I looked nehlen was treated very kindly financially for them...
However, between 88 and 93, the 89, 90, 91 and 92 seasons were underachieving ones....since 93, the 94, 95, 96, 97 and 98 teams were underachievers, especially last year's team...the 99 team already is an underachiever...
So when you look at the past 12 years, which constitutes 60 percent of Nehlen's career (notice i'm not even mentioning the 4-7 team in 86 and the 6-6 team in 87), what you have, basically, is a 2-10 record...the two wins were great, but the 10 losses eventually have overcome the two marvelous wins, if you catch my drift and i think you do...
Looking into the future, wvu doesn't seem to be in a position to achieve much next year or even the year after that...beyond that, it's murky, but don't bet on big accomplishments...
The point here is that if this was just one season, if Nehlen had an overall legacy of above-average accomplishment at a school with the great facilities WVU has instead of it mainly being confined to two meteor-like seasons that Nehlen and company seem to be relying on, then the natives would not be restless...the fact is, though, that Nehlen has underachieved time and again before and after the 88 and 93 moon shots...this time, too, there doesn't seem to be another lunar project in the making...LOL
Nehlen's record?
Ok, how about four losses out of the last five to Syracuse... about four losses out of five to both Miami (when Miami was down and WVU has just as much talent or more) and Virginia Tech, soon to be five losses out of six when both Miami (the real Miami) and Tech hammer WVU again this year...
How about a 17-18 record the past 35 games, which amounts to three full seasons (counting two bowl games) below a .500 record...the wins have been mainly against poor teams...and that record won't get better this year, either, with WVU headed for another 5-6 season at best, likely 4-7 or 3-8...
The Bowls?
Oh yes, the bowls...a record-setting performance here, with Nehlen having the distinction of being the division 1 coach with the most consecutive losses in history and counting (but not this year, obviously, because WVU isn't getting near a bowl)...I read a comment from one team member who said from now on out, every game is a bowl game...my thought was, "uh-oh, that means eight straight losses." ...LOL...
You may say, "yes, John, you fair-weather fan Nehlen-basher you, at least Nehlen has gotten WVU in bowls."..to that I say that with the amount of bowls there are out there these days, any team with a 6-5 record and a good fan base will make a bowl...last year only five teams, I think it was, that were bowl eligible at 6-5 didn't make bowls, and they were teams with not much of a following...WVU makes bowls every time they are eligible these days, and although it's fun to go to bowls (I went to the Insight.com bowl last year and had a heck of a time), sending your team to the Carquest and Insight.com bowls and still losing to fourth- and fifth-place finishers in other conferences is not the stuff of legendary coaches...
So when Nehlen tries to fall back on his record, he should be careful...it's his record that has the fans on his case...to be fair, Nehlen deserves credit for rejuvenating WVU football back in the early 1980s, and he has received plenty of accolades, spirit points and money, for that...
The fear now is that he will end up destroying everything that was built and leave a hole as big as Cignetti did for the new guy...that's my opinion and seemingly the opinion of a growing legion of WVU fans of what is happening these days in morgantown...
Quite frankly, the RECORD seems to be on our side in this...
You hit the nail on the head, John! The fans are not jumping on the bandwagon just because of the poor season this year, it's the mediocrity of the past DECADE that has so many of us fed up. Great Post!
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