{"id":15502,"date":"2018-08-10T09:00:53","date_gmt":"2018-08-10T13:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosoncfb.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=15502"},"modified":"2018-08-10T10:02:00","modified_gmt":"2018-08-10T14:02:00","slug":"a-winning-culture-in-morgantown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2018\/08\/10\/a-winning-culture-in-morgantown\/","title":{"rendered":"A Winning Culture in Morgantown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several months ago,\u00a0Sports Illustrated published an\u00a0article<\/a> featuring an uncommon setting and theme. The writer, Andy Staples<\/strong>, captures attention when he writes: “This is the most talented<\/em> team Holgorsen has had [in Morgantown] since he took over in 2011 as West Virginia’s head coach.” Morgantown? Talent? This is exactly what Mountaineer nation has been saying this offseason.\u00a0 Staples’ article, however, did not focus on the talent itself.\u00a0 Instead, Staples focuses on how Dana Holgorsen<\/strong><\/a> and his staff are installing a winning culture in Morgantown.<\/p>\n

Professional Development of the Mountaineers<\/h3>\n

This offseason, Holgorsen and associate athletic director for football Alex Hammond<\/strong> created a professional development program.\u00a0 Nine of the most veteran and mature Mountaineer football players attended the program. The young men learned a variety of professional skills to answer a number of\u00a0key questions.\u00a0 How should a suit fit? What can I do to manage my wealth at\u00a0various salary levels?\u00a0How can I\u00a0best prepare for pre-draft interviews?<\/p>\n

The word “professional” takes center-stage in Staples’ article.\u00a0Fitting, then, that Holgorsen himself uses the word with increasing regularity. Holgerson has labeled several of his current players’ professionals several times over the past few years, including Will Grier<\/a><\/strong>, David Sills<\/a><\/strong>, and\u00a0Alabama transfer wideout T.J. Simmons<\/strong><\/a>. Holgersen knows that professionalism is a culture.\u00a0 He knows that winning is a culture.\u00a0Lately, he has sought new ways to connect Morgantown’s football culture to both.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, Coach Holgorsen’s program continues to evolve with the head coach. While various publications are circulating their pre-season prediction lists, Holgorsen’s most-veteran nine players\u00a0repeat his messaging ad nauseum: <\/em>“We should be pissed off at average.” Grier tells his team, “We need to win more.” The veterans\u00a0mentor the next players in line. Coaches, staff, players, and fans\u00a0all share the\u00a0idea that not only can West Virginia win, but it should expect<\/em> to win. The mentality is difficult to teach, but, once it takes root, it’s even more difficult to stop.<\/p>\n

Mountaineers Tied to Success<\/h3>\n

West Virginia’s football program is now tied in a myriad\u00a0of ways to its ultimate team goals: a conference championship, a playoff berth, and even a national championship. Simmons\u00a0played 12 games during the 2016 season in which Alabama won the SEC Championship and played in the National Championship game. Jabril Robinson<\/a><\/strong>, incoming defensive line transfer, played for a Clemson team that appeared in two National Championship games. The won one national title and three straight ACC championships. Incoming transfer Kenny Bigelow<\/a><\/strong> played for a USC Trojan team that won a PAC-12 championship last season. Grier set the tone for a Florida team that won the SEC East in 2015.<\/p>\n

Tony Gibson<\/a><\/strong> and Bruce Tall<\/strong> coached on defensive staffs that won four conference championships and two BCS bowl games. Doug Belk<\/strong> appeared on an\u00a0Alabama staff that won three consecutive SEC titles and one National Championship.\u00a0Joe Wickline<\/strong> won a Big 12 conference title as well.<\/p>\n

Remember the offseason mantra “We need to win more games” and “We should be pissed off at average.” The players have had all Spring and Summer to absorb and embody these ideas. And Coach Holgorsen’s veterans’ taking a professional approach to the program’s development certainly cannot hurt the proliferation of a winning culture in Morgantown.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Several months ago,\u00a0Sports Illustrated published an\u00a0article featuring an uncommon setting and theme. The writer, Andy Staples, captures attention when he writes: “This is the most talented team Holgorsen has had [in Morgantown] since he took over in 2011 as West Virginia’s head coach.” Morgantown? Talent? This is exactly what Mountaineer nation has been saying this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2744,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[18,2831,3365,3366,237,3367],"class_list":["post-15502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","category-big12","tag-big-12","tag-dana-holgorsen","tag-morgantown","tag-west-virginia","tag-west-virginia-mountaineers","tag-winning-culture"],"modified_by":"Tony Siracusa, CFB Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2744"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15502\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}