Revisiting the First Year of Every WVU Head Coach, Dating Back to Don Nehlen

A look at how the Mountaineers have done in the past when a new coach is in place.

RVR Photos-Imagn ImagesDale Zanine-Imagn ImagesBen Queen-Imagn Images

College football has changed a lot over the years, but it's still interesting to take a peek back at how each head coach did in his first season at West Virginia.

We're not going to run through every single coach in program history today, maybe that's something we can do in the future. This time around, we're looking at each coach's first year, dating back to the legendary Don Nehlen.

Don Nehlen

Aug 30, 1997; Morgantown, WV, USA; FILE PHOTO; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Don Nehlen on the sidelines against the Marshall Thundering Herd at Mountaineer Field. Mandatory Credit: RVR Photos-USA TODAY NETWORK | RVR Photos-Imagn Images

First year: 1980

Record: 6-6

Bowl: No bowl

Ranked: 0 weeks

When Bobby Bowden left West Virginia, the Mountaineers turned to Frank Cignetti, and in those four seasons, the program failed to record a single winning season, going down as arguably the worst stretch in WVU football history.

Don Nehlen inherited an incredibly difficult situation, but still found a way to go 6-6 in year one. They got out to a 4-1 start before entering a four-game mid-season slide at the hands of Hawai'i, Pitt, Penn State, and Virginia Tech. The Hawai'i and Penn State games could have gone either way, losing the two by a combined eight points.

The rushing duo of Robert Alexander and Walter Easley helped fuel the Mountaineers' offensive attack with Oliver Luck at QB. Unfortunately, the defense wasn't nearly as put together, ranking toward the bottom of the country in points allowed per game.

Rich Rodriguez

Sep 11, 2004; Orlando, FL, USA; West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez watches his quarterback Rasheed Marshall. Mandatory Credit: Photo by Imagn Images (©) Copyright 2004 by Preston Mack | Imagn Images

First year: 2001

Record: 3-8

Bowl: No bowl

Ranked: 0 weeks

When Rodriguez replaced his former head coach, Don Nehlen, he didn't really have the horses in place to play his style of football. Of course, back then, the portal wasn't a thing, so building the roster into his vision was a multi-year process.

The schedule didn't help Rich Rod either. The Mountaineers played three ranked opponents, including No. 1 Miami on the road and No. 8 Virginia Tech. They also fell to 8-4 Boston College and Pitt, who went 7-5. Arguably, the most disappointing loss of the season was in mid-November against a really bad Temple team. The only wins that year came against Ohio, Kent State, and Rutgers, who won two games.

Aside from Avon Cobourne rushing for nearly 1,300 yards and nine scores, there wasn't much to be excited about with the WVU offense. Statistically, it was one of the worst units Rodriguez has had in his FBS coaching career.

Bill Stewart

Nov 26, 2010; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Bill Stewart on the sidelines against Pittsburgh Panthers during the second quarter at Heinz Field. West Virginia won 35-10.Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USPRESSWIRE | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

First year: 2008

Record: 9-4

Bowl: Beat North Carolina in Meineke Car Care Bowl

Ranked: Six weeks (High as 8th, finished 23rd)

There was a ton of support for Bill Stewart as the fan base tried to rally together following the messy departure of Rich Rodriguez. Stew, another West Virginia son, got that support thanks to a surprising win over Oklahoma in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl the year prior as the team's interim header.

Pat White returned for his senior season, but the Mountaineers had to replace Steve Slaton. Fortunately, they had Noel Devine on the roster, so the rushing game didn't really miss a beat. The problem? They didn't score it enough. Their points per game average dropped a staggering 15 points from the 2007 season, placing the blame on first-year offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen, who had tried to transition a spread offense into a pro-style attack.

Three of the Mountaineers' losses that season (Colorado, Cincinnati, Pitt) were by four points or less. Going 9-4 sounds great after WVU just went through over the past six years, but then, it was viewed as a massive disappointment.

Dana Holgorsen

Nov 23, 2018; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Dana Holgorsen yells along the sidelines during the second quarter against the Oklahoma Sooners at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

First year: 2011

Record: 10-3

Bowl: Beat Clemson in Orange Bowl

Ranked: 13 weeks (High as 11th, finished 17th)

The hotshot offensive guru wasted very little time getting the WVU offense back to being one of the most explosive units in the country. Holgorsen's way of doing it, though, was much different. He loved slinging the ball around the yard and didn't really care much for running it during his first few years on the job.

The 2011 season was a special one for several reasons. WVU captured another Big East Conference championship in its final year affiliated with the league, took down Pitt in thrilling fashion in what would be the last time the two played for over a decade, and then took Clemson behind the woodshed for a nationally televised, 70-33 thumping.

Following an early November loss to Louisville, WVU had to win each of its last three games to reach the Orange Bowl. They won at Cincinnati by three, squeaked by Pitt 21-20, and then needed a beautiful diving catch by Stedman Bailey to set up a Tyler Bitancurt game-winning kick at the buzzer in the season finale at USF.

Neal Brown

Sep 21, 2024; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Neal Brown walks along the sidelines during the second quarter against the Kansas Jayhawks at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

First year: 2019

Record: 5-7

Bowl: No bowl

Ranked: 0 weeks

Holgorsen left the cupboard pretty bare for Neal Brown, failing to land a high school quarterback in his final high school recruiting class. He pushed all of the chips to the center of the table for that 2018 team, and left the future looking bleak.

The transfer portal wasn't a huge thing yet, so it wasn't like Brown was able to go and do a roster reset. He had to try and make what he had work, and it just flat out didn't. The offense was horrendous all the way around. They couldn't run the ball, protect, or do much of anything in the passing game with three different quarterbacks (Austin Kendall, Jack Allison, Jarret Doege) seeing the field.

After a 2-1 start to the season, the Mountaineers dropped five straight, three of which came against top 12 teams (Texas, Oklahoma, Baylor). They would finish the year strong, however, winning two of their last three, both coming on the road at Kansas State and TCU.

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