Welcome, By-Godders, to The Shotgun/Throwdown, WVU’s best place for sports links, information, sophomoric humor and daily distractions.
Football
Ciarrocca stays at Minnesota; Brown looking at Louisville’s Chad Scott | WV MetroNews
With his top choice apparently off the table, it’s on to another option at offensive coordinator for new West Virginia coach Neal Brown as he fills out his coaching staff. (Editors Note: Chad Scott’s Twitter bio now lists him as Co-Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs coach at West Virginia)
Building a staff goes beyond assistants | WV News
As Neal Brown begins the large and important task of assembling his immediate staff of 10 assistant coaches at West Virginia, there are also many other decisions to be made in terms of the personnel who will inhabit the Milan Puskar Center in 2019. It’s not just those 10 assistants that are important, although picking a crew that can work together and understands the head coach’s vision is vital. Brown must also decide on who will run the other sections of the program, and ensure that they also fit into his plan.
Brown Gets His Opportunity at WVU Just Like Nehlen Did in 1979 | West Virginia University Athletics
It's probably fitting that Don Nehlen was among the first people to greet Neal Brown at Milan Puskar Stadium yesterday evening. There are some similarities between the recent hiring of Brown and Nehlen's WVU employment some 40 years ago in 1979.
WVU notebook: Brown meets with Huggins to talk state, university culture | Times WV
New football coach Neal Brown did not only meet with his football players and staff and former head football coach Don Nehlen, but he had a brief introductory meeting with another Mountaineer legend — basketball coach Bob Huggins.
Preparation A Key Part In Lyons Getting His Guy | West Virginia University Athletics
Two things guided West Virginia University Director of Athletics Shane Lyons in his search for a new football coach: Warren Buffet and a list.
Mountaineers Finish No. 20 in AP Poll | West Virginia University Athletics
Dana Holgorsen's final team at West Virginia University ended the season just like his first one in 2011 – ranked in the Top 25.
Basketball
WVU basketball: Mountaineers, K-State both look for first Big 12 win | Charleston Gazette-Mail
Kansas State and West Virginia’s men’s basketball teams weren’t supposed to be in this spot. The Wildcats were picked to finish second in the Big 12 this season with forward Dean Wade tabbed as the league’s preseason player of the year. WVU was No. 13 in the Associated Press preseason Top 25 poll and featured perhaps the nation’s premier shot-blocker in junior forward Sagaba Konate.
WVU Seeking First League Win Wednesday Night | West Virginia University Athletics
One team was picked to finish second in the Big 12 Preseason Poll, the other third, and both are looking to avoid 0-3 starts to the conference season.
West Virginia Ready for Oklahoma State | West Virginia University Athletics
The West Virginia women's basketball team will look to end a two-game skid on Wednesday when the Mountaineers host Oklahoma State in Big 12 action at the WVU Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
Around the NCAA
Would Trevor Lawrence be the No. 1 pick if he were eligible for the 2019 NFL Draft? | SBNation
Trevor Lawrence is already being talked about as a generational draft prospect, but NFL teams will have to wait.
THIS WEEK IN SCHADENFREUDE, Bama fans mull if Dabo is good enough to follow Saban | SBNation
Your tour of the sad Alabama internet starts with a question: Is the Alabama alum who’s now beaten the Tide for two national championships qualified to coach the Tide?
A bar full of football coaches watches Bama get destroyed | SBNation
Coach convention attendees know football better than the rest of us, but they were at least as surprised by the final score as you were.
The final 2018 College Football Empires Map: Bow down to Clemson | SBNation
Every FBS team started with land, which began changing hands in Week 1. It then kept changing all the way through the title game.
10 college football teams we are already overrating for 2019 | SBNation
Which teams do you plan to spend the entire offseason gassing up?
The Cardinals hired Kliff Kingsbury, the guy Texas Tech just fired, as new head coach | SBNation
Kingsbury went 35-40 with the Red Raiders.
Kliff Kingsbury Is the Cardinals’ Great Offensive Hope. But Can He Fix Josh Rosen? | The Ringer
Seemingly overnight, Kingsbury went from mediocre Texas Tech coach to NFL head coach. Now the question will be whether he can give his young QB a Jared Goff–like bounceback in his second season.
Bruce Arians Is Back, and Now He’s Charged With Righting the Jameis Winston Ship | The Ringer
After a one-year hiatus, the former Cardinals coach is returning to the NFL to try to sort out Tampa Bay’s offensive woes
The Long Toss: Stories of Patrick Mahomes II’s Awe-Inspiring Passing | The Ringer
The no-look pass, the left-handed throw, the deep bomb. The Chiefs QB is pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the passing game. The secret, as Mahomes, his teammates, and coaches explain, is practicing the impossible throw until it becomes ordinary.
The Timberwolves can’t afford any more missteps in the Karl-Anthony Towns era | SBNation
Tom Thibodeau’s ill-fated two-and-a-half year tenure was one, and there’s not a whole lot of time to rectify the damage.
A Captain, a Joker, and Some Cats: Quentin Tarantino’s Latest Hollywood Saga and 24 More Movies We Can’t Wait for in 2019 | The Ringer
Spider-Man lives! Pennywise returns! Brad Pitt is in space! Movies are good!
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