Holgorsen to become WVU head coach in 2012

Dana Holgorsen will be the next head football coach at West Virginia University, but he will have to wait a season.

According to sources familiar with the situation, Holgorsen, the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State, is part of a succession plan for current West Virginia coach Bill Stewart. Stewart will coach the Mountaineers during the 2011 season while Holgorsen serves as his offensive coordinator.

Following next season, Holgorsen will take over as head coach and Stewart will be shifted to a different role within the athletic department. His contract runs through the 2013 football season.

The deal, barring a last-minute glitch, is expected to be final by the end of this week.

When reached by phone this afternoon, Stewart was on his way to Pittsburgh International Airport to go on a recruiting trip and said he had not been in contact with West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck.

Luck did not return a call seeking comment. Oklahoma State officials declined to comment today.

Holgorsen, 39, a native of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, has not been a head coach. He will receive a six-year contract --- the first to be the offensive coordinator, then five more following that as the head coach. The financial terms, according to the sources, are for more than $500,000 for Holgorsen's first year, then about $2 million per season after he becomes head coach. Holgorson's salary this past season was $360,000 at Oklahoma State.

Stewart, whose team plays in the Champs Sports Bowl against North Carolina State on Dec. 28, is finishing the third year in a six-year deal. He is making $900,000 this season with his pay set to increase $50,000 in each of the remaining years.

Holgorsen served as an assistant at Valdosta State, Mississippi College and Wingate before getting his big break and moving on to Texas Tech in 2000 as a receivers coach. He spent eight seasons there, rising to co-offensive coordinator under coach Mike Leach.

From Texas Tech, Holgorsen went to Houston as the offensive coordinator for two season, molding quarterback Case Keenum into a player who put up prodigious numbers. At Houston, Holgorsen directed an offense that led the nation in total offense in 2008 and '09 and scored 40.62 points per game in '08. Holgorsen left Houston to take the job at Oklahoma State prior to this season and directed an offense that averaged 538 yards per game, best in Division I-A. The Cowboys were also second in the NCAA national rankings in passing (355 yards per game) and third in scoring (44.9 points per game).



First published on December 14, 2010 at 3:01 pm