MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — Bob Huggins is a desperate man and has made it clear that he will do anything and everything to get his job back. But it’s not just his job that he wants back; he wants the power, the prestige and the admiration that comes along with it. Unfortunately, his recent actions are doing the exact opposite of what he intends.
Huggins, once revered throughout the state of West Virginia and around the country, is now increasingly becoming a less and less sympathetic character and is in danger of becoming an absolute joke in the eyes of people following his story.
Huggins is a proud, stubborn man. He has been Bob Huggins the basketball coach for 41 years and he’s done it better than 99.9% of the people that ever tried to do it, accumulating 935 career wins, 3rd-most ever among Division 1 coaches. He’s a real, genuine Hall of Fame head coach and he earned every bit of the respect that he’s been given.
But what’s now clear is that Bob Huggins is unwilling, or may even unable, to walk away from what he’s done so successfully for so long. He’s unable to give up being Bob Huggins the basketball coach and just simply be Bob Huggins the human being.
Unfortunately, because of this, Huggins is going to end up hurting everything that means so much to him; West Virginia University, the Mountaineers’ basketball program and his reputation and legacy. It’s hard to imagine how Huggins could possibly think that demanding his job back by threatening a lawsuit against West Virginia University is in any way beneficial to the university, the basketball program or even himself.
Huggins’ desperate attempt at regaining his position as the head coach of the Mountaineers will not end well. He will not sit on his stool on the sidelines in the Coliseum next year or ever again. That ended the moment he decided to get in his vehicle and drive around West Virginia and Pennsylvania highly intoxicated in a company car.
The sooner that Huggins is willing, or able, to accept that his time as the head coach at West Virginia is over, the better it will be for the university, the basketball program and for him and his family.
