Morgantown, West Virginia – In two days, it will be exactly 30 days since Kerry Martin, Jr. publicly accused Vic Koenning of mistreatment on social media. Martin was clear about his feelings, saying “we need change in our program.”
I’ve been contemplating about posting but we need a change in our program. pic.twitter.com/40hZYXjxib
— Kerry “KJ” Martin Jr.🌹 (@KMartinJr11) June 23, 2020
Thirty days is more than enough time to do a thorough and complete investigation into these accusations. Martin’s words sent shockwaves through Mountaineer Nation, but there has been complete silence on the matter since then. Immediately following the accusations, Neal Brown made a brief statement, Vic Koenning released an apology and Shane Lyons said that there would be an immediate investigation, but the silence since then is telling.
Vic Koenning hasn’t been seen or heard from in the past month. It’s very difficult to imagine a scenario in which Koenning returns at this point. In fact, it appears that West Virginia could already be moving forward. The hiring of former West Virginia safety Jarrod Harper as a graduate assistant/defensive backs coach comes at a very unusual time. Could this signal current defensive secondary assistant coach Jahmile Addae being promoted to the defensive coordinator position while Harper fills his current role? Perhaps.
In addition, Utah defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley went through a similar situation when he was suspended indefinitely pending the outcome of an investigation into past text messages containing racist language. Scalley’s suspension lasted exactly 30 days before Utah decided to retain him with a significant pay cut.
This uncertainty has to come to an end this week. Waiting any longer will damage recruiting. Players should feel comfortable speaking out against what they deem to be mistreatment without worrying about the fan base attacking them on social media. Although many fans don’t like the inevitable outcome, West Virginia University has to do what’s best for the football program, and right now that’s moving on from Vic Koenning.
