Morgantown, West Virginia – When Dana Holgorsen left West Virginia University to become the new head coach at Houston, it was by all accounts a baffling decision. A head coach of a Power 5 Conference leaving to join a Group of 5 Conference like the American Athletic Conference was simply unheard of.
After a 4-8 season in his first year at Houston and a 3-5 record in the COVID-shortened season last year, Holgorsen’s Houston Cougars, currently ranked #16 in the nation, are now 11-1 overall and 8-0 in conference play. Although this is an extremely successful season for Holgorsen, Houston has not played anyone of any significance at all this year.
Houston’s opponents’ combined records this year is…get this, 52-90! The only teams they’ve played this season with a pulse and a winning record are Texas Tech (lost), East Carolina (win), SMU (win). Other than those three games, every game Houston has played has been against absolute garbage opponents.
With that said, Houston’s amazing season is certainly less impressive than the 11-1 record indicates.
Holgorsen likely thinks he’s getting the last laugh, but it’s important that Houston will soon join the Big 12 Conference and Holgorsen’s Cougars will be right back at the bottom of the conference where they belong.
Although West Virginia has struggled at times, it would be very difficult to find a fan of the Mountaineers that would prefer Dana Holgorsen to Neal Brown.
Holgorsen’s embarrassing, crass behavior on the sidelines isn’t missed. Holgorsen’s lack of recruiting prowess and inattention to state high school recruits (see: Darnell Wright, Doug Nester, etc.) certainly isn’t missed. And despite his marginal success on the field, Holgorsen’s inability to embrace what it means to be a Mountaineer will absolutely not be missed by the fine people of the great state of West Virginia.
The only time that West Virginians want to see Dana Holgorsen back in Morgantown is when the Mountaineers are kicking his Cougars’ asses in future Big 12 Conference play.
