PHOENIX — Don Nehlen, the godfather of West Virginia football, spoke to the Mountaineers last week. He reminded them of West Virginia's previous trip to the Fiesta Bowl, in the 1988 season.
The Mountaineers played Notre Dame in a national championship game. And the Irish won 34-21 after zipping to a 23-3 lead.
Nehlen talked about distractions to the '07 Mountaineers. How he thinks his 1988 West Virginia team was distracted by the glare of the game. He told these Mountaineers, "Guys, don't let distractions eat at you the rest of your life.”
Easier said than done, with a distraction bigger than Camelback Mountain hanging over West Virginia. Head coach Rich Rodriguez resigned two weeks ago to take the Michigan job, leaving the Mountaineers to scramble under interim head coach Bill Stewart.
But Stewart, speaking at a press conference Wednesday moments after deplaning at Sky Harbor Airport, said his football team will be ready to play.
"It's past. It's gone. It's over,” Stewart said of Rodriguez's stunning departure. "That door's been closed.
"Our football team has a game to play. We're on a mission. We're going to go to work to get on board and to win a football game.”
The Mountaineers play Oklahoma Jan. 2 in the Fiesta Bowl at University of Phoenix Stadium.
"Our players have bonded in an unbelievable way,” Stewart said. "Our coaching staff has stepped up to the plate. We've got a saying: Get in the batter's box and take the bat off your shoulders.
"I'm the guy named interim, but we've all stepped up and worked hard. Our players have responded magnificently.
"If you're honest with the players and if you're honest with yourself, it was not a life-threatening situation,” Stewart said of Rodriguez's departure. "It was a life-altering situation. But young people today are a whole lot more resilient than when I was young.
"That was a good life lesson. Our young men put their blinders on and went to work. The leadership of our football team took over.”
