COMMENTARY
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Resolved not to distract from Dana Holgorsen’s make-or-break season, West Virginia athletics director Shane Lyons reiterated he won’t be discussing the coach’s late-stage contract.
During a congenial 43-minute media session Friday, Lyons explained his role in finding a host city for the Big 12 football championship, clarified delays affecting the WVU Coliseum fixer-upper, and stated his preference for reigniting a “Backyard Brawl” basketball rivalry long before the football series resumes in 2022.
He praised Olympic marksmen Ginny Thrasher and Nicco Campriani, shot down the notion of West Virginia adding softball (again) and gave a gentle nod to the Big 12 remaining at 10 teams.
But when it came to Holgorsen’s contract entering its final two seasons? That topic was tabled in March, when the coach declined an extension.
“My philosophy and my point of that is I’m not going to discuss coaches’ contracts during the season,” Lyons said. “Coach Holgorsen and I decided last spring, with his contract, that he is going to focus on winning. My job is helping him focus on the winning and giving him the resources necessary to win.
“We’ve put that behind us; we’ve moved on. Now we’re going to focus on winning games.”
Despite West Virginia being picked seventh in the league, Lyons sounded upbeat as the Sept. 3 opener against Missouri looms.
“I feel very good about this football team,” he said. “I’ve been out to practice and I like the energy that’s out there.”
We can vouch for the energy, which every program should be exhibiting this time of year. Check back in December to see if there’s momentum to restart extension talks.
More from the AD’s briefing:
— The long and short of assistants’ contracts: “I’m going to look at each coach differently in the sense of their experiences. If you’re very young into the field, you could only have the one-year contract. If you’re a more seasoned individual you could have the multi-year contract.”
Lyons is proving to be a tougher negotiator than predecessor Oliver Luck, who frequently granted contract terms that were above market value.
— Asbestos setbacks at Coliseum: There are no plans to move regular-season basketball games even though asbestos issues mean renovations won’t be complete until Big 12 play begins in January.
“It’s a 46-year-old building, so you’re going to find things,” Lyons said. “There are issues you don’t see until you start ripping and tearing.”
While ticketholders will see tarped-off areas during nine nonconference games in November and December, an increased number of bathrooms and concession points will be functional by then.
— New practice fields getting heavy use: Fresh FieldTurf means no more grassy muck on the practice fields, and fewer workouts being staged inside Milan Puskar Stadium.
“It really makes Mountaineer Field more special to our football student-athletes to make that more of a gameday field, ” Lyons said, “as opposed to your blood, sweat and tears that you’re putting in every day.”