And good news, it doesn't involve playing JMU anywhere!

While Big East dates have yet to be announced, the Mountaineers will welcome Cincinnati, DePaul, Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame, Pitt, Rutgers and Villanova to the WVU Coliseum.  The Mountaineers will go on the road to face Connecticut, Notre Dame, Pitt, Providence, Rutgers, St. John’s, Seton Hall, USF and Syracuse.  The traditional matchup with Pitt, a decent rivalry with Notre Dame, and the nothingness of Rutgers will serve as the home-and-away games this season.

In non-conference play, marquee games against Kansas State in Wichita, Mississippi State in the Big East/SEC challenge (good tickets still available), and the Las Vegas Classic over Thanksgiving headline the slate.  Also, the Mountaineers will make their customary two trips to Charleston, taking on Marshall in the Capital Classic as well as Morehead State.  Other non-conference foes include Akron, Alcorn State, Kent State, Miami and Oral Roberts.

Overall, it's not the most difficult of schedules, which should be welcomed considering the expected quality of next year' squad.  It's a rebuilding year -- one that still shows promise, though -- and a less-than-brutal schedule (see: the last two years) should be helpful.

Reports are surfacing today that West Virginia will meet James Madison at FedEx Field on September 15, 2012.  This will be a "home" game for the Mountaineers, with a guarantee of above $2 million.

On its face, it seems a curious decision.  The Mountaineers, who normally make around $2 million per home date at Mountaineer Field, are leaving their friendly confines for not a whole lot more in return.  In fact, it's expected that James Madison (located just down I-81 in Harrisonburg, VA) will bring quite a few fans themselves, seeing as how they've negotiated up to $150,000 in attendance incentives (they're guaranteed $350,000, of which none will come from WVU's take).

But, only considering the face of any Oliver Luck decision would be foolish.  If the short Luck era has taught us anything, it's that he's much more concerned with the big picture of Mountaineer athletics.  West Virginia is in a minor market in a minor state, at least in the eyes of college football's deal makers.  Nothing Luck or the athletic department can do can possibly change that.

What he can do is expand West Virginia's footprint.  The first step of that expansion was the hiring of Dana Holgorsen.  Holgorsen's brand of exciting football is not only meant to win games, but increase the appeal of Mountaineer football across the country.  And once you have an exciting product, you can take that show on the road.  FedEx Field, located outside Washington, DC, is a natural location because of the huge amount of WVU alumni in the area.  Considering that no team truly controls the market (Maryland and Virginia Tech are the strongest claims), you have an opportunity for West Virginia to show that their appeal extends far from the borders of a state with just 1.8 million residents.

In the age of continuing conference upheaval, anything West Virginia can do to increase their appeal nationally has to be at the top of Luck's to-do list.  If that means trading a true home date for a guarantee only slightly above minimum but in a pro stadium and marquee market, then so be it.  As Luck is sure to be thinking, the long-term gain to the Mountaineer program is worth the short-term sacrifice.

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It's June 24 and the Mountaineers currently have eight verbal commitments.  While that number may pale in comparison to the high numbers of schools like Texas (17 current commits), it's a huge step in the right direction compared to having just one at this time last year pledged to WVU.

Just this week, West Virginia has picked up three major verbals:

• Brandon Napoleon (athlete) -- The son of Mountaineer favorite Eugene Napolean, Brandon is a high school quarterback likely to play running back or corner in college.  Napolean, who was strongly considering Indiana because of their offer to play QB, finally chose WVU after camping last weekend.  He also had outstanding offers from UNC, Rutgers, Illinois, and UConn.
• Tyler Orlosky (offensive guard) -- A four-star rated tackle/guard (according to Scout) from Lakewood, OH, Orlosky chose the Mountaineers over Michigan and Michigan State.
• Albert Reid (running back) -- While the smaller running back had dominated WVU recruiting in recent years, a slightly bigger prospect is desired under Holgorsen.  Enter Reid.  While not huge at 5'10" and 195 lbs., he certainly presents a more visible pass-catching target out of the backfield.  Reid is rated four stars by ESPN and turned down offers from Stanford and Iowa.

Once the transition between Stewart and Holgorsen was completed, I speculated that recruiting would really start to take off.  It would be very difficult to be recruiting by Stewart when you knew that you would never play for the coach.  Now, with the chain of command very much clear, recruits can be properly sold on the staff of the present and future.

As is customary, our recruiting board at the bottom left of the page has been updated to reflect the new verbals.  There you can quickly find links to each recruit's different profiles, a composite star ranking, and YouTube highlights.

Let's just hope we have plenty more high-quality names to add to the board.

Note: YouTube embeds of Reid and Napoleon after the jump.

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Not everyone deserves their own drink.

At this moment, no one is sitting around inventing something called the "Todd Graham."  No one is inventing the "Paul Pasqualoni" (it's already been invented).  And absolutely no one would ever think to name a drink after Steve Kragthorpe.  Well, I say no one, but technically, someone tried before they were stopped forcefully by the CDC.

That said, there are those that rise above the drink threshold.  Shirley Temple, Arnold Palmer (or the alcoholic John Daly), and even good old Tom Collins.

Dana Holgorsen falls squarely into that category.  And seeing how this blog has a proof of 110 itself, I think we should take it upon ourselves to invent the "Dana Holgorsen."

A few rules:

• It must be ingestible.  No drain cleaner, Barbicide, or Goldschläger.
• It must taste good.  Listen, if we're going to all the work of inventing a "Dana Holgorsen," you better well know I will be drinking it at tailgates.  Don't make it taste awful.
• The more alcohol, the better. Put me on my ass.

The winning recipe will become the inventor of the "Dana Holgorsen," the official cocktail of The Smoking Musket.

Go to it, amateur mixologists and professional drunks.

There's one thing in this world that every WVU fan loves discussing: conference realignment!

Just mention the topic and suddenly, everyone has a theory on how WVU can get into the SEC.  I have been just as guilty, even so much as plotting a hostile occupation of Vanderbilt by the West Virginia National Guard to make it happen (it made sense at the time).

While the SEC may be a bigger long-shot, a move to the ACC, especially under the guise of the plan offered by Southern Pigskin, makes sense.

NORTH: West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Virginia, Maryland, Duke

SOUTH: North Carolina, North Carolina State, Clemson, Miami, Florida State, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech

Under this scenario you maintain many of your traditional rivalries, such as; The Back Yard Brawl and Florida State versus Miami, while allowing natural border rivalries to be played (i.e. West Virginia versus Virginia Tech, West Virginia versus Maryland, etc). The format also permits the allotment of schedule slots for other rivalries such as Boston College versus Miami and Virginia Tech versus Florida State to continue VIA one or two interdivisional games yearly.

From a West Virginia perspective, this would lend much needed stability to all of the athletic programs.

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West Virginia isn't any old state.

Any old state wouldn't have a legion of birthday wishes to it starting very early this morning.  Any old state wouldn't inspire the same amount of passion and allegiance.  Any old state wouldn't shape the identity of so many of its residents.

No, this is West Virginia, and for better or worse, this state is who we are and always will be.  You can meet someone halfway across the world, and if by happenstance you're both from West Virginia, you've just met a friend.  That just doesn't happen with other parts of the country.

So today, on our great state's 148th birthday, remember the things that make West Virginia so special.  It's singing Country Roads at weddings as loud as you can.  It's our motto, "Montani Semper Liberi," a phrase that seems to place West Virginia as a higher cause.  It's the topography, as wild and wonderful as it was back in 1863 (OK, well, almost).

And, most of all, it's the people.  Because, without the people, West Virginia might just be another state in the Union.  Instead, it's the best.

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As we all know by now, Bill Stewart is no longer the head football coach at WVU.  He compiled a 28-12 record, two bowl wins (including the 2008 Fiesta Bowl), and a long list of detractors over this 3+ years at the helm.

It would difficult to pose the question as a "yes" or "no," considering the events of the last few weeks would likely put most in the "no" camp on Bill Stewart.  So, we're going to try to grade this on the traditional A-F scale.

There is no set criteria on how to make this judgment, though please explain your vote in the comments.

Bill Stewart is out as head football coach of West Virginia University.

A person close to the situation told the Charleston Daily Mail Friday Stewart and the university reached an agreement in the afternoon to sever their relationship. A formal announcement confirming Stewart's resignation is imminent.

Stewart, who was promoted to the job after the Fiesta Bowl victory in 2008, won 28 games at West Virginia.

While most media outlets have stopped short of saying Stewart was outright fired, one has not.

This type of language may never be used in an official annoucement, but it's clear sign that Stewart's behavior was egregious.  Wherever you stand on Stewart as a coach, the time had long come for this coaching saga to end.  The allegations of underhandedness of Stewart made it impossible for him to continue roaming the WVU sideline.

Dana Holgorsen, who will now earn $1.4 million this season, will be promoted to head coach.  It's a logical move, considering that Holgorsen is the future of the program.

In a related note, it strikes a nail into the coffin of the coach-in-waiting scenario.  One would have to think that hesitation will be shown by any athletic director looking to walk down this path.

We will have more on this story as it develops.

In yet another strong indication that Bill Stewart's tenure at West Virginia is nearing an end, West Virginia Illustrated has confirmed that Stewart did in fact contact a second reporter in an attempt to smear Dana Holgorsen.  They have also confirmed that buyout negotiations are underway.

Multiple sources have confirmed for wvillustrated.com that negotiations are underway to develop an exit strategy for Bill Stewart from the WVU football program.

Meanwhile, WVi has been able to confirm that a second call was, in fact, placed to a reporter in West Virginia on the same day that Stewart called former Pittsburgh Post Gazette reporter Colin Dunlap.

Throughout the week, hope has dwindled that any type of working relationship between Stewart and Holgorsen could be salvaged.  At this point, it looks as if the only question is when the separation between Stewart and WVU will take place and how much money it will cost the University.

WVi also provides a timeline, based off phone records, of Stewart's conversations with both Colin Dunlap and the unnamed second reporter.  It seems, between 11:02 am and 2:01 pm on December 14, Stewart sealed his fate as (sooner than expected) ousted head coach at WVU.

Listen, you just read the headline and saw the first two words were "Chuck" and "Landon."  I don't necessarily have to tell you to take this with a grain of salt.

Still, I'm posting it here.  Why?  Two things:

1) This jives with what I have been hearing on the street.

2) A $600,000 buyout sounds about right.  That's enough money that the University wouldn't mind paying to make Stewart go away and enough money where Stewart feels he can accept going away.

We'll have to see how this plays out over the coming hours and days, but regardless of accuracy, this tweet is sure to get the wheels of fiasco turning again.

There are a lot of rumors and sourced reports out there (Smoking Musket included) on what may happen with Bill Stewart, Dana Holgorsen, and the WVU football program in the coming weeks.  Really, at this point, there's a chance Stewart coaches in 2011 and there's certainly a chance he doesn't.  Everything is up in the proverbial air.

But what do you, as a fanbase, think?  After everything that's happened since November, from the hiring of Holgorsen, to the "scumbag" call to Colin Dunlap, to Mardi Gras and Chuck Landon's article, do you think Bill Stewart should be the coach of West Virginia in 2011?  Not will he, but should he?

And, as always, a short explanation in the comments will go a long way.

Coaching changes are rarely pretty.  Even the smoothest of transitions are sure to present some elements of tension. 

Then you have WVU's last two transitions.

The first of which, from Rich Rodriguez to Bill Stewart, was considered a 100 year flood of incompetence.  A coaching search directed by a professional firm ends with the governor and president making an after midnight, emotion-filled selection of the interim head coach who just won the big game.  Classic.

The most pointed of comments, from SI's Stewart Mandel, predicted grim consequences for the knee-jerk decision.

I have to take a moment to comment on West Virginia’s incredibly bizarre decision to promote interim coach Bill Stewart to head coach based solely on Wednesday night’s Fiesta Bowl rout of Oklahoma. It’s a fitting and, most likely, disastrous end to what had already been one of the most dim-witted coaching searches I’ve ever witnessed.

Mandel became none too popular in West Virginia with those comments, but his prescience three and half years later is commendable.

Yours truly had similar reservations, though maybe not quite as strong as Mr. Mandel.

I must confess, I know very little about Stewart, who seems like a nice enough -- and certainly enthusiastic -- fellow. But the best coaching hires are made by professionals who remove emotion from the equation -- and the short-sighted decision to hand over a nationally prominent program to a guy who went 8-25 as the head coach at VMI just because he kicked Oklahoma’s butt is the definition of a decision based purely on emotion. (That, or the fact that they got him for the incredibly low, low price of $800,000 a year, cheap even by Conference USA standards.)

Maybe Stewart will turn out to be the next Bill Belichick, but I’d guess he has a much better chance of becoming the next Bill Doba. Promoting an interim coach based on short-term success (Bobby Williams at Michigan State), or promoting an assistant just because he’s popular with the current players (Larry Coker at Miami), doesn’t usually work out in the long run. With Pat White and Noel Devine, it would be hard for any coach to screw up next year’s team, but two to three years down the road, the school will likely rue its hasty decision.

While results on the field have been far from disastrous, the inevitable sad ending of the Bill Stewart era was already written on the wall.  Pencil at first, but after the crushing losses to Syracuse and UConn this past season, darkened with the type of giant permanent marker hobos like to sniff.  He was a placeholder, and placeholders rarely succeed.  While there were grand goals of offensive diversification, little of the talk came to fruition.

The worst offense -- and this is only slight exaggeration -- was the talk itself.  Stewart loves to talk.  His "Leave No Doubt" speech before the Fiesta Bowl was that of legend.  His talk of "Mountaineer Pride" was exactly what the state thought it needed after Rodriguez's departure.  Unfortunately, it allowed Stewart to shield himself behind the persona of being the perfect company man, when revelations over the past months have led us away from that belief.

Far, far away from that belief.

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Athletic Director Oliver Luck has issued an official statement concerning the myriad of issues currently surrounding West Virginia's program.

There have been various reports, much speculation, and rumor around our football program and coaches. But I want to make it clear that I consider these to be personnel matters and while I take them very seriously, I am dealing with them internally and privately – and I will not discuss them publicly.

What I will say is that our athletic department coaches and staff are clear that their focus is on the program, the team and a successful season.

My expectations of all our coaches and staff have not wavered; that is to run a clean and honest program with the utmost integrity and professionalism. Anything less is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

I find it humorous -- in a way that if I don't laugh, I cry -- that this statement seems to very clearly deal with the reports surrounding Bill Stewart.  If this exact same statement had been released a week ago, it would have been interpreted as a response to the reports surrounding Dana Holgorsen.

You can say this about WVU football: it's not boring.

You just can't sleep when it comes to this WVU coaching situation.

Early this morning on 93.7 The Fan, former Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writer Colin Dunlap accused Bill Stewart of calling and asking him to "dig up this dirt" on Dana Holgorsen.  This conversation included Stewart asking Dunlap to investigate into any DUIs or skeletons in Holgorsen's closet.

According to Dunlap, this exchange occured on December 18, just four days after the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette first reported that Holgorsen would become the coach-in-waiting for the 2011 season.

The most damning quote from Dunlap:

Can you get the word ’scumbag’ tattooed on the front of the sports page?

If that's your head coach talking about your future head coach just four days into a full year's working relationship, then things are obviously not going to plan.  These revelations go a long way toward illustrating just how dysfunctional the relationships inside the Puskar Center.

The audio and pertinent excerpts are after the jump, all courtesy of KDKA and Sports By Brooks.

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Multiple high-ranking sources with knowledge of the situation have informed The Smoking Musket that Bill Stewart allegedly served as one source of the contentious Herald-Dispatch report of Dana Holgorsen's purported alcohol-related incidents.

While shocking, this isn't all that improbable: Stewart has Marshall connections after coaching for the Thundering Herd under Sonny Randle in 1980.

The alleged incidents involving Holgorsen, which were first laid out by Landon, then partially refuted by WVU and Charleston Daily Mail reporter Mike Casazza, have been a black mark on WVU's football program for the past two weeks.

And Stewart, it seems, has established a pattern of being less than forthcoming recently in his leadership role as Mountaineer football coach.  Beyond the Holgorsen allegations, Stewart has also reportedly failed to sign the final version of the renegotiated contract agreed upon during the original coaching transition.  While coaches operating on unsigned contracts isn't a new concept in college football, the context under which Stewart has declined begs skepticism.

All of this comes on the heels of increasing tales of staff dissatisfaction.  A high level Mountaineer Athletic Club official said just this past weekend that he had "never seen things this bad" and that the entire staff was in "disarray."  The coach-in-waiting model has been debated ad nauseum since Oliver Luck's decision to employ such an unorthodox strategy in the transition from Stewart to Holgorsen.  Based on the alleged events in the past weeks, the worries expressed seem founded on solid footing.

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As reported by us on Twitter yesterday, the amendment to Policy 18 to allow beer sales at WVU sporting facilities (namely Mountaineer Field and the WVU Coliseum) was approved by the Board of Governors today by a 10-5 margin.

Here are some quick details of the plan:

• Beer will be sold only through brick and mortar concessions; no mobile sales in stands
• Last call will be midway through third quarter
• ID required for each purchase, regardless of age
• Two beer maximum per purchase
• Beer will be sold in plastic bottles without caps
• No beer vendors in WVU student section
• Extra cables being installed to improve cell phone and texting service (to report disturbances in stadium)
• Event staff and stadium police to receive extra training

Overall, it's exactly what we expected.  Luck also mentioned that a minimum of $500,000 of extra revenue is expected, increasing the per capita dollars spent by nearly $8.

As we've stated before, serving beer at Mountaineer Field can be a positive for WVU, both from a monetary and behavioral standpoint.

I have long advocated that selling beer at Mountaineer Field would actually lessen rowdy fan behavior.  There is very little standing in the way of a regular fan sneaking booze into the stadium.  That is true now and will be true even if beer sales are approved by the Board of Governors.  What might change, however, is beer sales acting as a deterrent to some from taking advantage of that smuggling opportunity.  Speaking from my own point of view, I can say I would be less likely to bring liquor into the stadium -- which I have done before -- if I know I can purchase beer instead.  It saves a headache, both figuratively and literally (because brown liquor does that to you).

The fans that want to increase their level of intoxication will do so regardless of WVU alcohol policy.  No fan, regularly 100% sober at games, is going to decide to all of a sudden drink 10 beers because they're now being sold.  That type of fan was drinking that much to begin with and beer wasn't even being sold.  While that fan will continue to do that, there may be a fan or two who, instead of the much more potent smuggled liquor will instead turn to beer and not become so unruly.  He (or she) might feel less compelled to "get a running start" in the parking lot, knowing they can continue a small buzz throughout the game.

The Board has approved this measure with the idea to revisit it on a year-to-year basis.  If what I said above doesn't happen and behavior worsens significantly, then steps will be taken to correct that issue.

But, for now, Mountaineer Field should be a whole lot of fun.