This is a good place to drop general and weird news, entertainment, and general show prep material that might be interesting to air talent or producers. Hot dog threads ALWAYS welcome.
WVU's 'Doc' Holliday headed to Marshall December 16, 2009 @ 02:31 PM
ANTHONY HANSHEW
Herald-Dispatch.com
HUNTINGTON —
According to several reports, Marshall University will hire Doc Holliday as its next head football coach.
Holliday, a Hurricane native and West Virginia University’s associate head coach, reportedly is scheduled to arrive in Huntington on Wednesday. A press conference announcing the 52-year-old veteran assistant coach as the Thundering Herd’s 29th head coach could be scheduled for as early as Thursday, according to several media outlets, including wvmetronews.com.
Holliday, best known as a top-tier recruiter, served 20 seasons under head coach Don Nehlen at WVU following his playing career with the Mountaineers. After stops at North Carolina State and Florida, Holliday returned to West Virginia in 2008 under Bill Stewart.
John “Doc” Holiday
West Virginia University
Associate Head Coach/Director of Recruiting/Fullbacks and Tight Ends
Hometown: Hurricane, W.Va.
Age: 52
Education: Hurricane H.S. (’75); WVU (’79); WVU master’s (’81)
Family: Wife, Diana; children, Meghan, Cade, Chase, Cody
Coaching career
2000-09 — WVU associate head coach (recruiting coordinator, tight ends, fullbacks)
2005-07 — University of Florida associate head coach
2000-04 — N.C. State associate head coach
1995-99 — WVU assistant head coach
1983-89, 1993-99 — WVU assistant coach (wide receivers)
1990-92 — WVU assistant coach (inside linebackers)
1981-82 — WVU part-time assistant coach
1979-80 — WVU graduate assistant coach
It's official, Herd hires Holliday Lori Wolfe/The Herald-Dispatch
The Herald-Dispatch
HUNTINGTON —
John "Doc" Holliday donned the traditional green jacket Thursday as Marshall University's new head football coach and said getting the job was a dream come true.
Holliday, 52, is a native of Hurricane, W.Va., about 20 miles from campus.
The West Virginia University associate head coach replaces Mark Snyder, who resigned Nov. 29 after going 22-37 in five seasons.
"My ultimate goal has always been to be a Division I head coach at a major university and to have this opportunity at Marshall, a school rich in tradition and full of potential, is a dream come true," Holliday said.
Marshall athletic director Mike Hamrick said he looked at a lot of head coches, coordinators and others during the search and couldn't convince himself of anyone better for the job than Holliday.
Hamrick says Holliday will be paid $600,000 per season.
It’s the first head coaching job for Holliday after three decades as an assistant, most of them with the Mountaineers. He has the task of restoring respectability to a program that hasn’t had a winning season since 2003.
Defensive coordinator Rick Minter will coach Marshall (6-6) in the Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl in Detroit on Dec. 26.
From the Herald-Dispatch Letters to the Editor on December 22, 2009:
We're paying our coaches too much
I note that the search for Mark Snyder's replacement has become a multimillion dollar affair. That is just plain silly. The business of Marshall University is education. Sports are pastimes, just games. A very few student-athletes do go on to professional teams, but we never get back the money we invest in them. And we cannot afford to keep losing money.
The fraternity of university football coaches has a great scam going. They all want salary packages north of a million dollars, so they all refuse to work for less than that price. Eventually some school drooling for fleeting fame caves in and pays the price, and everyone else has to pay, too. It's a union with no scabs because the money is so big.
Let's keep football a game. Offer a fair salary, something less than the university president's, and hire someone who understands that college sports are games. If you want universities to be the minor league for the pros, let the NFL pay for the coaches.
Use those big bucks for academic scholarships for West Virginians. These young people are the future of our state. They are our best investment. They make the real touchdowns.
