The Charleston Gazette reports that West Virginia University athletic director Oliver Luck “did not deny” that WVU head football coach Bill Stewart will resign from his post:
That’s after sources confirmed to the Gazette that Bill Stewart, under pressure to do so, agreed to submit his resignation Friday afternoon, ending a week of controversy and months of awkwardness.
West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck would not comment, but did not deny it in a phone conversation shortly after 4 p.m. Stewart did not immediately answer phone calls.
The report notes that WVU will probably make an official announcement Friday night, which is no surprise given that that’s when announcements of this kind are officially made – it’s surely no accident that this news broke just before the end of the Friday business day.
Dana Holgorsen, who was scheduled to take over for Stewart in 2012 anyway, will reportedly become WVU’s head coach right away. Once that happens, a weird and ugly chapter in WVU’s history will likely come to an end. The Gazette notes that Holgorsen has a clause in his contract that would pay him a prorated amount of what he would have received as head coach in 2012 if he were made head coach in 2011, so it appears no further haggling will need to be done.
For more on WVU’s head coaching situation, see the rest of this storystream and SB Nation’s WVU blog, the Smoking Musket.