Holgorsen, WVU reach contract extension and focus now on future

While a special season was unfolding on the field, one of the biggest focuses was squarely away from it.

On the field, West Virginia finished the season 10-2 and 7-2 in the Big 12 Conference. Both are high-marks for the football program since the Mountaineers first joined the league in 2012.

It also marked the first time that West Virginia has won ten games since the 2011 campaign and the first time the Mountaineers accomplished that feat in the regular season since 2007.

In the 125 year history of the football program it is only the ninth time that a team has hit the ten win plateau.

But there was still an elephant in the room and a rather big one at that.

That was the contract status of head coach Dana Holgorsen and if or when an extension would come.

Well, there wasn't a long wait. That question was emphatically answered when athletic director Shane Lyons announced that Holgorsen is now signed through the 2021 football season immediately following the regular season finale against Baylor.

“You guys probably made a bigger deal about it than I did,” Holgorsen said.

The total five-year package is worth $18.6 million plus incentives and will take effect January 1, 2017. That will put his salary at $3.5 million plus incentives and with yearly increases Holgorsen’s salary during the final year of the contract will be $4 million plus incentives.

“I’ve been excited about the future for a while. We’ve been getting better for the last however many years and it will put some things to rest and it will help with recruiting,” Holgorsen said.

After a disappointing 4-8 campaign in 2013, West Virginia has seen its win total increase every season since under Holgorsen. The Mountaineers won seven games in 2014, eight with a bowl win in 2015 and ten wins with a game remaining in the current season.

Entering his seventh year atop the program next fall, Holgorsen is 46-30 as the head coach of West Virginia and has won 15 of his last 18 games.

He is one of three coaches in program history to record ten wins multiple times in his career after doing that during his first year atop the program.

It has been a process for Holgorsen who has had to build the depth in the program and alter some of its air-raid principles during his tenure. The Mountaineers have traded their pass-happy tendencies to a more balanced approach as well as playing sound defense with coordinator Tony Gibson.

This season, West Virginia allowed only 23.4 points per game and 431 yards on defense while the offense was a balanced unit that could effectively run and throw the football.

It took a few years, but the Mountaineers and Holgorsen have found an identity in the Big 12.

And with the contract situation now in the past the focus can get back to what’s happening on the field as well hitting the recruiting trail with the ammunition of long-term security while continuing to develop facilities.

"Part of my job is to give him the resources to succeed, and we will continue to work together closely to bring the very best to West Virginia football," Lyons said.

West Virginia will return a number of starters next season and Florida transfer Will Grier is expected to take over at quarterback meaning that the future appears bright as well. Things are looking up for the football program and that's a welcomed change.