NEWPORT, R.I. – For his entire career, working his way up the football coaching ranks at colleges throughout the south, Dana Holgorsen watched the Big East become increasingly competitive from an outsider’s perspective. Finally given the opportunity to lead a team of his own, the new head coach at West Virginia is now a conference insider.

He’s also going into his first head coaching job with a target on his back.

Holgorsen’s Mountaineers were chosen to finish in first place in the Big East preseason poll Tuesday, which was officially released at the conference’s annual media day. West Virginia received 21 first-place votes, with second-place Pittsburgh getting only two.

But as far as Holgorsen and his players are concerned, the poll doesn’t mean anything. Holgorsen said the ranking that’s based on West Virginia’s 2010 season should have no effect on the coming year.

‘From a preparation standpoint, it doesn’t mean anything,’ Holgoresn said. ‘I think it’s a tribute to the West Virginia football program in general and where the program’s at.’

Holgorsen was named the Mountaineers offensive coordinator and head coach in-waiting in December before officially joining the team after the season. The deal came with an agreement that former head coach Bill Stewart would leave after the 2011 season, and Holgorsen would be named head coach. But Stewart resigned this past June after allegations that he asked reporters to dig up information on Holgorsen to prevent him from getting the job.

The Mountaineers finished their 2010 campaign 9-4, ending their season with a 23-7 loss to North Carolina State in the Champs Sports Bowl. West Virginia has won or at least shared the conference title in five of the last eight seasons. In each of the past six years, the Mountaineers have won at least nine games.

Holgorsen, who spent the 2010 season as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Oklahoma State, said he’s plenty aware of the gaudy numbers West Virginia posted during those years. Holgorsen also knows the reason for the program’s success. 

‘When I came to Morgantown,’ Holgorsen said, ‘I realized that it’s the defense that had been winning so many games that last few years.’

West Virginia finished first in the Big East last season in total defense, allowing an average of only 261.1 yards per game. That defense, though, is currently only a shell of what it once was, with seven members of the unit moving on to the NFL.

Although, with what the head coach calls a ‘good nucleus’ of defensive players coming back, including defensive end Bruce Irvin who finished second in the nation in sacks last season, the Mountaineers might be able to overcome the losses and maintain the No. 1 spot.

Still, in a league in which every coach said any team has the chance to win on any day, Irvin knows his team cannot sit back and enjoy its preseason ranking for very long.

‘Like I tell the guys every day in workouts, don’t feed into the message boards, the fans, because they don’t have to play,’ Irvin said. ‘We have to play. We just continue to work hard.’

Offensively, led by quarterback Geno Smith, West Virginia finished second in the conference in total offense with 372.7 yards per game. Smith, who threw only one interception every 53.1 pass attempts, is considered a 2011 Heisman candidate and said Tuesday he thinks he still has plenty of room for improvement.

Aside from trying to improve on the field, Smith also will try to keep his teammates from getting caught up in the rankings. That might not be too difficult, Smith said, considering they already try to avoid anything that’s being said publicly about the team.

Instead, he said, they only need to focus on working hard and winning.

‘I don’t think our players really read the press clippings,’ Smith said. ‘I think we really just work hard, and that’s what really makes us win.’

cjiseman@syr.edu

Published on August 1, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Chris: cjiseman@syr.edu | @chris_iseman