From the Bench: Legendary Coach Pruett Talks BHS Football after Visit, NIL, Transfers, and Realignment
By Jeff Toquinto on August 13, 2023 from Sports Blog
In the long history of what today is Wayne Jamison Field, many a champion has competed on the oval shaped facility. On Wednesday of this week, that same field played host to another champion.
In fact, Jamison Field was greeted by the presence of one of the biggest winners in West Virginia football history – actually just college football in general. Former national championship winning Marshall Coach Bob Pruett visited Bridgeport this past week and spent some time with the BHS coach staff and the team during an early morning practice session.
Calling Pruett one of the biggest winners to ever grace a field known for having winners is not hyperbole. For those that do not know, Pruett – in his first year as a head coach in 1996 – took Marshall to a 15-0 record and an NCAA Division I-AA championship.
He earned the right to coach there as a successful coach for several schools. The 1965 MU graduate coached at Wake Forest, Mississippi, Tulane and for Florida, finding high level defensive success as an assistant and usually as a defensive coordinator.
Pruett retired as a head coach from Marshall in 2004 with an impressive record of 94-23. That number includes a 5-2 mark in bowl games when the team made the jump to Division I in 1997.
As I pointed out earlier, Pruett is a winner. I bring that up because it did not take the former coach, and former ESPN College Football analyst, long to determine during his visit that he was watching a winning program.
“What I observed today, you can tell they are excellent. They’re very well organized, very disciplined, demand execution, and they keep it simple,” said Pruett. “That doesn’t mean it’s average football, it means to focus on things you do and do them well will get you success in football and anything else in life.”
The self-described “good-old’ boy from East Beckley” may have cut his professional teeth in college football, but his state roots have him very familiar with the Indians program. However, he lit up with a smile when told of the Indians’ current streaks of success.
For those needing a reminder, the team has not had a losing season since 1967 – I was not born. They have also made the playoffs for 30 straight years, which is an ongoing state record.
“I think it’s amazing; just amazing,” said Pruett.
As he sat back in the office chair in front of me, he quickly gathered his thoughts. And it is like he has been a part of Bridgeport his entire life in explaining the program’s success.
“That just doesn’t happen. It’s a tribute to the community, to the school, the principals, and the coaches over all of those years. That’s a standard that has been set and reached, but the standard I would bet is set by the community,” said Pruett. “The expectation starts there, and the community supports it with assistance for facilities and other things that are needed that go into being a winner.
“I can tell you almost certainly without looking at something else,” he continued. “I’m sure football is not the only sport the school wins in.”
Pruett got that from watching an hour of practice. He got that from talking to the kids, Coach Tyler Phares and his staff, and some drills. He said you could see success in how they approach things.
“It’s paramount to have a standard the community sets and the student-athletes meet. They don’t dwell on the past titles and are looking for the next one. I remember Carl Ward (who passed at 91 in 2020) at Ceredo-Kenova who won 10 state titles (BHS also has 10 state championships) and I was talking to him in his office and there are six or seven titles sitting the floor with dust,” said Pruett. “All he was worried about was winning the next one. That’s a culture you create, and Bridgeport has that culture. They are well coached, well trained and know what to do.”
Coach Tyler Phares was thrilled to have Pruett on hand to give a few words to the team. He said even though none of the players were alive when he held his last head coaching position,
“We didn’t tell the kids and his presence caught them off guard,” said Phares. “It was awesome to have a coach of his caliber to join us. He delivered a powerful message.
“We’ve never had anyone come in and talk to us before of that magnitude,” Phares continued. “You could see the look in their eyes that they were very impressed, and a lot of them weren’t sure about his past because it’s an older generation of football; before they were born. Then, he talked about where he had been and who he had coached, and you could just see they realized this guy was about as big as they get. It didn’t take long before you could see them seeing it and the message just sunk in.”
Pruett remains a big fan of high school football. He pointed back to coaching and community and how that is a true formula for success.
“Bridgeport is built through community. You look at the team and they are very physical, but they aren’t going to be the strongest team or the fastest team in most games,” Pruett said. “They just outexecute you and play the game right from when they get into the program until they leave it. It’s not that there aren’t good players, because I could see talent on that field, I just imagine there aren’t a whole lot of Power 5 kids playing every year and that makes it more impressive.”
It did not take long for yours truly to see Pruett not only still had it on the verbal front but is in tune with what is taking place in college football. With him sitting across from me, it was the right time to talk about the current chaotic state of college football, including the ongoing realignment, the transfer portal and NIL.
“I noticed the ACC was looking at Stanford and Cal, two of the most prestigious academic schools in the Pac-12 and they don’t have a home. I see that and I think you may see four leagues, four divisions, because we’re almost there,” said Pruett. “I would not be surprised to see the divisions separate from the NCAA, get their own deal, and their own rules and the rest are left playing in the NCAA. I don’t know if it could happen, but it looks like it’s possible.”
As for the NIL – the paying of players now allow through the use of the “name, image, and likeness,” Pruett said that he knows some players are getting more than six figures as a result. And he knows that money is leading to kids transferring.
“The power league will raid all the teams like Marshall, (East Carolina) for their top players. I know the first year of this, Marshall had six players leave their team at start for Power 5 teams that got to bowl games,” said Pruett. “We’re getting ready to play against our former starting quarterback (Grant Wells) who transferred out and now starts for Virginia Tech (on Sept. 23 in Huntington).”
Pruett, a long-time friend of former WVU Coach Don Nehlen, talked about how their method may not work today. And he finds it troubling.
“We recruited players, developed them, and built our football team on team concepts. Now you develop a player and after a year or two, he’s gone,” said Pruett. “We built each kid up and got them ready. They could transfer, but they had to sit out. You just couldn’t up and transfer and maybe get paid, or even paid under the table to do so.”
“Now, a player you recruited, prepared, and got ready to contribute can tell you they’re transferring and they’re eligible the next day,” he continued. “At the same time, he may get $50,000 to $100,000 or more. On top of that, It’s all legal once they’re in the portal.”
In probably the least surprising thing said, Pruett pointed to money and television markets as leading to a lot of chaos. And he pointed to the recent collapse of the Pac-12.
“USC and UCLA were the first two to go. What have they won lately? That didn’t matter because they deliver a TV market. That’s where we’re at,” Pruett said. “It’s not about quality of a program in a lot of instances. It’s about money, TV markets, and a brand.”
Pruett said the situation has really taken a toll on loyalty to programs. The current situation, he said, has put loyalty at a premium. And he had a story to back up his thoughts.
“I talked to a great running back, a loyal kid to the program we had who played in the NFL, and it wasn’t (Ahmad) Bradshaw, about this. I asked if him if he was here and someone would offer him $50,000 to play for them, would he be gone. He said ‘coach, I would be gone.’ That was a loyal player, but we’re talking about a whole lot of money,” he said.
Pruett recalled redshirting a young, skinny freshman quarterback named Chad Pennington. He wonders, with today’s climate and Pennington’s skill set, if he would have been tempted to stay.
“That was the best move for him as he became a Heisman trophy candidate,” said Pruett. “Today, you don’t have to wait. You can leave.”
They are leaving. And not just in football. Proof of that is the WVU revolving door of basketball players for the last three seasons. It’s frustrating for fans and for programs that aren’t at the top of the college athletics food chain. It’s also frustrating, said Pruett, for coaches.
“Stuff like this will put you out of coaching,” said Pruett.
Editor's Note: Top photo, courtesy of Marshall University's Herdzone, if of Bob Pruett during a reunion of the 1996 National Championship team. Second photo shows Pruett on Wednesday at the BHS football practice talking with some of the student-athletes and below with Coach Tyler Phares.
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