Country Roads Confidential

Well as for why West Virginia doesnt produce that much talent, very low population is one reason. An as for why WVU doesnt hit Virginia very hard, they do just with no rewards. Va. Tech an the Wahoos get most of the in state talent. An not to mention UNC plucking a few.

Agree with both responses thus far...

to add to tnt's comments about quality coaching...one need not look further than the salary discrepency from what high school coaches in Texas make vs. WV.

Im not saying more pay would increase the talent gap between the two states, because that is not happening regardless of pay. But it is tough to expect much more than PE or other subject teachers to take on a job with such a small stipend. A person could make more working at McDonalds when you factor in an hourly pay. WV does get some quality coaches, but if they are real go getters with aspirations it is likely they will not stay too long. Then again, it is similar, albeit a different scale, to what WVU faces. We will never be able to outbid a Texas, OU, etc. for a coach that is looking solely to climb the ladder

Population of Texas, 20.8 million. Population of WV, 1.8 million.

I think, more than anything, this sums it up. Throw in the mix, WV recently overtook FL. as having the highest population of Senior Citizens and you kinda' get the idea..

*On a side note, I visited Texas for the first time a few years ago.. I had always heard how big HS Football was in TX, however, had no clue the intensity of it.. Ya'll love your HS Football programs down there. It's just not the same drive for HS Football here. 95% of Football fans direct 110% of their energy to WVU..

We may only have 1.8 million in State, but 1.79 million of them bleed Blue and Gold..

Don Nehlen said it best:
"When you fly over other states, you see houses," the former West Virginia football coach said time and again. "When you fly over West Virginia, all you see are trees. I guarantee you there are more football players under rooftops than under tree tops."

There is undoubtedly more emphasis on developing football players in Texas given the intense high school competition and probably all around better coaching, although West Virginia has produced 3 coaches just in the Fairmont area who have won 13 National Championships between them: Fielding Yost (Fairview) who won 6 at Michigan, John McKay (Everettville) who won 4 at USC, and Nick Saban (Monongah) who won 1 at LSU and 2 at Alabama. That doesn't count Lou Holtz (Follansbee) who has 1 at ND.

The point on coaches is dead on, teachers get the call first on coaching gigs if they want it even in alot of cases over more qualified candidates. Another problem is infrastructure, a coach on limited time can hit several high schools in other areas where it may take several hours to see just one D1 prospect in state and even then you have to take into account the players level of competition (so he better be worth it). There are some players in state but not very many and they sometimes come with baggage from being a big fish in a small pond ect...

On the bright side, the eastern panhandle is growing like wildfire around D.C. so one would think when those kids start growing up in that area we could get a new base, and if anyone has heard of marcellus shale if/when the laws that need passed get passed (see WV recent democratic pres primary race results opposing Obammy and his EPA) jobs/population could get a big boost as well as southern PA creating another.

I live in the Eastern Panhandle and I can tell you first hand there is alot of untapped talent in this area.