West Virginia tight ends coach Blaine Stewart grew up around football and has seen what makes good teams great.
Stewart’s father Bill, was formerly the head coach of West Virginia from 2008-2010. Over that span, the Mountaineers went 28-12, winning two bowl games. Bill, unfortunately, passed in May of 2012 and has an exit named after him near Morgantown.
“I think culture is something you can’t really measure, but you know it when you see it,” Stewart said. “When I was young the teams here (West Virginia) they had great culture of kind of an underdog mentality. That grew into kind of like a heavyweight fighter mentality. I mean I remember when you know, guys like (Adam) ‘Pacman’ Jones and Angel Estrada and Grant Wiley and all those guys were playing, like there was an edge about the West Virginia team”
Before coming to coach at West Virginia, Stewart was a coaching assistant and assistant wide receivers coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2018-2022.
“I just think you know, you have to have an edge about you as a program and I think we’re trending in that direction to find our just you know fit in college football,” Stewart said.
Stewart recalled great college football teams of the past, including some West Virginia teams and explained how team culture played into their success. With the Mountaineers aiming at making a splash in 2024, Stewart hopes that they can find and develop their team culture.
” We just got to find our culture and how we can be the best version of ourselves, but give us a chance with the edge and the mindset we take on the field every Saturday. And we’re developing that you know all the way through a season,” Stewart said.
