It may be difficult to move on from a tough loss, especially one of such magnitude as that of West Virginia’s loss to Penn State.
However, it is just the beginning of the 2024 season. If the Mountaineers want to move on and improve, they may have to acknowledge that it’s a marathon and not a race.
WVU head coach Neal Brown admitted on his radio show Thursday that it has taken him time to get over the loss, but he believes he is fully over it now. In helping his team move forward and look past the result of week one, Brown says he’s referred to a lesson in Jim Collins’ business book “Good to Great,” the Stockdale Paradox.
The Stockdale Paradox, according to Collins, is “you must maintain unwavering faith that you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, and at the same time, have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”
We may infer that Brown has made it very clear to the team how poorly they performed against the Nittany Lions, but that doesn’t define them and they can still accomplish great feats this season. In order to move forward and not lose “unwavering faith,” the team must accept the struggles they had but believe they “can and will prevail in the end.”
West Virginia plays host to UAlbany this Saturday looking to bounce back and regain momentum as the 2024 season progresses. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. EST and will be streamed to ESPN+.
