Butts having success early as WVU’s head coach

With the help of two unselfish seniors, a sophomore star, 12 underclassmen and the comfort of living in the same house, the adjustment for Jason Butts as a first-year head coach has gone pretty smoothly – not to mention that after just two meets, the team is ranked No. 21 in the nation.

Butts will admit there have been some bumps along the way, is expected for a program and family that have been brought together under the guidance of Linda

Burdette-Good for over 37 seasons.

"The goal for me, personally, is for the team to be consistent, to have fun and to go out and reestablish why West Virginia deserves prominence on the national stage," Butts said.

The Athens, Ga., native, has done just that – leading the No. 21 Mountaineers (2-1, 2-0 EAGL) to a quick start in a highly anticipated 2012 campaign featuring six meets against ranked opponents.

Burdette-Good's retirement last April opened the door for Butts to continue to rise up through the coaching positions. He was the associate head coach last year after being an assistant head coach in 2010 and an assistant coach from 2007 to 2009.

The Mountaineers gave Butts a memorable first meet by posting the highest mark the team has posted in a season opener. A score of 195.1 placed WVU between No. 9 Penn State and Maryland.

The University of Georgia alumnus seems comfortable in his time at WVU, compiling a record of 98-44 prior to being head coach. His resume includes five consecutive NCAA Regional Championships, 2008 EAGL champions and being named a two-time regional assistant coach of the year.

The only discomfort Butts might experience is following a coach who accumulated a record of 644-263-4.

"I'm feeling good, but it's very motivating for me to come out after my first two meets as a coach and be ranked in the top 25," Butts said.

"There are a lot more coaches in the country with a lot more experience than I have, and it's very encouraging to me because it shows the philosophy this staff has put in place with this team can work, and is working, and it makes me want to work harder."

As mentioned, Butts has had some help with a team that sees itself more as a family and has bought into fighting for one another.

"We're hitting our routines and fighting through, and that's been our focus all preseason," Butts said. "I think that's the reason they're ranked so high is because they've really bought into that theory and No. 21 is where we are, but I'd like to see us go higher."

The coaching staff has spoken glowingly of the leadership from seniors Tina Maloney and Nicole Roach, who have showed the team's seven freshmen the ropes of competing at the collegiate level.

Coincidentally, Beth Deal took the year's first award for Eastern Atlantic Gymnastics League rookie of the week.

Butts decision to expand sophomore Hope Sloanhoffer's role to compete in the all-around competition has paid off so far with the Cornwall, N.Y., native ranking nationally in three events. Sloanhoffer heads into this weekend No. 20 on vault (9.875), No. 25 all-around (39.063) and No. 39 on floor (9.825).

Besides trying to find roles for the girls and working to make them better, the two-time Southeast Regional Assistant Coach of the Year (2009, 2010) has had to find what his personal role is and what else is expected of him.

"Making sure to have the confidence to do what I know is right or do things the way I think they should be done and not be afraid to put one foot in front of another one," Butts said.

"I'm learning not to second guess and that sometimes people just want a leader and having to get that confidence to march forward with it, without worrying about having to ask somebody else."

One of the biggest things Butts took away from Burdette-Good was considering every possible angle for every decision.

"You could always tell when she came to a decision, it wasn't something snapped to that happened right then; she had been thinking about it for days before," Butts said. "She was obviously very good after 37 years of experience with a lot of wisdom, and obviously I have eight months of experience, which pales in comparison, but I was very lucky to work for someone that was as even keeled as Linda."

Since his hiring, Butts has received lots of support and positive feedback from fans, coaches and the athletic department. Athletic Director Oliver luck even congratulated Butts after the season opener with a framed panoramic poster of Milan Puskar Stadium from the LSU game last year.

"I couldn't ask for anything more." Butts said.

"The president (James P. Clements) was at our home competitions and came up at the end of the first one and said ‘We're so glad you're here,' which to me, having the president of the university go out of his way to do something like that is very supportive."