HUNTINGTON - Before rain and reported lightning chased Marshall's football team into its sparkling indoor facility, coach Doc Holliday looked out his office window.
Last year, he reflected, the Thundering Herd made some rumbling of its own. Yet there wasn't the lightning strike he wanted.
"We had a good year," he said. "I think, though, the term 'great' is reserved for teams that win championships. The year before, when we won a conference championship, that was a great year.
"What we had was a good year. We won 10 games and did it with a freshman quarterback. I thought some really good things happened. But, ultimately, here, the goal is to win championships. That will never change."
The goal, perhaps, hasn't changed. But the results have of late. MU did indeed win 10 last season, including the finale against Connecticut in the St. Petersburg Bowl. The year prior, the team went 13-1, won Conference USA and defeated NIU in the Boca Raton Bowl. In 2013-14, the Herd went 10-4 and defeated Maryland 31-20 in the Military Bowl.
That's a 33-8 record over the last three seasons. But what now? I asked Holliday for a pseudo-State of the Herd as his team steamrolls toward its Green and White spring game Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
"Well, you either get better or you get worse," said the coach. "We want to continue to build our program - and I think we're doing that. There are a lot of places standing still, but what's happened around here with facilities in the last two or three years is unbelievable, especially considering the tough financial times. We've gone from last to first [in C-USA] in facilities. We're working now to do some things with [the Shewey Building]."
He mentioned improved locker rooms and hallways.
"Kids buy with their eyes," Holliday said. "I can walk them in that indoor [practice facility] and hall of fame [display], academic center and sports medicine transition center and no one in the country has anything better. Ohio State's isn't nicer. We're going in the right direction."
Keeping the sports profile raised has to be a priority for the school. Holliday said C-USA is rallying. He pointed to recent victories over American Athletic Conference teams. He pointed to the potential of many of those within C-USA. Still, if Marshall wishes to someday hit the AAC, he knows there has to be a shine to the program.
"We've got facilities; we have good coaches," Holliday said. "We do a great job of developing players. We just have to get them here."
Holliday paused.
"It's a hard job here. When you're in the state of West Virginia... This is the first time I can remember ever, in 35, 40 years of coaching, that we have five prospects in the state. And I'm not just talking prospects; I'm talking really good prospects. That's a first. Normally, it's one to zero."
Holliday couldn't mention the recruits, but one can actually list six: South Charleston's Derrek Pitts, Morgantown's Mav Wolfley, Spring Valley's Riley Locklear, Huntington's Billy Ross, Capital's Dorian Etheridge and Point Pleasant's Seth Stewart.
"We have to work extremely hard to go out and get players," Holliday said. "It's a challenge financially and it's a challenge to get it done, but, for the most part, I think we've done a great job."
What's helped Holliday is keeping offensive coordinator Bill Legg and defensive coordinator Chuck Heater around. Both have been very effective.
"I've been fortunate [to keep them] winning as many games as we have the last few years," Holliday said. "Billy is the only guy that's been with me since Day 1. He does a tremendous job with the offense. He's had opportunities to leave, but guys like it here. Chuck is winning championships and games and that's more important than money to him. Both have had opportunities to leave, but they like working for [athletic director] Mike [Hamrick]. And Hamrick does a tremendous job of giving us the resources to win."
The upcoming MU team, Holliday said, is young, but talented.
"I like our personnel," he said. "Watching, there's not a position out there I don't feel good about. I think our quarterback [Chase Litton] has a bright future. Our offensive line is a little banged up now, but when we get them all together it might be the best group since I've been here.
"The backs... Unfortunately, we lost Devon [Johnson] last year, but the ones we had are back and better. Then the receiver position is pretty much intact. Of course, it all starts with playing great defense. We've done that the last three years. Our defense was one of the top in our conference. And you look this year and the talent's there again."
MU allowed the opposition just 17.8 points a game last season. The team scored an average of 31.3.
"There are no secrets," Holliday said. "We have to outwork people - and that's what we do here. We can't forget that."