FILE - West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins talks to his players during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Texas Tech in the first round of the Big 12 Conference tournament Wednesday, March 8, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. The legal headaches could only be starting for Pat Fitzgerald and Bob Huggins as their attorneys plot the next steps after Northwestern and West Virginia parted ways with them in moves that left some industry experts perplexed. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

MORGANTOWN, W.Va — While the original furor surrounding Bob Huggins’ resignation/dismissal as West Virginia’s basketball coach has died down from a four-alarm fire, even though we continue to breathe in the lingering smoke as if it were a Canadian wildfire, one thing becomes more and more certain:

Huggins’ career as WVU basketball coach is over.

This conflict could well find its way into the courts or into a backroom agreement where WVU’s Hall of Fame coach could be paid to accept the reality of the moment, but a couple of items have taken center stage with no uncertainty to them.

First, an unofficial, unscientific and totally uncertifiable poll of followers on my Twitter feed screamed out that the people — at least those that took time to take part in the poll — do not want him back as coach.

Let us first explain the poll. First of all, it was put online for far longer than the normal Twitter polling I have done, which is usually open for five or six hours.

This poll was left up for five days and drew 1,167 votes, a large sampling for such a poll on my site.

It was a simple poll, not meant to tilt toward either side. Here is how it was presented:

HUGGINS POLL: Here’s your chance. Everyone has an opinion on this. What’s yours? Should Bob Huggins be asked back to coach WVU’s basketball team?

There were two choices:

Bring Huggins back

Move on without Huggins

When Huggins’ DUI first was made public and when his “resignation letter” was released by WVU, one he says he did not write, read, approve of or sign, there was a vocal group arguing that Huggins should be retained as coach.

But as time went on and Huggins challenged his resignation/dismissal, the sentiment seemed to change and by last week, when the poll was run, it was apparent that the West Virginia fans had had enough of it all.

The vote was more overwhelming than anyone could have imagined.

Bring Huggins back 17.4%

Move on without Huggins 82.6%

Huggins clearly, among those who responded, had lost his support, and as great as he was for WVU basketball, for the state, for the athletic department and the university at the height of his career, made the fall from grace only more overwhelming.

You do not want to coach where you are not wanted.

In some ways, it’s a battle Neal Brown is facing on the football side of the athletic department, but this is based clearly on on-field results, not on his off-field behavior.

But a lack of support is only part of the reason he won’t be back.

As important — probably more so — is that the administration doesn’t want him back, whether or not they screwed up in accepting a resignation by the letter of contract law may not have been kosher.

WVU President E. Gordon Gee, who probably would not fare as well as Huggins did in an online poll (do I sense one coming up?), said so in no uncertain terms during a Monday appearance on MetroNews’ Talkline.

Host Hoppy Kercheval asked Gee a straightforward question:

“Can you foresee any possible circumstance where Bob Huggins would return to WVU as head basketball coach?”

“No,” Gee said. “No. None.”

That pretty much translates into “Don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out.”

There is a reason behind that answer and Gee offered it up.

“Because of the fact that he was given several opportunities to make certain that he followed the rules and that did not happen,” Gee said. “I am a great admirer of Coach in so many different ways. He’s done many good things for our state and for our university, so that’s the reason I am so immensely disappointed in him. For the fact that he was given a second chance and just did not perform at the level he should.”

“We’re now focused on Coach [Josh] Eilert. I’ve told the coach if he wins the national championship this year, we may keep him for a second year,” Gee continued, trying to inject some humor into a humorless situation.

“In other words, we have moved on, and I hope Coach Huggins will move on with his life, too, and take good care of himself and his family.”

This, of course, is not over. Huggins has been in rehab, has a national law firm trying to work things out for him with the school and has a court hearing next week where his DUI most likely will eventually be expunged as it qualifies for a diversion program.