The athletic departments at Marshall and West Virginia University have one intriguing trait in common.
West Virginians.
Nobody appreciates that home-grown fact more than Mountaineer head football coach Bill Stewart, who hails from New Martinsville, W.Va.
So, when I recited the roster of West Virginians at WVU and Marshall during the annual WVU coaches caravan in Huntington Friday night, Stewart got more excited by the minute.
First, there are the athletic directors. WVU's Ed Pastilong is from Moundsville and Marshall's Bob "Kayo" Marcum is a Huntington native.
"Yeah, buddy," said Stewart enthusiastically.
Then, there are WVU head men's basketball coach Bob Huggins, a Morgantown native, and Marshall's Donnie Jones, who hails from Point Pleasant.
"Yeah, buddy," he bubbled.
Finally, besides Stewart, Herd head football coach Mark Snyder is a Marshall alumnus, who grew up just across the Ohio River.
"He might as well be a West Virginian," said a grinning Stewart.
That means all six marquee positions in the state's two Division I-A athletic departments are filled with West Virginians or alumni.
"I think it's awesome," said Stewart. "I think it lets people know that there are coaches and administrators who are West Virginians that can hold their own with anybody in the country. I mean that sincerely.
"I think we have the greatest athletic director in the country in Eddie Pastilong. I think Kayo ... Bob Marcum, heck, look what that guy has done in his career. You talk about a man's man.
"We are so blessed to have these type of men heading up our programs."
Stewart believes West Virginia born or bred coaches and administrators have an innate GPS system that inexplicably navigates them home. And once they return ...
"We coach with a passion here," said Stewart. "There's something very special about coaching in West Virginia. You go to about four more schools a day. You work a few more alumni functions. You go and you try to do a little bit better.
"That's because it's home."
Stewart literally has worked all over North America. He has coached in 11 different places in six different states and two different countries.
But in all those stops, Stewart never has encountered a place where all the marquee positions in the athletic departments were manned by state natives.
"Never," he said. "I think it's special that our two universities have said, 'Hey, let's let these guys run it.' They're going to do it not only because it's their job, but because it's their passion.
"It's because they bleed it. We absolutely bleed it. We really do."
WVU's upset win over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl is the perfect example.
"Before I went on the field, I thought of my mother and dad," said Stewart. "I thought of my home town, New Martinsville, W.Va. I thought of the state of West Virginia ... not just West Virginia University. I thought of the entire state.
"And I said, 'Dad-gummit, if we ever needed a little help.' I looked up. I said a bunch of Hail Marys. I said, 'Lord, we need this. It's right for this to happen.'
"It happened and it was a blessing. I still believe the good Lord had a hand in it. I'll always believe that."
A prayer to heaven was answered in "Almost Heaven."
Only in West Virginia.
Chuck Landon is a sports columnist for The Herald-Dispatch. Call him at 526-2827. E-mail him at clandon@herald-dispatch.com.
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