One of the greatest college football legacies in our state is from a school that hasn’t played the sport for over 20 years.
The football program at tiny Salem College near Clarksburg, has produced some names that are very recognizable in our state. Now, however it is hard to tell that the sport ever existed there.
If you drive along Route 50 between Clarksburg and Parkersburg, you can look over and see remnants of what used to be the football field at Salem. It now looks more like a recreational soccer complex.
Don’t let appearances fool you. When it had a program, the Tigers had a legacy of NFL players and coaching greats.
Salem had four players play in the NFL, running back Jack Deloplaine, tight end Orson Mobley and defensive backs Monty Hunter and Larry Riley.
Salem’s coaching legacy is also intriguing. When the program was dropped in 1989, a young and enthusiastic Rich Rodriguez was about to begin his second season there.
Long-time West Virginia University Director of Athletics, Ed Pastilong was the head coach at Salem in the 1970’s.
Former Auburn head coach Terry Bowden got his coaching start at Salem. The son of Bobby Bowden took the Tigers to the NAIA playoffs in 1984 and 85. His quarterback was Clarksburg’s Jimbo Fisher who is now the head coach at Florida State.
Former WVU head coach Bill Stewart also is a former Salem assistant. Former Fairmont State playing great Larry Blackstone was a Tigers head coach. Long-time WVU assistant coach Bill Kirelawich played at Salem, as did Baltimore Ravens assistant Phil Zacharias.
Super Bowl winning Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy played one season at Salem before transferring to a small school in Kansas.
High school coaching icons in the Kanawha Valley, Corky Griffith (DuPont) and Joe Cowley (Herbert Hoover) also played at Salem.
This weekend, former players and coaches at Salem are gathering for a football reunion at Oglebay Park in Wheeling. These players and coaches are trying to keep the Salem tradition alive.
We need more of this in our state. Many great sports traditions have been lost due to school consolidations and population losses. Here is an example of a group of former players and coaches from a school that has not played football for over 20 years, trying to assure that the program’s legacy continues. That is a worthy endeavor.