MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Don Nehlen’s phone rang and WVU Director of Athletics Wren Baker was on the line.
“When he called and said he wanted to come over, I wondered, ‘What the devil does this guy want’? I said, ‘I think he wants money’,” Nehlen joked. “I didn’t know what to think but it sounded pretty good. It is a great honor.”
The honor, announced on October 18, will be officially awarded Saturday afternoon when Nehlen’s name will be displayed next to the six retired numbers on the Touchdown Terrace end of Milan Puskar Stadium.
“I have been retired a heck of a long time. I think some of my ex-players, spearheaded by my neighbor, kept putting pressure on them around here to do something for a long time. Wren was very receptive to the idea.”
Nehlen’s name will be listed near the retired numbers of Major Harris (9), Ira Rodgers (21), Chuck Howley (66), Sam Huff (75), Bruce Bosley (77) and Darryl Talley (90).
The on-field ceremony will be held at the end of the first quarter of WVU’s final home game against Cincinnati. Nehlen began his legendary coaching career at WVU in 1980. UC was the first opponent to play at the new Mountaineer Field. The Mountaineers defeated the Bearcats, 41-27.
“I knew we had to win that game. You have to understand that the team I was putting on the field, none of them had ever played on a winning team, not one single player. If you think I wasn’t nervous, I was. I had spent that entire winter, the entire spring practice and the summer coaching from the neck up and trying to convince these guys that they were winners.”
Nehlen retired following the 2000 season. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2005 following a career which saw him collect 202 victories. Nehlen was the 17th-winningest coach in college football history at the time of his retirement. He led West Virginia to unbeaten regular seasons in 1988 and 1993.
“I get phone calls from all these guys. 21 years with all those guys, man oh man, you talk about a love affair. It is just amazing.
“The wins and losses dissipate, they really do. Back then, they really meant a lot. But now, so what. I remember the bus ride and the plane ride more than the actual game at Oklahoma [in 1982] and how much fun we had.”
Nehlen and his family remained in Morgantown following his retirement.
“The biggest reason we stayed was our kids. Danny and Vicky were both here. When I came here, I was already 44 years old. You’ve got to understand, Merry Ann was not a bright lights gal. We were offered a lot of money to go a lot of places. She said, ‘What are we going to do, buy another car’? She just didn’t want to leave. Jeff [Hostetler] was playing with the Giants and when the season was over, they came back here. The grandkids were a lot more important than another two-or-three hundred-thousand dollars. So we just decided to stay.”