MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Four former WVU athletes and two former football coaches will forever have their names etched into the WVU sports hall of fame this weekend.
Bill Kirelawich, Pat McAfee, Darrell Whitmore, Chelsea Carrier-Eades and Petra Zublasing and the family of Bill Stewart will be honored as the 2025 hall of fame class before the WVU-Utah football game on Saturday.
Stewart, who passed away in 2012, led the Mountaineer football team to a 28-12 record in his three seasons as head coach from 2008-2010. Stewart was thrust into the interim head coach role before the 2008 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl when Rich Rodriguez departed for Michigan. Stewart led the Mountaineers to their second BCS bowl victory at the time with a 48-28 win over #4 Oklahoma.
Stewart served as an assistant coach from 2000 up until Rodriguez left. Stewart was brought in to be WVU’s quarterbacks coach for legendary head coach Don Nehlen’s final season.
Stewart, the West Virginia native, played college football for Fairmont State University and got his coaching start for the Falcons when he began serving as a student assistant.
Bill Kirelawich is one of the most well-known assistant coaches in WVU football history, as the Frackville, Pennsylvania native served on the staff for 32 years from 1979-2011. Kirelawich was part of 23 bowl teams during his time on the WVU sideline. Kirelawich served on the staffs of Frank Cignetti, Don Nehlen, Rich Rodriguez, Bill Stewart, and Dana Holgerson for one season.
Kirelawich served mostly as a defensive line coach during his time in Morgantown.
Pat McAfee, the Pittsburgh native, was a part of four bowl teams from 2005-2008, which included the 2006 Nokia Sugar Bowl and 2008 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. McAfee ranks third all-time for field-goals made in WVU history with 58.
McAfee had a successful NFL career as a punter for the Indianapolis Colts after his time in Morgantown, as he was selected to two Pro Bowl teams in his eight-year career. McAfee also played in the 2009 Super Bowl against the New Orleans Saints as a rookie.
McAfee is now one of the most entertaining men in sports media, serving as an analyst on ESPN’s College Gameday. McAfee’s show, The Pat McAfee Show, also airs on ESPN.
Darrell Whitmore was an integral part to WVU’s undefeated team that made the Fiesta Bowl in 1988. Whitmore, who was a hard-hitting safety for Nehlen’s Mountaineers, broke his leg in his freshman year in ’88 during the final regular season game against Syracuse. He finished with 216 tackles and 14 interceptions in his WVU career.
Whitmore will be going into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame as a multi-sport athlete. Whitmore played baseball for WVU and was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in 1990, but the Florida Marlins took him in the 1992 expansion draft. Whitmore played parts of three seasons in the MLB for the Marlins.
Chelsea Carrier-Eades, the Buckhannon native, earned eight All-America honors as a track and field athlete from 2008-2012.
Carrier-Eades left Morgantown as an 11-time NCAA individual qualifier and a 10-time Big East champion. To this day, she still holds school records in the 60-meter hurdles, pentathlon, 100-meter hurdles and heptathlon.
Petra Zublasing is one of the many decorated athletes to hail from the WVU rifle program. Zublasting won three individual national championships, the only Mountaineer to ever do so.
Zublasting was a Mountaineer from 2011-2013. She represented Italy in the 2012 Olympic Games in London and in 2016 in Rio.
These six WVU legends will be recognized with a ceremony inside the Caperton Indoor Practice Facility at 12:30 on Saturday.