Tales from the West Virginia Mountaineers Sideline

Don Nehlen elevated the Mountaineer football program to national prominence during his twenty-one-year tenure at West Virginia University (1980-2001). He was named National Coach of the Year twice: once in 1988 after he led his team to an undefeated season (11-0), and again in 1993 when his team went undefeated (11-0) once again. He won 202 total collegiate games at Bowling Green and WVU, and took the Mountaineers to 13 Bowl games. One of the key players in the formation of the Big East football conference, Nehlen was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2005. Shelly Poe is the chief media liaison for the Ohio State football program. She graduated from West Virginia University in 1985 with a degree in journalism, and immediately began working in WVU's Sports Information department. In 1988 she rose to the position of sports information director and continued to work with her beloved Mountaineers. In 2006, Poe was the first-ever WVU publicist inducted into the College Sports Information Directors of America Hall of Fame. She began working with the Ohio Buckeyes in 2007.