Herd Insider Magazine vol 19 #4

What I’ve Learned: Mayor Steve Williams herdinsider.com

October 12, 2016

The C-USA Chase Is On CHASE LITTON AND THE HERD MADE IT THROUGH THE MINEFIELD CALLED SEPTEMBER, READY FOR C-USA PLAY.

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UP FRONT

10.12.16 VOLUME 19 NO. 4

If you haven’t wandered over to the Cam Henderson Center in all the football that is going on, take a home game in the next month to cruise by (all practices are open) and check out Coach Danny D’Antoni’s next edition of the Thundering Herd, and thundering is right. 17 players make up this edition of the Thundering Herd.

There have been times for the Herd in the past 4-5 years that practice required student managers and grad assistant coaches to be the scout team, but this team has three full sets of practice players and two more on the side subbing in and out.

Senior forward Ryan Taylor (Indianapolis) leads the list of returnees, and Taylor became the sixth player in Marshall history to record at least 1,300 points/700 rebounds for his career in the 2015-16 season. The Indianapolis native leads Conference USA with 27 career double-doubles. Senior guard Austin Loop (South Webster, Ohio) is seventh in Marshall history with 181 made field goals. He needs four to reach John Taft (1987-91). Senior guard Stevie Browning (Logan) returns as the primary assist man to the Herd offense. He averaged 3.5 assists a game, which ranked him 10th in Conference USA. Junior guard Jon Elmore (Charleston) returns as the team’s top scorer, averaging 15.2 points per game. Junior

compiled by Woody Woodrum, HI senior editor

forward Terrence Thompson (Durham, NC) comes back after being named the Bob Allen Most Improved Player by Herd coaches and as the 2015-16 season’s “sixth man” while junior big man (6-9) Milan Mijovic (Belgrad, Serbia) returns after appearing in 13 games and averaging 4.0 minutes a game.

Sophomores include Jacob Kilgore (Huntington) comes back after 14 games and averaging 3.9 minutes per game and forward Ajdin Penava (Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina) returning after appearing in 18 games, averaging, 6.1 minutes, 1.9 points, 1.0 rebound and 4.0 blocks per game.

Redshirt sophomore Aleksa Nikolic (Pancevo, Serbia) and redshirt freshman Noah Frampton (Poca) return to the court after being sidelined for the majority of the season with injuries.

Redshirt freshman Christian Thieneman (Louisville) will suit up for Marshall this season after sitting out for the 2015-16 season.

The Herd welcomes newcomers Jannson Williams (6-8, Newnan, Ga.), Ky’re Allison (6-2, Portsmouth, Ohio) and Phil Bledsoe (6-6, Wheeling), who all signed with Marshall as high schoolers. Junior transfer Ot Elmore (6-2, Charleston and brother of Jon, both son’s of former VMI standout Gay Elmore) is immediately eligible to suit up for the Herd, while junior transfer Rondale Watson (6-4, Lewisburg) has to sit out for the year after leaving Wake Forest of the ACC.

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WHAT WE’VE GOT

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10.12.16 VOLUME 19 NO. 4

PRE-GAME

24 Hours of Thunder

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Southern Miss is a great roadtrip for Marshall fans.

Please say hi to Ms. Leatha when you visit her place.

FOOTBALL 2016

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The Leap Into C-USA Play Welcome to Conference USA

This page: The contents of the 1991 time capsule at Joan C. Edwards Stadium were on display in the press box after the capsule was opened in September. HI senior editor Woody Woodrum (who was the equipment manager in 1991) perused the well-preserved collection of 25 year-old items . photo by Greg Perry/HI staff

play, after a bumpy September, Marshall fans.

What I’ve Learned

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Steve Williams

On the cover: Marshall quarterback Chase Litton, photographed during the Morgan State game. photo by Greg Perry/HI staff

Mayor. Marshall guy. Steve Williams is our kind of guy.

He lets us know a little about what life has taught him.

555 Fifth Avenue Huntington, WV 25701 (304) 523-8401

General Manager Mike Kirtner

Publisher Greg Perry

First Subscriber: Geoff Sheils

Associate GM Reeves Kirtner

Senior Editor Woody Woodrum

Printing: Printograph - Hebron, KY

Web Operations Alex Hackney All contents ©2016 Kindred Communications, Inc

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WOODY WOODRUM

photo by Bill Woodrum

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COLUMNIST

25 Years Later, All Wrapped In A Box

woodywoodrum@gmail.com

1991

was twenty-five room, locker rooms and offices at the years ago this year. stadium.

Lots of water - beer - tears -laughter The helmet from 1991 looked under the bridge of 25 years ago. good, its Kelly Green M and stripes When Marshall dug out the wearing very well, and just a little time capsule encased in the Shewey yellowing of the white helmet. We Athletic Center, it was the second hid a picture of our equipment staff time capsule in a year’s time for my in the crown of the helmet, with the family. When my son, Tre’turned entire staff signing a picture of me 18 last November, he opened a time in a Zuba hat — don’t ask, it was the capsule we stored in the attic for 1990s. We left a note on the chinstrap him. about digging out the pictures, just in That capsule had newspapers case none of us made it. and magazines from 1997, including Thankfully, everyone but Bo how the Herd waxed Bowling Green Caines is alive to see this article (and 27-0 the day after he was born on the pictures), and my brother, Bill, Nov. 7, 1997 and some Randy Moss signed the back pad of the helmet I trading cards in Marshall uniforms, had to remove to get the pictures out. leading the team to 10-3 and a first Thanks to Chuck McGill for bowl in 50 years for the Herd at the giving me a sneak peek at the gear Pontiac Silverdome. It was more fun before anyone else saw it up close for us to look through that capsule and personal. McGill also allowed me than for Tre’, who obviously didn’t to dig out the pictures as a keepsake remember any of that but enjoyed of the capsule. seeing some of the stuff from his Back in 1991, former Herd birth year, some 18 years later.

Golf Coach and Associate Athletic The Marshall capsule, however, Director Joe Feaganes headed up the was in far better condition than I fundraising part of the capsule, along imagined it might be, fairly dry and with Big Green Director Richard Joe Feaganes looked through the time capsule contents on sound after 25 years of sitting in the display in the pressbox at Edwards Stadium. photo by Greg Perry “Scooter” Shreve, and those guys had us end zone at (now) Edwards Stadium. add a helmet, football, green and white The football from the capsule had Jim Donnan’s signature (see jerseys (with No. 16 and No. 91 for the 1991-2016 25th anniversary of photo on pages 12-13), which was proper for without Coach Donnan’s the stadium) and green and white pants. push, the Shewey building might have not been finished for the move The helmet was especially poignant with its small No. 62 sticker in 1992. While President Dale Nichtzke, Lee Moon, Dave Braine and on the back. That was for J.D. Coffman, who died in mid-season of a George Chaump deserve a lot of credit on making the stadium hapairborne virus that made him a bit sick on Monday, went Tuesday to pen, Donnan pushed for the building as a key part of getting a weight continued on page 5

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COLUMNIST

The time capsule at Edwards Stadium contained this signed note from the equipment staff of 1991, which Woodrum was a part of. photo by Greg Perry continued from page 4 see the trainer, Kevin Lavery, and was dead on Wednesday despite all Dr. Jose Ricard and the great Marshall medical staff could do.

Coffman, a walk-on from Ironton (Ohio) High School, entered the season as the number two at left guard after playing for the legendary Ironton coach Bob Lutz (a Marshall lineman in his day). He was one of two of our linemen from Ironton, the other being center J.D. Cyrus.

Dr. Ricard had some large orange pills we all had to take (turning our urine orange, something quarterback Michael Payton didn’t know as pills were taped to his door.

It made for a funny midnight call to Lavery about passing orange fluid and was he infected). The doc also told me to wash down the lockers J.D. was in, the area around it, the restrooms and showers and finally to wash all his equipment in hot water with bleach and detergent and anything we couldn’t wash out, we were to burn.

Thank goodness we had an open week that same week — that team could have no more played a game than, well, anything.

Players wandered into the equipment room at the stadium that day as we washed, drank some beer and cried quite a bit between the equipment staff and our players.

This 1991 season was all about adversity.

The team lost the opener at Appalachian State on a miserable, hot day in Boone, 9-3, but bounced back with a win in the Marshall University Stadium (Joan C. Edwards would come years later) in the first game, 24-23, against New Hampshire as Chuck McGregor knocked away a final pass by the Wildcats to save the game in front of 33,116 packing the stadium.

We used the under-construction Shewey building for pre game and halftime, with construction lights and port-a-toilets for us, the visitors and the refs. The team dressed in the Gullickson Hall men’s locker room, stored some equipment in the Cam Henderson Center and stored the rest and had the laundry still at Fairfield Stadium. The equipment staff lived out of a Ryder truck (compliments of

Dan Johnson with Ryder) that entire season, taking the laundry each night from Gullickson to Fairfield, coming out of the Stadium on 14th Street and Charleston Avenue at a time of night that attracted

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a different crowd around the stadium as my managers came back with the clean clothes for the team.

I promise you - no equipment staff in the history of the game worked harder than that group, that year. Bill Woodrum, Rich Worner, Travis Barclay, Timmy Pauley, Nathan Ball, Greg Julian, Wayne Legg, Matt Lewis and the late Bo Caines, and special mention to Lewis and Caines as they did much of the work with me moving us into the Shewey Building in the summer of 1992.

The team won a first game at Furman, 38-35, then was hosed at N.C. State by ACC refs (the first of many times by those particcontinued on page 19

24 Hours vs of Thunder: Saturday October 29, 2016 | Roberts Stadium | Hattiesburg, MS

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Where You’ll Be: THE ROCK

Named after the former Golden Eagle letterwinner and IHL Board of Trustees member M.M. Roberts, Southern Miss has accumulated a 69.1 winning percentage at home enjoying 10 undefeated home seasons over that span, including 6-0 marks during both the 2009 and 2011 seasons.

During the summer of 2013, the stadium went through extensive renovations as improvements were made to the playing surface, press box and stadium’s videoboard in the north end end zone.

A new artificial surface, Matrix Turf, was installed by Hellas Sports Construction after the old turf was deemed unplayable following a Feb. 10, 2013, tornado that hit the Hattiesburg area and caused damage to not only the field but also the southern part of campus. In addition, the Robert “Ace” Cleveland press box enjoyed renovations that included upgrades to the area’s air conditioning/heating system as well as to its roofing along with the installation of new windows throughout the entire length of the facility.

The stadium’s history dates back to October 29, 1932. On that date, State Teachers College defeated Spring Hill College, 12-0, as some 4,000 fans looked on from wooden bleachers.

The stadium, which is affectionately known to the Golden Eagle faithful as “The Rock at Southern Miss,” has been home to a number of Southern Miss football greats, including the likes of Reggie Collier, Austin Davis, Brett Favre, Damion Fletcher, and Derrick Nix.

Where You’ll Eat: Leatha’s Bar-B-Que Inn

Oh, my. Where to begin when it comes to eating at Leatha’s? Marshall fans, administrators, and media have made a pilgrimage to Leatha’s every single time The Herd goes to Hattiesburg to take on the Golden Eagles of Southern Miss. The place looks like a shack, and that’s why the best food in town can be found there.

Leatha’s Bar-B-Que Inn is an experience that you won’t want to miss.

The legendary bar-b-que is tender and fall-off-the-bone good. Inside Leatha’s you will see pictures of many of the celebrities that have visited and you may even run into Hattiesburg’s favorite son Brett Favre, a fixture at Leatha’s.

Get over to Leatha’s quick like a bunny once you land in Hattiesburg. You will never forget it.

They are open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. the day of the game. Get some to go, too.

ADDRESS: 6374 US Hwy 98

Hattiesburg, MS

(see map, right) PHONE:

(601) 271-6003

Beckley, WV Register-Herald photo

COLUMNIST

COACH BOB PRUETT

W

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The Biggest Game Every Year, And Not One Empty Seat

ell, the Herd and the Mountaineers of my old buddy Don Nehlen are off to somewhat different starts to the 2016 season. WVU is 4-0, escaping from BYU in a game at the Washington Redskins’ Stadium, followed by a first-ever win over K-State on October 1, 17-16, when the Wildcats missed a late field goal.

Meanwhile, Marshall and Doc Holliday are not having the start they hoped for, beating Morgan State and then losing three straight games for the first time since 2010 — losses at home to Akron from the MAC and to No. 3 Louisville. Then the Herd was shutout 27-0 in the first half of a game at Pitt, then rallied to 30-27 with four minutes left before finally losing 43-27.

West Virginia has played three games at Milan Puskar Stadium, then had the game for its large alumni base in the Washington-Baltimore area. Marshall played three at the Joan C. Edwards Stadium and one at Pittsburgh, also played at a NFL stadium at Heinz Field, home of the Steelers.

The thing that strikes me is that both teams could set up a game year after year where the two home stadiums would be filled to capacity, the hotels would all be full, the many eateries would be full, gas would be sold from Morgantown to Charleston to Huntington. Of course, I’m taking about Marshall and West Virginia getting together again in football.

It is hard to schedule games in this day and age. WVU is in the Big 12 with 10 members — for now. That means they will have nine games of 12 set up for Big 12 play, alternating home and away games with teams like Oklahoma, Kansas State, Texas, Baylor and Iowa State — the closest game in league play, but still 870 miles— so every trip in league play is a 3-to-5 hour flight for the Mountaineers.

Marshall is in the same situation. Conference USA has 14 members, so the Herd will play the East Division — ODU, Charlotte, FIU,

Florida Atlantic, WKU and Middle Tennessee. Add two more from the West Division — UAB (next year), Southern Miss, Louisiana Tech, North Texas, Rice, UTSA and UTEP. Except for Charlotte, WKU and Middle, Marshall will fly to all these and schedule four more — shooting for at least two at home, and this year actually having three.

All of these flights are running up huge bills for teams. Southwest Airlines is one of the few services to post its flights, coast-tocoast at $80,000 one way or Northeast or Midwest to Central or South Florida, $50,000 one way. That means $160,000 to cross the country as both Marshall and West Virginia will do any number of times in a season, and then there is the equipment trucked to sites and hotels, meals and other costs.

Which means that the average charter for one football game is nearly one quarter of a million dollars.

Busing is much cheaper, with charter buses going for around $500 per bus per day, and with three on most trips you are looking at up and back for about $3,000 vs. $250,000 for travel — a significant savings.

This is why I think Marshall and West Virginia playing makes sense. I grew up, like most kids, listening to the Mountaineers games on the radio, cheering for WVU in the old Southern Conference days, when Furman and The Citadel were the big trips in the league. WVU would also play Penn State, Pitt, Maryland and Virginia Tech out of conference, all bus trips then and now.

I got to play three sports and earn nine letters at Marshall, playing against the Mid-American Conference. Elsie and I are both big fans of the Thundering Herd, obviously, but we both think the two teams we grew up with should be playing these days.

Why are the two teams not playing? I think greed is a culprit. continued on page 8

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Pruett from page 7

WVU claims to make more money when they don’t have to travel to Marshall for a game, but no one is going to get 12 games at home.

When I say, “If you are scared, get a dog,” I know that coaches like Don, Rich Rodriguez, my dear departed friend Bill Stewart and current coach Dana Holgerson are not scared of Marshall (and neither are their players) — but maybe their bosses are.

I don’t understand the reluctance to play Marshall by former and current athletic directors. The two schools are working together in many other areas, and the presidents at the two schools are communicating maybe more than ever before. So why is it such a task to throw these two schools together?

It’s not money. Marshall got $100,000 for selling tickets and $300,000 total in the recent contract for games, 2006-2012. WVU received the same for coming here. That means both teams made great money for standing-room-only crowds, selling 40,000to-60,000 or more for each game.

Even better is that the fans get after each other all summer, in anticipation of the game.

WVU now has 60,000 seats with renovations, so the all-time big crowds that the Mountaineers drew from 1986-to-2003 against Miami-Fla., Pitt, Ohio State, Penn State and South Carolina have to be set aside.

The season ticket base for WVU has dropped for seven straight years — it is a problem all across college football.

This game solves that. The game with BYU in the Washington Redskins’ facility not only took money away from north central West Virginia, but drew only 38,207 at FedEx Field — which is a 82,000-seat NFL stadium.

When WVU was ranked No. 9 in 2012, they still drew only 45,511 for a game with FCS James Madison at FedEx Field.

Why not draw 60,000 for Marshall at home, fill hotels, restaurants, bars and shops for a great kickoff to the college football season?

Same idea in basketball — Bob Huggins complained when WVU played another opponent last year in the Civic Center and only 8,000 showed up. That is about average unless you can book a top-25 school, and most basketball coaches don’t do that in December at Charleston.

12,000 was the usual sellout for the MU-WVU doubleheader — which they quit playing the last three years. After expenses last year, it was a good payday with 11,748 for just the men’s game, 3,173 for the women (an even better 14,921 total for 2 games!) and a major statewide event.

WVU actually drew just 1,302 at the Coliseum last December for a men’s game.

Fairleigh Dickinson drew just 1,782 four days later and Longwood drew just 1,022.

WVU men’s basketball has had eight games in 16 years with Coppin State.

The only crowd over 1,742 back in 2005 was 2,042 when WVU was ranked No. 24. All six other games? Under 1,000 in attendance

— not much revenue or interest in Coppin State, but WVU is still playing them about every other year.

Charleston with WVU-MU is about selling hotel rooms and filling the many great restaurants in the Capital City. Television was always going to pick up this game, especially once WVU was in the Big 12 with that great TV package, making it a national game for the state. Who could lose on this —no one!

The football game can do the same things — national television can paint a great picture of the state each August or September; both teams get an exciting early non-conference game that is sure to sell out the stadiums in both towns.

This year, WVU had standing room only for Missouri and K-State in the Big 12 opener — it helps to be 4-0 to start, with a first victory over Coach Bill Snyder’s team (that ties them with me!). But YSU’s 56,261 means 5,000 seats were not sold and MU would do that for WVU. Last year at WVU, Georgia Southern drew 55,182 and Liberty drew 52,899. In 2014,Towson drew 56,414 and in 2013 William & Mary drew 56,350 and Georgia State drew 57,440, and a game with Maryland in Baltimore drew 55,677 to a 70,000-seat stadium of the NFL’s Ravens. That means about 40,000 seats went unsold over the past four years — Marshall can help fix that.

Whatever we have to do to get football back together, let’s do it.

The Mountain State would be the real winner, each and every year.

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The Leap Into Conference USA Play WITH LOUISVILLE AND PITTSBURGH OUT OF THE WAY, MARSHALL IS READY NOW FOR THE MEAT OF THE CONFERENCE USA SEASON WHERE A CHAMPIONSHIP IS STILL ON THE TABLE.

Tony Pittman leaped high over the line’s Jordan Dowery (58) during Marshall’s big game against the (then) No. 3-ranked Louisville Cardinals in Huntington. photographs by Greg Perry/HI staff

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by Woody Woodrum HI senior editor The month of October couldn’t get here fast enough for Marshall fans. After a predictable rout against the likes of Morgan State and loss versus Akron, the month finished with a flourish with the one-two punch of No. 3 Louisville followed by a trip to play Pitt.

Looming on the horizon was the prospect of Conference USA league play, and that is the ultimate goal of any modern-day college football team: win your conference title, and move on into post-season play.

The Marshall University football team was facing a large mountain to climb coming into the game with the No. 3-ranked Cardinals of Louisville — and that challenge was more than doubled when the Thundering Herd had to face U of L without starting sophomore Chase Litton, who was reportedly suffering from a concussion that came during the previous week’s loss to Akron.

Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson felt pressure from Marshall’s Ryan Bee all night long, but the Cardinals That meant in front of the second-largest crowd at the Joan C. proved why they were ranked No. 3 coming into the game at Edwards Stadium in Huntington with a 58-29 win.

Edwards Stadium, a standing-room other score when Beckley, W.Va. linebacker Chase Hancock forced a only crowd of 40,592, just 790 less fumble against the Cards backups that Ty Tyler scooped up and ran in than the all-time record crowd of 41,382 set against West Virginia in for a 26-yard touchdown — his second fumble return for a touchdown 2010, true freshman Garet Morrell would be asked to try and match of the season. score-for-score with Heisman Trophy front-runner and Louisville So, there were highlights and glimpses of the type of football quarterback Lamar Jackson. Jackson, who came in with 18 touchdowns that Marshall could put on the field the remainder of the season. on the season, would throw for five scores and run for two more in the And, there was solace to be found in the fact that a freshman backup 59-28 win over the Herd as Louisville moved to 4-0 this season and quarterback could start a big game, score points, and remain poised. It Marshall fell to 1-2. didn’t help that Louisville displayed the legitimacy of their #3 ranking.

Marshall last lost back-to-back games in 2013 at Ohio and at VirU of L had opened the season with a 70-14 rout of Conference ginia Tech, but it had been since 2007 that Marshall lost back-to-back USA member Charlotte, went to Syracuse and beat the Orange 62-28, home games to No. 3 West Virginia and to FCS member New Hampand had pushed Atlantic Coast Conference front-runner Florida State shire. It was Marshall’s 15th consecutive loss to teams in the Top 25, and around in a 63-20 win over the Seminoles. On the face of it, Marshall drops the Herd to 3-20 against ranked teams back to the 1976 upset at matched ACC member Syracuse in scoring and held the Cards to their home of No. 20 Miami-Ohio. lowest total of the season.

But in third game of the season against Louisville, the freshman “There is no question, that’s an excellent football team,” Marshall Morrell pushed the Herd offense to three touchdowns, throwing for Coach Doc Holliday said of Louisville. “That quarterback is a special two scores in his first start, and drove the team for one more on a Tony guy. We made a few plays early, but in the end we did not make enough Pittman 13-yard run, while the Marshall defense came up with the continued on page 14

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Daylight After 25 Years

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This football was placed in a time capsule at Joan C. Edwards Stadium in the inaugural season of 1991. Signed by coach Jim Donnan, the ball was used in the first game at the stadium, a 24-23 Marshall win over New Hampshire. The time capsule was opened in September of 2016, and the old football once again saw daylight. photo by Greg Perry/HI staff

continued from page 11 plays.

“It’s like I told our football team; we have a lot left out there, all our goals and dreams are still there, we have not had any conference play yet, and we just have to keep fighting.”

Just one week later, it looked like that “fight” had left the building in Marshall’s first-half performance against Pittsburgh. The Herd was down, but not out, and the final score of 43-27 is just a little bit deceptive. Marshall trailed 27-0 at halftime, and the Pitt Panthers were running up and down the grass surface at Heinz Field without much challenge from anything wearing kelly green.

In fact, Marshall had punted on 5-of-6 of first half possessions, gaining just over 100 yards on offense. The Panthers took their four touchdown lead to the dressing room. The fans in the stands at Heinz Field dressed in Kelly Green were thinking the rout was on, and you could literally hear the TV remotes clicking over to another show, another game.

But not Marshall Coach Doc Holliday. He told his Marshall team they could get back in the game, and to keep fighting. And fight they did, coming out with an opening 80-yard drive that ended with quarterback Chase Litton hitting senior slot Josh Knight for a 15-yard touchdown. On the following kickoff, Knight recovered an onsides kick

by Amoreto Curraj, and the Herd was back in business.

It was a gutsy show of coaching and playing football.

“Our special teams played a big part in the comeback,” Holliday later said. “They executed well for us with the onsides kick, kick returns and punting. I thought Keion (Davis) ran hard, in fact all of our backs ran hard in the second half. Chase Litton made some plays and Michael Clark is getting better.”

Some would say that the second half against Pittsburgh was the best two quarters of football that Marshall has played all season.

“We are 0-0 next week going into conference play. We always want to win our conference and all of our dreams are right out there in front

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of us,” coach Holliday summed up.

The star of the comeback against Pitt was none other than big running back Anthony Anderson. He ran the ball hard in both drives early in the second half, gaining 30 yards for the drive ending with the Knight score. Anderson then finished off the next drive with an 11-yard touchdown of his own at the 5:20 mark of the third quarter, as a hush fell over the 45,246 in attendance (excepting the green-clad folks).

Sophomore back Keion Davis also gained 38 yards over both those drives, part of the team-leading 68 yards on 12 carries (5.7 yards per carry), and Anderson was second with 56 yards on 12 carries (4.3 yards per carry).

In essence, the second half against Pitt played a preview for the remainder of the Conference USA season: Marshall’s running backs were starting to find their way as a group. When the right back is in the right situation, they are a formidable force for opponents to reckon with.

Quarterback Chase Litton, who returned after missing the Louisville game for an injury, returned to throw for 20-of-32 for 240 yards and two touchdowns against just one interception. The second touchdown was a career-long of 83 yards to former high school teammate Michael Clark, topping the 66-yard long Litton had last year as a freshman to departed senior Davonte Allen. It finished a two-play, 86-yard drive and that placed Marshall within 10 points at 30-20 with 14:47 to go in the fourth quarter.

It was also the first catch of 80 or more yards since Aaron Dobson, now with the Detroit Lions, canght an Eddie Sullivan pass for an 86yard touchdown against UCF on October 13, 2010.

Litton and Clark were in middle school at that time, six years ago.

Still, despite the comeback, Holliday and the Herd want no moral victories. Those do not show up in the left side of the ledger, where it stood at 1 on the left and 3 on the right after just one month of football.

“Our program’s too far along to think our guys are going to go out there and quit,” Holliday said. “There’s no moral victories just because we got that thing close. We’re disappointed. That locker room is a mess continued on page 15

Garret Morrell did an admirable job in relief for starter Chase Litton against Louisville, hitting 9-of-21 passes for 59 yards and 2 TDs. continued from page 14 because we didn’t win the game.”

The benefits of the solid second half against Pittsburgh could show up in the month of October. Conference USA opponents North Texas, Florida Atlantic, Charlotte, and Southern Miss all loom on the horizon.

Two of those games are on the road, and two are in the cozy confines of Joan C. Edwards Stadium.

“We played our football,” Chase Litton said after the Pittsburgh loss.

“We had the crowd on our side — we had the sideline on our side. We played our football.”

Marshall fans even get one extra home game (7) this year in order to help propel their team on to post-season play. If The Herd plays their football (like they did in the second half against Pittsburgh), then this 2016 season is still wide open, and full of potential.

Time Capsule continued from page 5 ular stripes) in a 14-15 loss. On top of that, the post game sandwiches were sitting in an unair-conditioned van in State Fair traffic, and they made Payton and linebacker Matt Downey so sick they couldn’t travel to Chattanooga (and where my temp hit 106-degrees before going to a clinic near the stadium while the game started without me).

Well, all those memories came rushing back this week and I hope you enjoyed the trip down the 1991 lane, my second year of being married to the lovely Liz and my fourth year as the MU Athletic Equipment Specialist - meaning I could also shoot film, which went away in 1991, and video, which Bill and Rich Worner took over on game days as well as practice and wearing hard hats to film in East Stands, then riding elevator platform with hardhats to video from new press box.

All of that came back when we saw the time capsule, in as good condition as Marshall’s 149-28 record at the Joan C. Edwards Stadium and James F. Edwards Field since we opened it on September 7, 1991.

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WHAT I’VE LEARNED:

STEVE WILLIAMS

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ost people know him as Mr. Mayor these days. And, that’s what Steve Williams is — the mayor of the city of Huntington, W.Va. However, he first came to prominence as a Marshall football player, a member of the Young Thundering Herd of 1974-77. A quarterback by training in high school, Williams came to Huntington and quickly adapted to playing just about any position the coaches would have him play.

It is that kind of flexibility and willingness that he found on the football field that today defines him in his role as mayor.

Williams earned a bachelor’s degree in political science with Cum Laude honors from Marshall University in 1978 and a master’s degree in public administration from West Virginia University in 1980. He began serving as the city’s director of economic development in 1984 and, later that same year, he was named the youngest city manager in Huntington’s history. He served as city manager until Huntington switched to a strong mayor form of government in 1985.

Williams also represented Cabell and Wayne counties in the West Virginia House of Delegates from 1987 to 1994 where he spent much of his time working to reform the higher education and medical education systems in West Virginia.

Professionally, he established a career in finance with 26 years in investment banking and investment brokerage.

He has served as an investment banker, stock broker, sales manager and senior level executive, overseeing many of the largest markets for the largest banking institutions in the nation.

Williams returned to politics in 2008 when he was elected as an at-large Huntington city councilman. He fulfilled his four-year term and served as the governing body’s Finance Committee chairman before he was elected as Huntington’s 47th Mayor on November 6, 2012.

However, it all comes back to —and is centered around — the time that Williams spent at Marshall University as an athlete, as a student, and as a fan.

Herd Insider publisher Greg Perry sat down with Steve Williams on September 29, 2016 to find out what Williams has learned in his years in and around Marshall University.

HI: What is on a mayor’s office wall is seen by many important people. You have a photo of the 1970 Marshall University football team. That says something.

SW: First, it’s a personal story. I didn’t realize this until the We Are Marshall movie came out: Marshall photograph and story by Greg Perry/HI staff continued on page 22

22 / HERD INSIDER

/ October 12, 2016

Steve Williams continued from page 21 kept calling to my family. My dad became good friends with Rick Tolley, and he offered my dad the offensive coordinator’s job at Marshall. If he had taken it, he would be buried up in Spring Hill cemetery.

In the movie, there’s a scene where the president is going down a list of potential coaches. I asked my dad, “Did it occur to you that you could have been on that list of people who were being called?” He said, “I was.” Dad proceeded on to work on his doctorate, and got another call that another job was open at Marshall. That’s when we moved here.

Marshall just kept calling my family.

This is a reminder to me of where I came from, how I ended up here. I believe in destiny. When dad was offered the job to come here in 1972, we came up here to the interview with dad, and I never went home. One way or the other, my family was going to move somewhere.

I was destined to come here.

The picture is a reminder to anybody that comes in my office that we have been taken to our knees, but we lifted ourselves up, and we continued on. That we are resilient, tough, and hold on to each other.

This defines our community. I want someone to see strength when they come in here. I honor that team, and consider that to be a holy relic.

HI: Being a quarterback, does any of that now play a part in being a mayor?

SW: Everything that I learned as a quarterback – the leadership you needed to have, you arrive early, you stay late, you speak with confidence— people will follow you. You make a mistake, you own up to it. The quarterback has to be a coach on the field. The mayor has to lift people up. I see my role as leader and pastoral. That there is everything they can accomplish if they set their minds to it.

We are competing in a world-wide market these days. It’s about time we realize that we’re not playing in little league parks any more.

We have to be at our best. The beauty is that we have everything here we need to be world-class. When we expect that out of ourselves, everybody else will step up.

HI: You had to go away for a while, working in business and finance, only to return to Huntington years later. Do you think you are a better person as a result of that?

SW: When I look back, I didn’t realize how much I missed it [Huntington]. The 14 years that I was away from public life, I learned how to run businesses, how excellence can be defined. What those years of business did was prepare me for this. I just thought I’d learn some things in business and that would be my calling.

About six months into this job, something just clicked. It wasn’t that all those years were preparing me for business. It was that the intervening 14 years was the missing link for me to do that which I knew I was called to do.

I was ready, but I wan’t prepared.

I had to learn how to accept failure. Not just accept it and say, “that’s it.” You have to learn how to fail successfully, falling down and proving to yourself that you can get back up.

I distinctly remember walking down the street and people wouldn’t even recognize my shadow. There’s a point where I’m either defined by my headlines or I’m defined by the people who love me and who I love.

I found [wife] Mary in the meantime, and she saved my life. She and those two girls gave me a reason to be a man that they deserved, and be the man that my mom and dad raised me to be. It’s been a blessing every moment for the last twenty-one years.

Best thing that ever happened to me.