Football is in the air. The college camps are open, NFL preseason games have started and high school scrimmages are underway.
Often at this time of year, my mind races back in time and I think of names from the past who have played in the Mountain State. Here are some names I am thinking about today.
n Carl Andrews: An outstanding player at Charleston High School in the 1960s, Andrews went on to play for Jim Carlen at WVU from 1968-70. He was scheduled to be in town this weekend for the Charleston High all-class reunion.
n Larry Canterbury: A star at the now-gone Ceredo-Kenova High School, he went on to be a captain for Gene Corum on WVU's 1964 Liberty Bowl team. He would later coach at Oak Glen and Hurricane high schools as well as West Virginia State. His son played for Stan Parrish at Marshall.
n Charleston Catholic football: The Fighting Irish haven't fielded a football team for many years, but in the 1960s they had some stars under Mickey McDade, and many went on to play in college. Terry Smoot and Tommy Groom went to Virginia Tech, Frank Criniti and Tim Monty went to Notre Dame, Tom Bossie played at Marshall after the plane crash and Eddie Russell and Sterling Price earned scholarships to WVU.
n Avon Cobourne: It seems like only yesterday that this talented running back was getting cheers from adoring fans in Morgantown. Not many talk about him anymore, but he ran for 5,164 yards from 1998-2002.
n Doug Chapman: Everyone remembers Chad Pennington and Randy Moss at Marshall in the mid-1990s, but don't forget Chapman. He was a big-time running back recruited by Jim Donnan and coached by Bob Pruett who went on to play with the Vikings. He is now a rising star as a college football television analyst.
n Mike Dunlap: A dominant lineman at Poca, he was a high school All-American and the state's Hunt Award winner in the fall of 1984. He was heavily recruited nationally and earned a scholarship to WVU. The Dots have gone through some lean times recently at O.O. White Stadium, but Poca has had a very strong football tradition over the years.
n Steve Edwards Sr.: I always thought the former George Washington head football coach was ahead of his time. He was running the West Coast offense in the 1970s before we had heard of Bill Walsh. He had a sophisticated passing game for the time with quarterbacks and receivers such as Greg Edmonds, Trippi Adams, Perry DeBord, Billy Williams, Scott Long, Tim Wilcox, Danny Vogelbach, Mike Estes and others. Edmonds went to Penn State, Williams to Kentucky, Long to Wake Forest and Estes won the Kennedy Award.
n Charlie Fisher: Fisher was another standout lineman at Charleston High in the late 1960s. He also went on to play for Jim Carlen at WVU.
n Rick Hurt: The former Charleston High quarterback won the Kennedy Award in 1970. He never lost a game as a starting quarterback for the Mountain Lions, and his teammates will tell you he was always all about the team. He tuned down a scholarship from WVU because no other teammates were offered, and he ended up going to Cincinnati.
n Brian Jarrell: One of the better all-around players from Milton High School, Jarrell walked on at Marshall and was a fan favorite on special teams. He and lineman Rob Bowers were two former Greyhounds who earned playing time for the Herd in the 1980s.
n John Mallory: The New Jersey native was one of the great defensive players in WVU history. A defensive back from 1965-67, Mallory had 10 interceptons as a junior in 1966.
n Chris "Mator" Myers: A great football player who had an outgoing personality, Myers played for DuPont in the 1978 Class AAA state championship game. He and teammate Mark Shannon went on to successful careers at Concord. Myers loved children, and when he suddenly passed away in 2011, his friend started to give continuing-education gifts through the foundation of Mator's Kids. Now, youngsters are attending college all over the country thanks to Mator's Kids.
n Artie Owens: A member of WVU's athletic Hall of Fame, Owens was a star for Bobby Bowden from 1972-75 and often gets forgotten about today. He rushed for 2,648 career yards and came to WVU from eastern Pennsylvania.
n Melvin Riggins and Mike Tyson: These two former Charleston High stars were truly city legends in football and track. The first time I ever saw Riggins touch the football, he returned a kickoff for a touchdown against Stonewall Jackson at the old Laidley Field. He went on to Cincinnati and set school kickoff return records there. Tyson looked like an NFL running back in high school - you can check him out on Youtube - and he went on to Iowa State and had some big moments as a freshman, but he did not stay in Ames. He had Olympic speed and narrowly missed a spot on the 1976 Olympic track team.
n Thad Snodgrass: One of the Kanawha Valley's most heartbreaking stories, Snodgrass was a multi-sport athlete at DuPont High School who was tragically killed in an auto accident just before Christmas of 1978. Had he not been killed, I truly believe he would have been a professional baseball player and governor of West Virginia. He was a junior in high school and had recently played in a state championship football game when he was killed. The upper Kanawha Valley still mourns his passing, but he will never be forgotten. Hundreds of students have been helped to attend college through a scholarship fund in his name.
Reach Frank Giardina at flg16@hotmail.com.