Ye olde notebook:
On Tuesday, I had a chance to reach out to new West Virginia State University running backs coach Quincy Wilson.
It started with a jab and a laugh.
"What the heck," I asked, "do you know about running backs?"
Wilson, of course, won the state's Kennedy Award as a runner at Weir High before starring at WVU and enjoying a cup of coffee in the NFL.
"I read a book once," he deadpanned.
Now, Wilson is joining new Yellow Jackets' head coach John Pennington, another former WVU player, in Institute. For State, it's a win-win.
"It's funny because John and I had an event last year here in Charleston," Wilson said. "We kind of said, 'Man, wouldn't it be nice to work together?' It was my first year in the conference [at Glenville State] and he'd been at Concord and here [at WVSU] for a while. I was talking to him about all the dos and don'ts.
"Anyway, when I saw he'd been named interim coach, I sent him a text saying, 'Hey man, I hope you make it.' Then, once he got the job last week, my phone rang and he said, 'Q, you're my first call.' It made my day."
It's been a while, of course, since the days when Wilson put together his career, including "The Run" against Miami (which was actually a pass reception). But he feels very well qualified. Wilson will not only coach running backs for State, but also the offensive special teams, and he'll coordinate travel and community outreach.
"I had some of the best coaches coming up," Wilson said. "There was Darrell Hazell, who was the head coach at Purdue; [ex-WVU assistant] Tony Pierce; Coach [Calvin] Magee, now at Arizona; and Jim Anderson, who is [the running backs coach with the Cincinnati Bengals]. I've had a lot of great mentors I've leaned on - especially in this last year - in regard to drills and how to handle different players. It's great to have people in your corner to help."
Plans?
"It's amazing," Wilson said. "In Charleston, there are what, 50,000 people? But in the region there's 100,000-plus. We have a unique opportunity to reach the youth here and get people on a beautiful campus. The dorms, the basketball facility, the football facility, there are a lot of great things here. It's just getting that out to the community and getting people - women, children, everybody - on campus because it really shines."
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While on the subject of former WVU football players, I received a message from ex-Mountaineer defensive lineman Rick Dolly, who played in Morgantown from 1989-92.
Dolly, a Keyser native, coached at Petersburg for a while before taking roots in Moorefield, where he works at a power plant.
Anyway, Dolly has a son, Brock, who was a 6-foot-6, 265-pound offensive lineman for Moorefield High. Initially, the younger Dolly had an offer from Coastal Carolina, but that was withdrawn because the lineman has had his heart set on WVU. (So far, no go.)
In the meantime, Brock Dolly played in the Blue-Grey All-American Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida. The game was broadcast on ESPN3, and apparently the lineman fared well.
"We could not take him off the field," said NFL evaluator Aaron Harris. "Dolly did so many things well for us at center. Watch, he'll be playing on Saturdays."
Also in that game?
Jay Vanderjagt, a 6-3 quarterback from Scottsdale Coronado High in Arizona, where his father Mike helps coach. Yes, that's the same Mike Vanderjagt who punted for WVU and kicked for the Indianapolis Colts.
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And finally ...
Gazette-Mail reader and former WVU baseball player Dan Dolphin of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, wrote here about the recent passing of Skip Kintz in Sarasota, Florida.
In case you're unaware, Kintz once was a Mountaineer basketball player for Bucky Waters and Sonny Moran back in the late 1960s and early '70s.
At 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds, the Allentown, Pennsylvania native averaged 8.8 points over three years. But what's notable is this: Kintz scored the final two points in the old WVU Field House and had the assist to Charleston's Levi Phillips for the first bucket in the Coliseum.
"He probably did," Phillips said on Tuesday. "I don't remember that, but I do remember afterward. Red Brown was the athletic director and came into the locker room and said, 'Levi, you just scored the first basket in a $10 million facility.' Skip picked me up and threw me in the shower.
"Great shooter," Phillips finished, "and a really neat guy."
Contact Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827 or mitchvingle@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @MitchVingle.