Don Nehlen Don Nehlen ( born January 1 , 1936 ) is a former American football player and coach . He was head football coach at Bowling Green State University ( 1968 – 1976 ) and at West Virginia University ( 1980 – 2000 ) . Nehlen retired from coaching college football in 2001 with a career record of 202 – 128 – 8 and as the 17th winningest coach in college football history . He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2005 and has served as a president of the American Football Coaches Association . Nehlen played quarterback at Bowling Green ( 1955 – 1957 ) and led the team to a Mid - American Conference championship in 1956 . He began his coaching career in 1958 at Mansfield Senior High School and then served as head coach at Canton South High School and Canton McKinley High School . Nelsen was later an assistant coach at the University of Cincinnati , Bowling Green , and the University of Michigan . Since his retirement from coaching , Nehlen has been a spokesman for the coal industry . He has been urged to run as a Republican for several political offices , but has declined to do so . He is a supporter of the FBI ' s childhood fingerprint identification campaign . Nehlen received the 2002 Distinguished West Virginian Award from the West Virginia Broadcasters Association . In 2006 , Nehlen published a book called " Don Nehlen ' s Tales from the West Virginia Sideline " , an autobiographical account recalling his 21 - year tenure as the head football coach at West Virginia . At West Virginia . Nehlen served as the quarterbacks coach at the University of Michigan under Bo Schembechler from 1977 to 1979 before taking the head coaching job at West Virginia . Nehlen became West Virginia ' s 29th head football coach on December 7 , 1979 , replacing Frank Cignetti , who had posted four straight losing seasons . Nehlen first hired Gary Tranquill as the offensive coach . In an effort to emulate the Michigan defense , Nehlen hired Dennis Brown away from the Wolverines . Nehlen hired a number of coaches he worked with at Bowling Green . Nehlen also retained Donnie Young , Cignetti ' s former assistant head coach , as his recruiting coach . Tranquill left West Virginia after three seasons to become head coach at Navy , taking graduate assistant Steve Dunlap with him . Dunlap later returned to serve as West Virginia ' s defensive coach . One of Nehlen ' s most famed assistants was Doc Holliday , who served the assistant head coach and recruiting coach for almost 20 years before leaving for North Carolina State University . Holliday was sent to Florida every year to find recruits and found many talented players there , including linebacker Steve Grant . When Nehlen arrived at West Virginia , he introduced the Mountaineers ' first " home and away uniforms " and a new helmet logo , " The Flying WV , " which became the official logo of West Virginia athletics and , eventually , the university itself . In 1980 , Nehlen ' s first season at West Virginia , the Mountaineers went 6 – 6 . In 1981 , led by quarterback and future WVU athletic director Oliver Luck , West Virginia went 9 – 3 and upset the Florida Gators in the Peach Bowl , 26 – 6 . In 1982 , led by quarterback Jeff Hostetler ( who ended up marrying Nehlen ' s daughter , Vicky ) , West Virginia started the season with an upset over the # 9 Oklahoma Sooners . In 1984 , Nehlen ' s squad posted wins against Boston College , led by eventual Heisman Trophy winner , Doug Flutie , and over Penn State for the Mountaineers ' first defeat of the Nittany Lions since 1955 . The 1987 season marked the beginning of the Major Harris era at West Virginia . In Harris ' sophomore season , 1988 , the Mountaineers went undefeated in the regular season and faced top - ranked Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl . Harris was injured on the third play of the game and West Virginia lost , 34 – 21 . Notre Dame was crowned as national champions . In 1993 , Nehlen led West Virginia to another undefeated regular season and a Big East Conference title , but the Florida Gators exacted revenge in the Sugar Bowl , winning 41 – 7 . Nehlen ' s 1994 team started the season with a 1 – 4 record , but rebounded to qualify for the Carquest Bowl , where they lost to South Carolina , 24 – 21 . In 1998 , West Virginia featured a number of future NFL players including Marc Bulger , Amos Zereoue , Anthony Becht , Gary Stills , Barrett Green , Solomon Page and John Thornton , to form what Nehlen called " his best West Virginia . . . squad . " The Mountaineers opened the season with a home loss to Ohio State , but finished the season with an 8 – 4 record , losing in the Insight Bowl to Missouri , 34 – 31 . Following a loss to Syracuse in 2000 , Nehlen announced that the season would be his final one as head coach . On December 28 , he coached his final game against Ole Miss in the Music City Bowl . After winning three of their first four bowl game s , Nehlen ' s West Virginia teams had lost seven straight postseason contents , but his final squad , led by the offensive attack of quarterback Brad Lewis , tailback Avon Cobourne , wide receiver Antonio Brown , and fullback Wes Ours , handled the Rebels , 49 – 38 . Nehlen completed his tenure at West Virginia with a record of 149 – 93 – 4 . His 149 victories are the most in school history . With the Mountaineers , Nehlen coached 15 first team All - Americans , 82 All - Big East Conference honorees , and 80 future NFL players . In 1988 , Nehlen was recognized with three national coaching awards , the Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award , the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award , and the AFCA Coach of the Year . In 1993 , he was named the Big East Coach of Year . Nehlen was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2005 .