CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Some West Virginia University fans prepared themselves for the upcoming 2024 football campaign with a Thursday evening event to hear Tony Caridi speak.
The fundraiser event, called “Inside the Huddle,” took place at the Ball Toyota Event Center at Patrick Street Plaza, and was sponsored by the United Way of Central West Virginia.
Aside from Caridi talking WVU sports, fans and sponsors were treated to live and silent auctions, which included a framed photo of the 1993 West Virginia vs. Miami football game and a chance to guest star on MetroNews Sportsline with Caridi, Brad Howe, and Greg Hunter. Proceeds from the auctions went to the United Way of Central West Virginia and their projects.
Jennings Starcher, who has been a fan of the Mountaineers since his childhood in the 1980’s. was the winner of the bidding to accompany Caridi and his crew on the radio for a segment in the future, and he says there was more than one reason to bid high.
“Well, number one, to get on the radio with Tony (Caridi), Coach (Greg Hunter), and Brad Howe, but also to help out United Way, which has done a lot of great work here in the Kanawha Valley,” Starcher said Thursday evening. “I’m always proud to help out wherever I can.”
Caridi gave fans lots of information, storylines, and things to watch for as the fall season inches closer, and WVU fan Greg O’Neal says the event is a good time for WVU fans.
“Tony (Caridi) does such a good job of letting people know what’s coming with all sports,” O’Neal said. “It’s just a good time to get together with Mountaineer fans before the season starts.”
Mountaineer fans seemed eager to get the season started, as they asked Caridi multiple questions after he was done sharing his insight and stories from the 2023 WVU team, a squad that was picked to finish 14th in the then-14-team Big 12, but instead finished with a 9-4 record, a bowl victory, and a fourth-place finish in the league.
O’Neal says a season like last year is the best story, but this year can bring some of the same success.
“Those are always the best, when you’re not supposed to (win),” O’Neal said. “I think it will be a surprise again this year for people. I think we’ll come back and do a lot of the same stuff.”
In looking ahead to this year’s team, O’Neal wants assurance that head coach Neal Brown’s squad has the depth it needs to survive any injuries.
“I’d like to hear that we’re healthy,” O’Neal said. “That we’ve got backups for our backups, which we haven’t had, but I think they’ve been able to build that over the years, so I’m anxious to see what kind of depth we’ve got.”
Bill Painter, another longtime West Virginia resident and Mountaineer fan, says this year’s team has the pieces it needs.
“I think a lot of pieces are there to be really good, but they all have to blend together, all the newcomers.”
The newcomers Painter was referring to is a pair of new wide receivers Caridi talked about in Justin Robinson, a transfer from Mississippi State, and Jaden Bray, a transfer from Oklahoma State.
In addition to WVU storylines, Caridi spent a considerable amount of time during his speech laying out the new structure of college athletics. Caridi spoke on the topics of NIL, roster retention, and the new class action lawsuit that regards revenue sharing with student athletes that will go into effect a year from now, as well as how universities and athletic departments will have to adjust.
Marcus Hassen, another die-hard WVU fan, says the subject gives him a big concern.
“My concern around that would be, at some point, does the thing that made college athletics so great all of these years, the style, the substance, and particularly the authenticity, do we lose that authenticity piece if we fully go from the amateur to the professional model in college sports?”
Caridi assured fans in his speech that despite the changes that have and will come in college sports, it won’t affect how Mountaineer fans come out and support their team.
The 2024 West Virginia Mountaineers officially opened up fall camp yesterday and are preparing for a season opener at home against Penn State on August 31.