MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Here in these parts, family feuds sort of come with the territory. The most well-known, of course, involves the Hatfields of West Virginia and the McCoys of Eastern Kentucky.
 
But those were two different families.
 
There was once a family feud that took place many, many years ago in East Texas, and their descendants are going to be on opposite sides of the football field this Saturday afternoon in Lawrence, Kansas.
 
Their names are Vic and Les Koenning; one pronounces his last name KIN-ing while the other pronounces his CONE-ing. One is Kansas' offensive coordinator while the other is West Virginia's defensive coordinator.
 
It turns out they are second cousins.
 
Vic said the difference in pronunciation was the result of a good, old fashioned family fight. He gave West Virginia media the abbreviated version earlier this week.
 
"I've got three sons and as most everybody who's got boys know, they tend to fight a little bit when they get a little bit older," Vic began. "How the story goes … back a long time ago in East Texas there were a couple of brothers on this farm and either one of them pulled a knife in a fistfight or one of them pulled out a gun in a knife fight or whatever. 
 
"They got into a big fight and one of them said, 'Hey, I'm outta here.' I'm sure that was my relative," Vic joked.
 
The fight and subsequent separation formed the CONE-ings (Vic's descendants) and the KIN-ings (Les' descendants).
 
Les grew up in Houston and played at the University of Texas, while Vic grew up in Owasso, Oklahoma, and played at Kansas State. 
 
Vic said most of his relatives remained in San Antonio, however.
 
"I knew Les when he played receiver at Texas and I ran into him at a coaches convention in New Orleans years later and he looked just like us. I said, 'You've got to be related to me.' I didn't even know who it was and it was Les," Vic recalled.
 
They got to talking and eventually their acquaintance grew through the years. Later, Vic had an opportunity to talk to Les' father, and he asked him about the old Koenning feud story that has been passed down from one generation to the next.
 
"He said, 'Yeah, I've heard that story.' It's the same one my dad told me so it must be true," Vic explained.
 
On Saturday, the old Koenning feud will resume in Lawrence, Kansas.
 
Les is the highly competent offensive coordinator who Les Miles hired away from Southern Miss to run the Jayhawk offense. His coaching resume includes stops at Texas, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Alabama, TCU and the Miami Dolphins.
 
Vic is the highly competent defensive coordinator who Neal Brown brought with him to WVU from Troy. Vic has made stops through the years at North Carolina, Illinois and Clemson, among others.
 
Saturday will be the first time these two longtime coaching veterans will be matching wits against each other.
 
If Saturday's game is a knife fight, let's hope it's our Koenning who brings the gun rather than the other one!
 
A 4:30 p.m. kickoff has been assigned for tomorrow's game, to be livestreamed nationally via Big 12 Now on ESPN+ (Dave Lamont, Mike Golic Jr., Lericia Harris).
 
Click here for information on how to view the game.
 
The Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield IMG College will have complete wrap-around radio coverage starting at 1 p.m. with the GoMart Mountaineer Tailgate Show, featuring Dan Zangrilli, Dale Wolfley and Jed Drenning, leading into regular network coverage with Tony Caridi and Dwight Wallace beginning at 3:30 p.m.
 
West Virginia will be making its fourth appearance in Lawrence, all of them coming since West Virginia joined the Big 12 in 2012. The Mountaineers own a 7-1 record against Kansas with the lone defeat coming in Lawrence in 2013, 31-19.