MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Today it's gloomy and overcast in Morgantown, which is fitting for all of those who knew and loved Dale Wolfley. According to several news reports, the popular Wolfley died suddenly last weekend.
"Dale was the walking definition of Mountaineer spirit," veteran West Virginia University play-by-play announcer Tony Caridi said. "His love and passion for WVU athletics was contagious. His energy and passion will never be forgotten by those he touched. It's a sad day for Mountaineer Nation."
Affectionately known as "Wolf," he was a four-year letterwinner on the offensive line at WVU for coach Don Nehlen and was one of the key backups on the Mountaineers' undefeated 1988 team.
But, today, he is perhaps better known for his broadcast work on the Mountaineer Sports Network and the Gold and Blue Nation Mountaineer GameDay and WVU Coaches shows. He worked alongside Jeff Culhane, Dan Zangrilli, Jed Drenning and Dwight Wallace on the radio network, and on-air personalities Geoff Coyle, Scott Nolte, Scott Grayson, AnjelicaTrinone and Amanda Mazey on the weekly television show.
He also did some television commentary for ESPN+ network broadcasts.
After leaving the network following the 2021 season, he continued doing freelance broadcasting work hosting his Wolfman's Call podcast distributed on social media that focused primarily on WVU athletics. His final show was posted last Wednesday.
In the meantime, he was involved with Country Roads Trust benefiting WVU student athletes.
"I'm terribly saddened to hear about the passing of Dale Wolfley," Culhane, now play-by-play voice of the Florida State Seminoles, said. "He was a great friend and colleague to me during my time at West Virginia University.
"Nobody loved the Mountaineers more than Wolf, and we shared many great memories together talking WVU athletics. My thoughts and love are with Kathy and their children during this very difficult time," Culhane added.
Wolfley, a native of Orchard Park, New York, came from a football family that included older brothers Craig, who played collegiately at Syracuse, and Ron, whom Dale followed to WVU. Craig played professionally for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings while Ron was a four-time Pro Bowl special teams player for the St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals, Cleveland Browns and St. Louis Rams. Ron was inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame in 2020.
Dale Wolfley pictured with older brothers Ron and Craig (WVU Athletics Communications photo).
All three got into the broadcasting business following their playing careers.
Dale earned All-East honors and was named to the ECAC All-Star team as an offensive guard for the Mountaineers while appearing in the Fiesta and Gator Bowls. After graduating from WVU in 1990, he became an offensive graduate assistant coach for Nehlen for three years from 1993-95, assisting with the offensive line.
He was part of West Virginia's first Big East championship team in 1993, making him one of just a handful of people involved in the Mountaineers' only two undefeated, untied football regular seasons in school history.
"I had a relationship with Wolf when he was a player and I was a coach for Don Nehlen, not only on the practice field but also through FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes)," Wallace said. "We later were on the MSN broadcast team together and through Dale, I met his brothers and gained great respect for his family through those meetings and through coach Nehlen telling stories about their recruitment.
"His family contributed greatly to the success of Mountaineer football, and our hearts go out to the entire Wolfley family from Mountaineer Nation. He will be sorely missed."
Before reconnecting with football, Dale spent time as a professional wrestler and worked for an event management company that provided security for nationally known entertainers such as Prince and Michael Bolton.
He used to share many colorful stories about his time on the road in the 1990s protecting some of the country's most popular entertainers.
Wolfley returned to the gridiron in 2004 to become brother Ron's defensive coordinator at Phoenix Junior College in Phoenix, Arizona, before assuming the head coaching role a year later.
He came back to his alma mater in 2008 as Mountaineer football's coordinator of player relations for coach Bill Stewart, and then two years later he moved over to the Mountaineer Athletic Club where oversaw the WVU Varsity Club.
In 2012, he added broadcasting duties as co-host of the Mountaineer Sports Network pregame radio show, the Dana Holgorsen and
Neal Brown radio shows, as well as his work with Gold and Blue Nation.
Wolfley was supportive of many charitable causes in the community such as his "Team Wolfman Polar Plunge" to benefit West Virginia Special Olympics. Through the years, he was also a regular visitor to WVU Children's Hospital.
"Wolf was a great dad who loved his family, and he was one of the most intensely passionate people I've ever been around," Drenning said. "He wore that passion on his sleeve every moment of the day – and that sleeve was always Old Gold and Blue. Few people loved WVU like Dale did."
Wolfley, 56, is survived by his former wife, Kathleen, and their four children, Stone, Maverick, Jaden Oz and Talley.
Stone played four seasons for the Mountaineers from 2015-19 and is currently an assistant football coach at Morgantown High. Maverick was briefly on the WVU roster before continuing his career at Akron and the University of West Florida.
"I heard about his passing late yesterday and my first reaction was, 'Are you sure?' When you think of somebody who has the bigger-than-life personality Wolf did, you just don't think about those people passing," West Virginia coach
Neal Brown said. "I'm still probably in a little bit of shock, but no bigger supporter of West Virginia football than Dale Wolfley.
"He helped me a lot when I first got here connecting with former players and really got our 1891 Club off the ground getting people involved in the program that hadn't been involved," Brown added. "He was the link between a lot of the former players and the current team. Through the years, he did a really good job of getting guys back here."
Several tributes were posted online yesterday when news of his passing was made public:
