Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
Blaine Stewart Bringing His Dad’s Best Qualities To Mountaineer Football
March 29, 2023 03:34 PM | Football, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – You can see a lot of Bill Stewart in Blaine Stewart when you watch the late coach's son on the practice field working with his players or sitting down at the dais doing interviews.
Blaine has his dad's infectious smile, his never-ending energy and enthusiasm, his passion and positivity, and, of course, an authenticity that is born out of living in smalltown West Virginia.
Blaine grew up in Morgantown, just an hour-and-a-half drive and a bottle of Dramamine from where his father was raised in New Martinsville, a village situated about halfway between Wheeling and Parkersburg along the Ohio River.
Bill was always prideful of his New Martinsville heritage. He married a New Martinsville girl (Karen Kacor) and continued to call her his "bride" throughout his life. He had a politician's memory for names and dates, oftentimes knowing more about you than you knew about yourself.
I remember once listening to Blaine's father talk about wanting to become a football coach.
"It was 1964 and I was a seventh grader at Magnolia High School. I went to watch my brother (Ted) practice, and I kind of got involved as a student manager, because we didn't have junior high football in those days," he said. "I really took to the coaches. They were all good men and good role models. I always liked my coaches, from Little League baseball on.
"I also liked my teachers and was a pretty good student," he said. "I was the class pet to some and a pain (in the behind) to others, but I loved the teachers and was very blessed in our little hometown to have great role models and I thought it would be neat to do that."
I remember listening to Blaine's father talk about loyalty, which is not always a two-way-street in athletics.
"(Former North Carolina coach) Dick Crum was a great role model for me – the best, greatest and most polished organizer I was ever around," he said. "When they let him go at North Carolina, I will forever have a crack in my heart because it wasn't right.
"He did so much for that state and that football program, then admissions tightened up on us a little bit; we had a bad year but got to a bowl, but they let him go. That's when I knew it was a business. The loyalty they preached all the time, sometimes it wasn't two-way; it wasn't 50/50. Most of the time it was 20/80."
I remember listening to Blaine's father talk about needing to have more patience, particularly during his head coaching days at VMI.
"I was too hands-on as a micromanager," he said. "I never really was that cocky, like I invented the game, but I was full of myself and pretty sure-fire, and in some ways, I am still that today. At VMI, where I was very blessed to coach, I was just too demanding and wanted it to happen too soon. The program had been down and was so bad, and it was a tough situation. We took a shot at it, and I will forever be grateful for the experience."
I remember listening to Blaine's father talk about wasting talent – one of life's biggest sins, in his book.
"I cannot understand why people with great gifts out there don't go 100 miles per hour to let people see these great gifts," he said. "There are so many young, talented people that don't share these talents and gifts with the human race.
"If you can sing, sing. If you can play music, play music. If you can play ball, play ball. Do it to the best of your ability. That goes back to my dad, who made 75 cents a day working in the cornfields on the Ohio River. He always told me, 'If you're going to work for a man, work for a man. You give an honest day's work, most of the time you'll receive an honest day's pay.' I never understood young people who take shortcuts. That's always been one of my pet peeves."
I remember listening to Blaine's father talk about his father - Blaine's namesake.
"My father was a kind and compassionate man, and a country boy," he said. "My dad probably never said a cross word in his life. Me, on the other hand, I am more like my mother – a fireball. But my dad was a great human being, a World War II vet. They talk about the Greatest Generation – bam, put a stamp right on that!
"My dad, they say, was the best mandolin player in the country," he continued. "He was on the fast track playing the Wheeling Jamboree. Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins and Cowboy Copus – the three people that were on the plane that crashed – he knew them. He wasn't playing with them in the big time because dad quit to raise two boys.
"I'm glad he didn't go to Nashville, and they came for him twice. I remember the last time I was in junior high. They said, 'We've got to have you for the Grand Ole Opry' and he said 'I'm not coming. I'm not leaving New Martinsville because I'm raising these boys.' When Karen and I were blessed to have our son, I didn't want to move either."
And, I remember listening to Blaine's father talk about his young son, then only 14.
"My little guy has gotten a little glitter every now and then, but he doesn't walk around like he's something special," he said. "He'll look at me and say, 'Man, you're not that special - you're still my old pop.' I say, 'Thanks buddy, that's good to know.'"
Then, I listened the other day to Blaine describing his four years working for the Rooney family in the Pittsburgh Steelers organization, the last two as assistant wide receivers coach.
"I learned so much," Blaine said. "No. 1, I just learned how to operate at a high level, and that starts at the top with the Rooney family and the whole organization, Mr. (Kevin) Colbert, who I worked with, and coach (Mike) Tomlin. I learned to do things in a detailed way, and I was really appreciative of that."
I also listened to Blaine talk about his mother reestablishing a relationship with Mountaineer football last summer. Neal Brown invited her over to the Puskar Center to tour the facility for the first time since her husband parted ways with WVU in the summer of 2011, one year before he died of a heart attack.
"Mom lives off Stewartstown Road, just five minutes from here. This is home," Blaine said. "For coach Brown, Coleman (Barnes), Patrick (Johnston) and everyone to welcome my mom last summer to show her the building and spend some time with her, even when I wasn't working here, and that she should feel comfortable coming back into this building, that meant the world to me. I have so much respect for this program and for coach Brown.
"She is coming to (last Saturday's) Family Day so we're going to go up to the (Caperton Indoor Practice facility) and have a nice meal with the players and make sure she feels back in the fold. Some former players are here. Rasheed Marshall, she is excited to see. Adam Jones, she is excited to see; Mike Joseph and Lori Rice, too."
He continued, "Adam Jones and Rasheed Marshall … that was the first wave of players that really changed this place in the 2000s. It's cool to not only have a relationship with those guys, but so many guys from the past that have reached out. It's really cool to bridge that era of Mountaineer football."
It is really cool.
A lot has been said and written about Bill Stewart and his brief, three-year tenure coaching the West Virginia University football team from 2008-10 - some good, some not-so-good, some accurate and some inaccurate, and it's pointless to sort through all of it here right now.
I'm just happy to see Blaine Stewart back here coaching the Mountaineer tight ends, not because he's Bill Stewart's son, but because he possesses many of his father's best qualities as a human being.
Blaine has his dad's infectious smile, his never-ending energy and enthusiasm, his passion and positivity, and, of course, an authenticity that is born out of living in smalltown West Virginia.
Blaine grew up in Morgantown, just an hour-and-a-half drive and a bottle of Dramamine from where his father was raised in New Martinsville, a village situated about halfway between Wheeling and Parkersburg along the Ohio River.
Bill was always prideful of his New Martinsville heritage. He married a New Martinsville girl (Karen Kacor) and continued to call her his "bride" throughout his life. He had a politician's memory for names and dates, oftentimes knowing more about you than you knew about yourself.
I remember once listening to Blaine's father talk about wanting to become a football coach."It was 1964 and I was a seventh grader at Magnolia High School. I went to watch my brother (Ted) practice, and I kind of got involved as a student manager, because we didn't have junior high football in those days," he said. "I really took to the coaches. They were all good men and good role models. I always liked my coaches, from Little League baseball on.
"I also liked my teachers and was a pretty good student," he said. "I was the class pet to some and a pain (in the behind) to others, but I loved the teachers and was very blessed in our little hometown to have great role models and I thought it would be neat to do that."
I remember listening to Blaine's father talk about loyalty, which is not always a two-way-street in athletics.
"(Former North Carolina coach) Dick Crum was a great role model for me – the best, greatest and most polished organizer I was ever around," he said. "When they let him go at North Carolina, I will forever have a crack in my heart because it wasn't right.
"He did so much for that state and that football program, then admissions tightened up on us a little bit; we had a bad year but got to a bowl, but they let him go. That's when I knew it was a business. The loyalty they preached all the time, sometimes it wasn't two-way; it wasn't 50/50. Most of the time it was 20/80."
I remember listening to Blaine's father talk about needing to have more patience, particularly during his head coaching days at VMI.
"I was too hands-on as a micromanager," he said. "I never really was that cocky, like I invented the game, but I was full of myself and pretty sure-fire, and in some ways, I am still that today. At VMI, where I was very blessed to coach, I was just too demanding and wanted it to happen too soon. The program had been down and was so bad, and it was a tough situation. We took a shot at it, and I will forever be grateful for the experience."
I remember listening to Blaine's father talk about wasting talent – one of life's biggest sins, in his book.
"I cannot understand why people with great gifts out there don't go 100 miles per hour to let people see these great gifts," he said. "There are so many young, talented people that don't share these talents and gifts with the human race.
"If you can sing, sing. If you can play music, play music. If you can play ball, play ball. Do it to the best of your ability. That goes back to my dad, who made 75 cents a day working in the cornfields on the Ohio River. He always told me, 'If you're going to work for a man, work for a man. You give an honest day's work, most of the time you'll receive an honest day's pay.' I never understood young people who take shortcuts. That's always been one of my pet peeves."
I remember listening to Blaine's father talk about his father - Blaine's namesake.
"My father was a kind and compassionate man, and a country boy," he said. "My dad probably never said a cross word in his life. Me, on the other hand, I am more like my mother – a fireball. But my dad was a great human being, a World War II vet. They talk about the Greatest Generation – bam, put a stamp right on that!
"My dad, they say, was the best mandolin player in the country," he continued. "He was on the fast track playing the Wheeling Jamboree. Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins and Cowboy Copus – the three people that were on the plane that crashed – he knew them. He wasn't playing with them in the big time because dad quit to raise two boys.
"I'm glad he didn't go to Nashville, and they came for him twice. I remember the last time I was in junior high. They said, 'We've got to have you for the Grand Ole Opry' and he said 'I'm not coming. I'm not leaving New Martinsville because I'm raising these boys.' When Karen and I were blessed to have our son, I didn't want to move either."
And, I remember listening to Blaine's father talk about his young son, then only 14.
"My little guy has gotten a little glitter every now and then, but he doesn't walk around like he's something special," he said. "He'll look at me and say, 'Man, you're not that special - you're still my old pop.' I say, 'Thanks buddy, that's good to know.'"
Then, I listened the other day to Blaine describing his four years working for the Rooney family in the Pittsburgh Steelers organization, the last two as assistant wide receivers coach.
"I learned so much," Blaine said. "No. 1, I just learned how to operate at a high level, and that starts at the top with the Rooney family and the whole organization, Mr. (Kevin) Colbert, who I worked with, and coach (Mike) Tomlin. I learned to do things in a detailed way, and I was really appreciative of that."
I also listened to Blaine talk about his mother reestablishing a relationship with Mountaineer football last summer. Neal Brown invited her over to the Puskar Center to tour the facility for the first time since her husband parted ways with WVU in the summer of 2011, one year before he died of a heart attack.
"Mom lives off Stewartstown Road, just five minutes from here. This is home," Blaine said. "For coach Brown, Coleman (Barnes), Patrick (Johnston) and everyone to welcome my mom last summer to show her the building and spend some time with her, even when I wasn't working here, and that she should feel comfortable coming back into this building, that meant the world to me. I have so much respect for this program and for coach Brown.
"She is coming to (last Saturday's) Family Day so we're going to go up to the (Caperton Indoor Practice facility) and have a nice meal with the players and make sure she feels back in the fold. Some former players are here. Rasheed Marshall, she is excited to see. Adam Jones, she is excited to see; Mike Joseph and Lori Rice, too."He continued, "Adam Jones and Rasheed Marshall … that was the first wave of players that really changed this place in the 2000s. It's cool to not only have a relationship with those guys, but so many guys from the past that have reached out. It's really cool to bridge that era of Mountaineer football."
It is really cool.
A lot has been said and written about Bill Stewart and his brief, three-year tenure coaching the West Virginia University football team from 2008-10 - some good, some not-so-good, some accurate and some inaccurate, and it's pointless to sort through all of it here right now.
I'm just happy to see Blaine Stewart back here coaching the Mountaineer tight ends, not because he's Bill Stewart's son, but because he possesses many of his father's best qualities as a human being.
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