Former Mountaineer Dale Wolfley passed away on Sunday night and on Monday, West Virginia head coach Neal Brown and current Houston head coach Dana Holgorsen spoke on what Wolfley meant to WVU.
“I want to send my condolences Dale Wolfley’s family,” said Neal Brown as he opened his weekly press conference. “I heard about his passing late yesterday and my first reaction was you sure? When you think of somebody that has the personality that Wolf did and kind of a bigger than life personality, you just don’t think about those people passing. Still probably in a little bit of shock there, 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 kind of got our 1891 club back off the ground.
“He was a link between a lot of the former players and the current team. Even guys before he played, he built a really good relationship with those guys and I think that through the years he did a really good job of getting guys back here. Whether it was a golf tournament or some alumni function throughout our spring game, he was always the guy that really engaged former players and got them back around the program.
“His son Stone played for us, I communicated with him earlier today. Just really feeling for that whole family. He always talked about the brotherhood of West Virginia football players and former players, and I know that entire brotherhood is really hurting today.”
Former West Virginia head coach and now current Houston head coach Dana Holgorsen also offered his condolences to the Wolfley family today.
“He worked there forever,” said Dana Holgorsen. “He was very important to a lot of people, to Mountaineer Nation. He meant a lot to me.”
Wolfley, 56, played offensive line at West Virginia for three seasons, from 1986-1990. Wolfley was a native of Orchard Park, New York, returning to West Virginia in 2008 to be on Bill Stewart’s staff as the director of player personnel. Wolfley would later work with the WVU Varsity Club, before later working for the Mountaineer Sports Network as a broadcaster.
Wolfley had two brothers, Ron and Craig. Ron played is in the WVU Sports Hall of Fame, playing for the Mountaineers from 1981-1984, before playing for a decade in the NFL. Craig attended Syracuse, playing football there, before playing with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Dale’s son Stone played for WVU from 2015-2019, and he has a son Maverick who played at the Division I level as well.
