CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Marshall University fans, alumni and donors made their way to the Bill Noe Flight School in Charleston on Wednesday evening to celebrate the start of the fall sports season with the annual “Paint the Capital City Green” fundraiser.
In a small airport hangar next to the flight school, hundreds of people dressed in kelly green showed their support for The Herd and got a glimpse of the upcoming sports calendar with a group of Marshall sports personalities, including athletic director Christian Spears, basketball coach Cornelius Jackson, softball coach Morgan Zerkle and cross country coach Caleb Bowen. Head coach Charles Huff also made a brief appearance after the team finished practice.
Marshall University President Brad Smith says hosting such an event brings Herd supporters together.
“What I like most about hosting an event like this is that it reminds me of who we are,” Smith said Wednesday night. “We are a community. We have a rallying cry: ‘We are Marshall,’ and the most important word in that rallying cry is the first one, ‘we.’ It reminds you that this is the people’s university, this is our team, and this is why we do what we do.”
Newly appointed men’s basketball coach Cornelius Jackson says an event like this is similar to a family reunion.
“When you get a whole bunch of Herd fans together, it’s like a family reunion to me,” Jackson said. “It shows the support we have, the energy, the connection, the familiar faces, so it’s like a big family reunion.”
Smith said it was very important to hold university events in the capital every year.
“It’s incredibly important to have a presence here in Charleston,” Smith said. “We are a prosperity platform for the Appalachian region. We have students across the state, in Ohio, Kentucky and actually from countries all over the world. So it’s important for us to recognize that while we may have a geographic bias in some places, we’re actually reaching lives all over the world.”
In addition to a panel discussion with Marshall athletic trainers, fans also had the opportunity to participate in live auctions. Prizes included a flight from Charleston to Huntington in a university helicopter prior to the Marshall men’s soccer game against WVU on Nov. 5. The second prize was an authentic football helmet with the new chrome decals and stripes that Marshall will wear at the start of the season.
Smith says he is more than ready for the start of football season.
“My heart starts racing as soon as I know that summer leads into football season after the Fourth of July,” Smith said. “I know what I’m going to feel, I know what I’m going to see, I know what I’m going to experience. It’s Herd Nation coming together to cheer on the Thundering Herd.”
Smith says there’s real reason to be excited about what fall will bring for Huntington.
“The great thing about this time of year is that we’re all undefeated, so everyone is optimistic, but I think we have real reason to be optimistic,” Smith said. “We have great coaches, great athletes, we have a history of success and I really believe we’re going to show the world this year what Kelly Green can do.”
In his speech, Smith talked about the football team’s upcoming schedule, which includes games in Blacksburg, Virginia against the Virginia Tech Hokies and in Columbus, Ohio against the Ohio State Buckeyes. Smith pointed to the Herd’s upset win in South Bend, Indiana, just two years ago against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and said there always seems to be a tough non-conference schedule, but Marshall won’t back down from the challenge.
“We definitely have a difficult and demanding schedule, but that’s what Marshall has always been about,” Smith said. “We test ourselves. We know we’ve been through difficult things in our lives and we’ve been through competitions where others have said, ‘Wow, there’s no way you’re going to beat them,’ and we’ve come out of both of them victorious. So I’m really excited to go into those arenas to test how good we are and know that we’re winners no matter what the scoreboard says at the end.”
Marshall’s football season begins on August 31st at 5 p.m. with a game against Stony Brook at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
