WHEELING — A 15-year National Football League player who quarterbacked a winning Super Bowl team and the winningest all-time, in-state college basketball coach will be inducted into the West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.
Jeff Hostetler and Mike Carey will be enshrined by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association at the 76th annual Victory Awards Dinner on May 7 at the Embassy Suites in Charleston.
Before his 15-year NFL career, Hostetler made a two-year impact at West Virginia University after transferring from Penn State. His place in WVU lore was set from his very first game in 1982 when he went to Norman, Okla., and stunned nationally No. 9-ranked Oklahoma, 41-27, by passing for 321 yards and four touchdowns to earn national Player of the Week accolades. He led the Mountaineers to the 1982 Gator Bowl and engineered a come-from-behind 20-16 victory over Kentucky in the 1983 Hall of Fame Bowl.
The Holsopple, Pa., native and 1983 team captain had an 18-6 team two-year record and placed 7th in the 1983 Heisman Trophy balloting after passing for 2,345 yards and 16 TDs as a senior. He was selected the 1983 Amateur Athlete of the Year by the W.Va. Sports Writers Association.
He left the school ranking among WVU’s single-season leaders, and career leaders, in total offense, passing yards, completions, attempts, touchdown passes and passing efficiency. He set a school career record for interception avoidance.
He played in the 1984 post-season Hula and Japan Bowls.
Hostetler was also an exceptional student and graduated with a 3.85 GPA in Finance. He was named to the 1984 GTE/CoSida Academic All-America team and won the National Football Foundation postgraduate scholarship.
He’s a member of the WVU Sports Hall of Fame, the WVU all-time team, and was named an inaugural member of the Mountaineer Legends Society.
Nicknamed “Hoss” by Mountaineer fans, he was selected by the New York Giants in the third round (59th pick) of the NFL Draft and won two Super Bowls with the team. He took over the starting quarterback spot from an injured Phil Simms in 1990 and led the Giants to the NFC title and a 20-19 victory over the heavily favored Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXV. The only state product to quarterback a Super Bowl win, he completed 20 of 32 passes for 222 yards and one TD. He also was a member of the winning 1987 Super Bowl XXI team which defeated the Denver Broncos, 39-20.
His 15-year career included stops with the Giants (1984-92), Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders (1993-96), and Washington Redskins (1997-98). A 1994 Pro Bowl selection for the Raiders, his career NFL totals included 16,430 passing yards and 94 touchdowns.
The resident of the Morgantown area joins his former WVU coach and father-in-law, Don Nehlen, in the Hall of Fame.
“Wow, what a surprise and special honor,” Hostetler said when informed of his selection. “I’m honored to join a great, special group from the state I love and where I decided to make my home.”
Carey, meanwhile, earned his fame on the college coaching sidelines, both for women’s and men’s basketball on two different levels.
The Clarksburg native retired in 2022 as the winningest women’s coach in West Virginia University history. He recorded a 21-year record of 447-239 (.652) in NCAA Division 1 play in the Big East and Big 12 Conferences. Previously, he was the men’s coach at his alma mater, Salem College, where he posted a 13-year record of 288-102 (.738) in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Conference and the NAIA.
His overall record of 735-341 (.683) is the winningest in-state college basketball mark.
“I was fortunate to coach my entire career in West Virginia,” Carey said. “This is a great honor and I’m very proud but I have to give thanks to the Salem and WVU officials who gave me the opportunities. Eddie Pastilong (WVU Athletic Director) and David Hardesty (WVU President) took a chance on me and I had a great staff.”
The WVU women’s basketball program only had three post-season appearances before Carey took over in 2001-02, and he led the Mountaineers to 16 post-season spots, including 13 in a row from 2007-19. His WVU record includes 18 winning seasons, 11 NCAA Tournaments with 10 second-round berths, 5 WNIT berths including two finals, 14 seasons of 20 or more wins, 131 weeks of national rankings, and 45 wins over nationally ranked foes, including seven in the Top 10.
He coached 10 players who earned 20 All-America honors, 10 WNBA players and 74 all-conference athletes, while 20 Mountaineers scored over 1,000 career points.
Carey was named Big East Conference Coach of the Year in 2004 and 2010 with a 29-6 overall record. He garnered Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year in 2014 with a school-record 30-5 season, including 16-2 for the Big 12 regular-season title. His 2017 team won the Big 12 Tournament crown.
At Salem, he was assistant men’s coach from 1987 until 1988-89, when he started a 13-year head coaching career that included 12 winning seasons, seven post-season berths (two NAIA and five NCAA Division II) and won five West Virginia Conference titles. Three times the WVIAC tournament champion, his Tigers were twice participants in the Division II Elite Eight, ranked No. 1 nationally during two seasons, and played in the Division II Final Four in 1997.
A four-time WVIAC Coach of the Year, he was also twice named NCAA Division II East Region Coach of the Year. His final five Tiger teams went 138-20. He also served as Salem athletic director from 1989-2000.
Before his college coaching career, Carey spent seven years coaching girls and boys in high school — at Flemington and at Liberty, his alma mater.
A member of the Salem University Athletic Hall of Fame, he was a prolific Tiger basketball scorer with over 2,000 points from 1977-80 and was named WVIAC Freshman of the Year, led the conference in scoring as a sophomore, and was named all-conference and team MVP as a junior.
At Liberty High School in Clarksburg, the three-sport performer was named first-team Class AAA basketball all-state as a senior, when he led the state in scoring with a 33.2 per game average. His No. 32 jersey No. was retired at the school.
Carey resides in Bridgeport.
A digital plaque listing, with photos, of the inductees into the W.Va. Sports Hall of Fame since 1950 may be found at wvswa.org.
By DOUG HUFF
W.Va. Sports Writers Assoc.
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