MORGANTOWN — Former WVU offensive lineman and broadcaster Dale Wolfley passed away in his sleep on Saturday evening.
“When you think of somebody that has a personality that Wolf did and it’s a bigger-than-life personality you just don’t think about those people passing,” WVU head coach Neal Brown said Monday. “I’m still probably in a little bit of shock there.
“I heard about his passing late (Sunday) and my first reaction was ‘Are you sure?’”
Wolfley, 56, was a four-year letterwinner for the Mountaineers under head coach Don Nehlen from 1987-1990. After graduating, Wolfley became an assistant on Nehlen’s staff for three seasons. His coaching career eventually brought him back to Morgantown in 2008 when he became the coordinator of player relations for coach Bill Stewart.
He also worked with former WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen, whose team will play the Mountaineers this Thursday in Houston.
“My condolences go out to Dale Wolfley’s family,” Holgorsen said Monday. “Wolfman was on my staff, he was a great player there, he worked there forever. He was very important to a lot of people and to Mountaineer Nation.”
Holgorsen said he is sure Wolfley would have made the trip to Houston to watch the game this week (7 p.m., FS1).
Following his coaching career, Wolfley enjoyed a successful broadcasting career beginning in 2012 with the Mountaineer Sports Network, Gold and Blue Nation and, most recently, his own “Wolfman’s Call” podcast.
“There’s no bigger supporter of West Virginia football than Dale Wolfley,” Brown said. “He helped me a lot when I first got here connecting with former players. … He was the link between a lot of the former players and the current team. Even guys before he played, he had built really good relationships with those guys.”
A native of Orchard Park, New York, both of Wolfley’s brothers also played college football. Craig went to Syracuse and Ron went to WVU, where Dale followed. Craig went on to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings while Ron was a four-time Pro Bowl special teams player.
Wolfley is survived by his former wife, Kathleen, and their four children, Stone, Maverick, Jaden Oz and Talley.
Stone played four seasons for WVU from 2015-19 and is currently an assistant coach at his alma mater, Morgantown High School. Maverick also played for WVU before continuing his career at Akron and West Florida.
“He was always the guy that really engaged former players and got them back around the program. He’ll be missed,” Brown said of Wolfley. “He always talked about the brotherhood of West Virginia football players and I know that entire brotherhood is really hurting today.”
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