There’s nothing written in stone that says you have to play football – and have been good at it – in order to be a good coach. The fact that Bridgeport High School coaching icon Wayne Jamison won four state championships and he never suited up while a student at Roosevelt-Wilson is proof of that.

 

At the same time, it doesn’t hurt. And there’s more proof than just a member of the BHS coaching staff telling tall tales about their past.

 

Twice this month, an individual involved with the football programs in the Bridgeport system have been recognized for their standout play during their own prep playing days. A week prior to yesterday, Bridgeport Middle School Assistant Coach Steve Hastings was named to Keyser’s All-Century football team.

 

Prior to that, on Oct. 3 to be exact, current Indians assistant football coach and head wrestling coach Adam King was also honored. On that Friday night, King was officially inducted into the Ripley High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

 

For those familiar with King’s athletic past, it shouldn’t be a surprise. Not only was King a solid athlete for the Vikings, he was an exceptional one that excelled in three sports. The former RHS running back and linebacker was a Class AAA all-state second team selection, a two-time wrestling all-stater at the now defunct 215 weight classification and was special honorable mention all-state in baseball. He played for a Class AAA championship squad in baseball in the late 1990s and was the team’s centerfielder.

 

Despite all of those achievements, King was pleasantly surprised to find out that he had been chosen. And even happier that he was able to attend.

 

“I got a call from Mike Ruben, who is the Alumni Association President and the voice of the Vikings and he let me know I had been chosen. I was very happy and wasn’t expecting it,” said King.

 

One of the things the Ripley officials needed to confirm, however, was if BHS had a scheduling mistake or if they were playing on a Thursday evening in Elkins. The reason for that was that Ripley was hosting Nitro the night after the Elkins game and that was the evening King was to be honored.

“They asked me if I was available and if the game was on Thursday. When I told him yes to both then it got things going,” said King.

 

Unlike the recent Hall of Fame selections for Bridgeport High School where everyone was inducted on the same day and recognized at the same Friday evening football game, King said Ripley has a different individual honored at each of the five home football games. The opening on Bridgeport’s schedule with Ripley’s game at home with Nitro matched up.

 

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t happy about it. What really made it great was to have my family there. My wife and my boys were on the field and then my parents were there too,” he said. “They still live there; my father is actually still the city manager.”

 

The event brought back a flood of memories for King. He said although Ripley has struggled in recent years in football and baseball – with wrestling still strong – King said that the 1990s saw the program flourishing.

“We were successful as a team is so many sports at that time. It was a good era for Ripley and I was happy to be a part of it,” said King, a 1999 graduate.

 

Apparently, he was a pretty good part of the success. In fact, his play on the football field drew plenty of attention from schools throughout the West Virginia Conference. However, he opted for a different route.

 

King ended up walking on at West Virginia University and making the squad. Although redshirted, he played five years in the program – including two years with Don Nehlen and two years with Rich Rodriguez.

 

“It was a dream of mine to at least give it a shot. I could have gone to some conference school and not paid a dime, but I had set my mind that I wanted to try it,” said King. “Once there, things went really well and I just got addicted to trying to contribute.”

 

That allowed King to not only be a member of the team, but to get the perks that go along with it. He was traveled across the country and played in multiple bowl games while with WVU including the 2000 Music City Bowl, the 2002 Continental Tire Bowl and the 2004 Gator Bowl.

 

King was a reserve fullback, but he made his mark on special teams. His senior recap stated that he “excelled on the kickoff return unit.”

 

There were plenty of highlights, including being a captain for the Rutgers game, being a two-year letter winner, grabbing a fumble recovery against Chattanooga in 2002, earned the “dominator” honor at his position in winter conditioning with high marks in bench press (400), 225 lifts (22) and hang cleans (325). Along with those honors – and others – he was also on the Athletic Director’s Academic Honor Roll and BIG EAST all-academic team. However, there was one honor he still cherishes to this day.

 

“My freshman year I received the Danny Van Etten award named in honor of a freshman from Florida that was killed in a car crash,” said King. “He played with heart and, back then, you had to be a freshman to win it because it was for a rookie of the year. Now, it goes to the scout team player of the year,” said King. “To me, getting that award was the biggest honor at WVU.”

 

The honor, however, isn’t the biggest thing he left with from Morgantown.

 

“To this day, most of my best friends in life are the guys I played football with and the rest are guys from Ripley and my friends here,” said King. “To get a chance to go back to Ripley and see so many friends, some of whom are on the coaching staff, was special.”

 

Even more special was King’s alma mater won the game. The Vikings topped Nitro 54-18.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows King with his family after being indcuted Oct. 3, while he's shown - far right - with fellow BHS assistant football coaches Brett and Jeff Hathaway prior to a game last year. The photo of King at WVU - courtesy of WVU Sports Communications - shows him in action against the University of Cincinnati. Bottom two photos are of King, left, playing for Ripley and on the right as a member of the North-South squad.