Nehlen leadership summit wraps at WVU

Jun. 6—- Copy Link — Facebook — LinkedIn — Share on X MORGANTOWN — What Super Regional ?

A host of emerging leaders on the sports landscape of Monongalia County Schools lined up last weekend at West Virginia University, for a gathering named in honor of a coach who helped the Mountain State’s flagship university have its national breakout moment 40 years ago.

The 2026 Coach Don Nehlen High School Student Athlete Leadership Summit featured a host of interactive sessions on the art of directing teams and keeping integrity — for the win-loss record and beyond.

WVU student-athletes and coaches also helped with the sessions.

“Leadership is a skill that can be learned, ” said Dana Voelker, who directs WVU’s School of Sport Sciences, one of the sponsors of the gathering.

Student-athletes in grades 9-12 across Mon Schools came out for the day last Saturday, which was also hosted by the local district, the Bolton Center for Sports Ethics and Leadership, the Center for ActiveWV and Positive Coaching Alliance.

“Sport is a uniquely powerful environment, ” Voelker continued.

“We are proud to support the next generation in strengthening the values, habits and relationships that will serve them throughout their lives.”

Those sessions on the importance of teamwork coupled with primers on personal integrity were right out of the namesake’s playbook, the director said.

The gentlemanly Nehlen, who grew up in gridiron-rich Canton, Ohio and still resides in Morgantown, was a quarterbacks coach at Michigan when he was tapped to take over a floundering Mountaineers football program.

His first season in Morgantown was in 1980.

By the time of his last season in Morgantown in 2000, he had retired with a record that included a host of marquee wins — Pitt and Penn State included — along with two undefeated seasons and a run for college football’s national championship.

Ashyn Bulger, a Morgantown High sophomore who plays varsity tennis, said she’ll take the lessons with her, both on the court and in the community.

“This experience showed me that leadership is a choice that anyone can grow into, ” the student athlete said, echoing Voelker.