Schoonover living out dream at West Virginia

Wil Schoonover has traveled a rather unique path to the West Virginia football team.

A standout three-sport athlete at Moorefield in football, baseball and track, Schoonover had opportunities in all three sports but initially elected to pursue an opportunity on the gridiron at Glenville.

The main draw was his connection with the coaching staff and while he started his career on special teams during his first fall camp he received word from compliance that there was an issue.

Clearinghouse had flagged his enrollment due to a failed class which effectively made him a non-qualifier and would have forced him to sit out for his first season on campus. So, instead of waiting things out at Glenville, Schoonover made what some might consider a sudden decision to enlist in the Army. It was anything but.

Schoonover always considered himself patriotic and had a desire to serve, so once he left Glenville in December he was flying to Fort Benning on Valentine’s Day to begin basic training. He served as a member of the 4-25th Infantry Brigade and 3-509th Airborne Infantry Battalion

Schoonover would return to the states in June 2018 and shadowed the on-base strength and conditioning coach where he discovered a passion for the art. But he wanted to make one last run at a life-long dream of playing for the West Virginia football team so he attempted to walk-on in 2020. The only problem was that there were no walk-on tryouts due to COVID-19 and he still had to complete work to play.

The dream was largely fueled by watching another Moorefield native Reed Williams have success in Morgantown and the two had become close over the years.

“A big hero of mine, a great friend of mine as well,” he said.

Schoonover spent the fall of 2020 working at the Regis 7 work force where he was granted the opportunity to serve as the supervisor of the youth development group. That gave him the chance to mentor kids and teach them life skills that they could use down the line.

“I learned a lot about myself trying to teach these kids,” he said.

He stayed in that role until around January of 2021, when he elected to enroll at Potomac State to play baseball where he would serve as the backup catcher hitting .350 in the process.

But after the season was done, Schoonover finally had the requirements necessary to walk on at West Virginia in football after he completed one final biology class that summer.

Schoonover didn’t necessarily have a desire just to play college football, but the desire was to represent his home state and the team that he grew up following. That kept him motivated throughout.

Schoonover enrolled the first day of classes in 2021 and it took him around a full year to get back to where he needed to be on the football field. This season he has served in a special team’s utility role as well as relaying the defensive play calling on the sideline.

After serving in the armed forces, the battles on the football field seem trivial compared to what he has experienced in combat and the stakes in those situations.

“In war if you aren’t perfect, you aren’t prepared then somebody dies,” he said.

But the experience is one he believes is invaluable in his overall development.

“The structure molded me into the guy I am today and it gave me great perspective on life,” he said.

The plan is for Schoonover to finish out this season and then move on to be a graduate assistant under Mike Joseph at West Virginia before working in strength and conditioning for the department of defense.

The differences between the two are football is done in quick bursts, while the Army challenges you with how far you can go and how much you can carry in any situation.

It’s a life-long dream come true for Schoonover to suit up in a West Virginia uniform but it just took him a little longer than most to get there.

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