Mike Hickman, who coached football at EHS from 1975 through 1983, was passing through the area and made a special trip from Clarksburg, where he was visiting family, to not only meet the new head coach and his players, but take a look at the new field the Tigers now call home.

“I talked to Chad a couple times on Facebook and he invited me to stop by if I was ever in town,” Hickman told The Inter-Mountain. “So I was visiting family in Clarksburg and decided to make the trip to Elkins to meet with him at practice.”

Hickman said his last visit to Elkins was about 10 years ago, when his 1980 football team at EHS was inducted into the Randolph County Hall of Fame. That team won nine games and advanced to the Class AAA state playoffs.

“West Virginia is where I started and Elkins has always been dear to me,” said Hickman. “Those boys I had at Elkins sort of propelled me in my career and anything I ever did successfully is because of them.”

Former Elkins High School Coach Mike Hickman, left, who coached the Tigers from 1975 to 1983, visited new EHS head coach Chad Ware during practice at Elkins High School on Monday. Elkins will open the season on Aug. 30 at Liberty.

Hickman achieved tremendous success in what turned out to be a 49-year high school football coaching career. And just two weeks ago he was honored for his accomplishments when he was inducted into the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame. 

Hickman, who has 141 career wins as a high school football coach, is also a member of the Florida High School Coaches Hall of Fame, inducted in 2012. He has been a coach in the state of Florida since 1983.

“It was fantastic to be inducted into the National Hall of Fame, it was quite an honor,” said Hickman. “I got to go out to North Dakota for the ceremony and while I was out there I got to visit Mount Rushmore, which I had never had a chance to see. I was out there for four days and had a really good time. It was quite an experience.”

Hickman said he had many memorable players during his five years at EHS, where he compiled 33 wins, but one player in particular stuck out more than the others and that was Tiger multi-sport standout Roy Simms.

“I had a wonderful time while I was at Elkins and a lot of great memories,” said Hickman. “I had a lot of good players, including Roy Simms, who was just amazing. I’ve coached a lot of kids in Florida and Roy was as good as any of them. He could do everything and played safety, receiver and running back for us. He was also a great basketball player and won the state high hurdles in track. He was just a great, great kid to coach.”

Hickman left the Mountain State in 1983 after receiving some advice from College Football Hall of Fame Coach Bobby Bowden.

“I was Bobby Bowden’s student assistant at West Virginia University and I stayed in touch with him when he went to Florida State,” said Hickman. “One year after I had some success at Elkins, he told me that if I ever wanted to go to a place where football is as good as it gets, I needed to come to Florida. I told him I didn’t know if I could ever leave West Virginia, but I drove down there during that spring break and had dinner with him. 

“He (Bowden) wrote me a letter of recommendation and I went around to the local schools and three of them offered me jobs. Not so much because of my resume, but because of his letter. So, I came back home, sold our house over on 16th Street, moved down there and never looked back.”

Hickman said that leaving Elkins and the school where he got his start was a difficult decision.

“I had family here and I knew I would miss it, but I was up to my ears into wanting to coach,” said Hickman. “Coach Bowden told me that I would probably have to go back to being an assistant coach in Florida, because they didn’t think a whole lot of West Virginia football down there. But he said if I was as good as he thought I was, I would get a head coaching job again. Three years later I got a head coaching job and was a head coach all the way until I retired and became an assistant with my son.”

Before he went to Florida, Hickman’s first coaching job was at Grafton High School in 1975. The following year he took a job at EHS, where he remained until he left for Florida. During his time at EHS, he also coached wrestling and track.

After leaving West Virginia, Hickman’s first football coaching job in the Sunshine State was at Lincoln High School in Tallahassee, where he coached from 1983 to 1986. From there he coached at Rickards High School in the same city from 1986 to 1990.

In 1991, Hickman began his long stint at Florida High School, where he remained through the 1999 season. After spending three years at Chiles High School (1999 to 2002), he returned to Florida High, a charter school for Florida State University, where he remained until retiring as head coach in 2012.

His son Jarrod took over the program and Hickman decided to stay on as assistant coach with the team. The father-son duo are still in the same positions at the school and are currently prepping for the upcoming season.

“When I retired, my son asked me to come back and help him, so I’ve been his assistant since 2005,” said Hickman. “Jarrod was five years old when we left Elkins and he’s had great success since taking over for me. He’s been to the state championship game twice and won his first 100 games quicker than I did.”

Hickman said it was a pleasure to visit with coach Ware and the players at Elkins High School on Monday.

“It was great, they really treated me well and it was a lot of fun meeting all of the coaches and players at Elkins High School,” said Hickman. “Those boys had a really good practice and it really was a special moment for me.”

During practice Hickman spent some time addressing this year’s football team, which will open the 2024 season on Aug. 30 at Liberty High School.

“I just told them to remember that they are playing for each other and to trust their coaches,” said Hickman. “For them to not let the teammate down next to them and I told them that there’s not one offense or one defense, if there was everyone would be running the same thing. So to trust their coaches and do what they ask you to do, everybody has got to be on the same page.”

Hickman said he was impressed with the new football field at Elkins High School.

“The new field looks fantastic,” he said. “It’s really special and a big change from the old stadium. I also did some reminiscing and drove around town for a while when I was in Elkins. I went over to my old house on 16th Street and took a look at where the old high school and football field used to be. It was a nice visit.”

Ware, who was an assistant coach at EHS from 1995 to 2010, and was named head coach this spring, was happy that Hickman attended practice and visited with this year’s gridders.

“Having coach Hickman at practice was fantastic,” Ware told The Inter-Mountain. “It’s not every day that you get a National Hall of Fame coach to stop by and talk to your players. He talked to the kids about being good teammates, listening to their coaches, and working hard. It was a great visit from him — he’s the real deal and it was nice having him here. He’s genuinely a good guy and a very good coach.”

Ware said Hickman spoke highly of the EHS players, the direction the program was headed in, and the team’s Anthony  facility.

“He was very complimentary and wished the team well,” said Ware. “He told myself and the coaching staff to have patience, trust the process, and to stick with what we are doing. It was really encouraging.”