Published: September 16, 2009 11:56 pm      

Franklin realizing his dream

MORGANTOWN — Like hundreds of other aspiring Mountain State football players, Oak Hill native Matt Franklin dreamed about playing at West Virginia University.

“I bleed gold and blue,” Franklin said Tuesday, sitting in the Milan Puskar Center and wearing a Mountaineer football shirt while surrounded by several players who were being interviewed by the state’s sports media.

“I love this program and it was always what I wanted to do.”

Well, Franklin has recognized that dream, sort of.

He is not a player at WVU. He’s a student assistant coach.

Not that he didn’t come to WVU with aspirations of donning a uniform.

He did.

But somewhere in the transfer process (he played two years at the University of Charleston), a problem arose in his eligibility.

His dream seemed derailed. Actually, it was simply detoured.

He went from helmet to hat, jersey to coach’s shirt as a student assistant coach in the program.

“When I came in, I talked to coach Stew (Bill Stewart) about playing,” Franklin said. “When I found out I wasn’t going to be eligible, I talked to coach again and he said I could do this. So I figured if I wanted to be involved in football, if I wanted to be a Mountaineer, this is what I had to do.”

So he jumped, both feet first, at the opportunity.

“As I told coach Stew, with me and my family background, it’s football or it’s coal mining,” Franklin said. “I’m not a rocket scientist, I’m not going to fix a car or teach anybody anything. And if I’m teaching anybody anything it’s going to be football. So I better be pretty good at it and I better get off to a good start.”

Franklin works with defensive line coach Bill Kirelawich, a colorful, old-school coach.

“Every week me and another guy put all the scouting reports together. Auburn, ECU, Liberty, we got all those together,” Franklin said. “Basically, we get stuff from the coaches and we have to have them out by Tuesday for the players so we’re ready to learn the opponent.

“After practice I tag films, for different positions, different drills, and put in jersey numbers so they know who they’re looking at.”

His detour has taken him from the field, to the sideline and to a potential career as a coach.

“I don’t know if it’s better than being a player,” Franklin said. “I played two years of Division II football. This is making me more rounded because I’m seeing things I never saw before.”

And he has the luxury of working with Kirelawich, who is, to say the least, an outstanding coach with a old-school mentality.

“Working with coach Kirlav is an experience,” Franklin said. “You learn a lot of football. A whole lot of football. You learn a little bit of vocabulary and new words that go into new sentences that you didn’t think once existed. But somehow he makes it work out. He’s a great coach and a great teacher. I’ve learned more about football from just listening and watching him than I’ve learned anywhere.”

Kirelawich likes his young student as well.

“Matt is a student assistant who I think is doing a wonderful job,” Kirelawich said. “He’s around, he helps out and he does basically whatever we need. He’s learning a lot of football and he’s very, very capable. Plus, I enjoy working with him.”

Franklin also has other priorities, mainly his 2-year-old daughter Madison.

“(Madison’s) my full-time job (both Franklin and his fiancee are full-time students) and this is my part-time job (he is actually a volunteer in the football program). I’m here as much as I can be because there is always something to do. At the very least I can watch film on my own and learn some more football.”

A typical Sunday could last as long as 12 hours. But it is a labor of love.

“I spend as much time as I can, because if I’m going to do it,” Franklin said. “Because if I just pop my head in the door and say, ‘I’m here’ when the time comes to get a real job they’re going to say, ‘He didn’t do anything.’”

For now, the next step would be a graduate assistant job.

“I just have to keep learning. If you can’t learn football from this coaching staff there’s something seriously wrong with you. I just appreciate the fact that coach Stew and coach Kirlav gave me a chance. I really don’t want these guys down because I love this program.”

So now Franklin is living his dream, in his favorite program, just from a different angle.

“I finally found my way here,” Franklin said. “I had people tell me not to do it because I just had the baby (his daughter Madison with fiancee Erica). They said I needed to stay (in Oak Hill) and work in the mall. The dream, I guess.”

No, not for Franklin. His dream is continuing.