Michael Garcia’s two-year reign as the West Virginia University Mountaineer Mascot has come to a close.
Yes, believe it or not, you can put a face to the name of the man (or woman) who represents WVU at sporting events across the country and special occasions across the state.
Garcia took over for Jonathan Kimble in 2013. Kimble was the first mascot the Mountaineers had as they entered play in the Big 12 Conference. He even filmed his own College Gameday commerical with Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler.
Garcia may have one-upped Kimble, though, with his cameo appearance in Brad Paisley’s music video for the hit song “Country Nation.”
One of Paisley’s first lines in the song is, “We’re Mountaineers.”
Now, four new candidates hope they are the Mountaineer for the upcoming football season. The candidates took part in a cheer off at a recent game at the WVU Coliseum and on Wednesday against Texas Tech, a new mascot will be named.
Let’s meet the four Mountaineer mascot candidates for 2016.
Next: Ethan Ball