To add to that, legendary Bluefield and Graham coaches John Chamara and Glen Carlock were assistants under Gainer at Bluefield. Chamara became head coach after Gainer left, and coach Carlock eventually became head coach at Graham and modeled Graham’s program after Bluefields.
Some other really successful coaches in southwest Virginia coached under Gainer, and with Chamara and Carlock as well, maybe Tazewell’s coach Litz?, and one of Gate City’s good coaches? More than a few of the historically good programs of southwest Virginia, and at least 1 in the Roanoke area, were built and influenced by products of or having ties with Bluefield’s program.
So instead of 2 vhsl hall of fame coaches coming to Bluefield and starting WV football, a coach from Bluefield WV actually had a big part in building the success and physical style of football in SWVA that many on this site are deservingly proud of. That couldn’t be more ironic to those putting Wv football or more specifically Bluefield down.
I’m not certain the reason for the underlying animosity towards the Beavers and WV football by some, but personally I’ve always known Bluefield fans to enjoy seeing Graham and Richlands and any other Va teams from the region do well. I’d enjoy seeing Tazewell do well too.
To the haters though it’s fair to ask how many of their teams were ever nationally ranked? Maybe a few, idk.
Although it was a different era, the AAA Bluefield teams of the ‘60s and 70’s were no joke. They could play with the best teams from any surrounding state. That started tapering down some in the 80s, as numbers decreased.
My sophomore year at Bluefield in ‘81 under Chamara, our team was 3-6 and had the first losing season in decades, and the last game was against a 9-0 AAA Tennessee team ranked 2nd or 3rd in tn and Bluefield won convincingly 21-7.
A couple of years before that Bluefield tied a really big and good Maryland team, Dematha, if I recall. 3-3. Bluefield’s played some of the better teams at the time from 5 different states outside of WV, Va, Maryland, Tn, Ky and Nc. They have a lot to be proud of.
I saw Bluefield for the first time Friday, and saw 2 of their games last year, to be honest I’m not certain they’re better than last year, maybe, idk, but they’re really good and certainly good enough to repeat in AA. But I’ve read about them possibly being 1 of the best teams in Bluefield’s history and 1 thing is certain, at least in my mind, this isn’t the best Bluefield team ever, and not sure they’re as good as a few of the teams from the 90s or 2000s. Maybe I haven’t seen them enough though. But they are really good, and have the opportunity to make history, and have 60 some years of Bluefield players and generations of faithful cheering them on, and coach Simon, also a Bluefield product who played under coach Chamara and the Gainer influence has done well at Bluefield.
Say what you will about Bluefield or WV football, personally I respect every program, but as a Bluefield fan I don’t envy any other.