Want to feel old? Robert Alexander turned 50 two weeks ago.
Alexander obviously no longer has the boundless rushing ability that took him to greatness at South Charleston High and stardom at West Virginia University, but he has something else, something new.
Alexander is a college football coach.
"Finally," he said Monday. "I've always wanted to do that. I guess God worked it out for me."
Alexander was hired two months ago as the running backs coach at Kentucky Christian University. The Knights will play their first intercollegiate season this fall and in 2009 will join the NAIA Mid-South Conference -- the league home of WVU Tech.
He just finished his first spring practice at the Grayson school whose campus abuts I-64 East. He's also taking classes toward getting a master's degree in theology.
"His passion for the university and for doing this already is evident," KCU Coach Dane Damron said by phone Monday. "And I know this; our running backs got a whole lot better in spring practice with Robert working with them."
Alexander is part of the seven-man inaugural class in North-South Football All-Star Classic's Hall of Fame, and the bid by Poca's Mike Dunlap and other alumni to bring some juice back to the summer game is a lot like the former high school All-America running back's life.
Maybe the game, like Alexander -- having won over substance abuse after his stellar football history, has passed a low point -- will prosper again.
"I think it's very important what we're doing here," Alexander said before the N-S Hall of Fame introductory luncheon at the Marriott, which is the game's title sponsor. "It's kind of sad to me how depleted West Virginia and Kanawha Valley high school football has become.
"The (University of Charleston) stadium should be packed for this game. The all-stars asked to play should play. It breaks my heart to see what it's been after what it was when I was growing up and I played in it."
That was July 23, 1977. Alexander rushed for 80 yards on 16 carries, returned the second-half kickoff 41 yards and -- in his crowd-stirring biggest play -- went 90 yards with a punt return for a score in a 23-6 South victory.
Old Laidley Field, its top 15 rows of seats condemned and uninhabited, held a near-capacity crowd of 7,000, watching the two-time Kennedy Award winner and Martinsburg's Fulton Walker trade rushes.
"I'm from the old school, and times have changed," Alexander said. "Sports were all we had, or it seemed like it. You'd play football, then basketball, then baseball, track.
"Now, there are so many other things. You've got kids who don't want to do anything except sit in front of the computer on the Internet. Athletes aren't the same. I'm not saying they aren't as good, but there's something that's not there a lot of times."
Alexander has done a lot of individual instruction to young football players over the years, and he's coached in midget, middle school and high school football. He said he longed to coach in college and even inquired about a job at WVU.
Damron said a simple, heartfelt letter from Alexander got the former back an interview at Kentucky Christian. "His desire to do this and dedication to the Lord made him perfect for us," the KCU coach said.
Damron also knows that Alexander's name may help the Knights do some recruiting in the Kanawha Valley. "His name will get him in the door," the KCU coach, "but the man I believe Robert Alexander has become and is now is why he's with us."
Alexander spoke warmly of the old Kanawha Valley Conference, and how neighboring teams during his high school playing days played almost exclusively within that power league, all the while helping to stoke rivalries and programs.
"This is my opinion -- and opinions are like shoes, we all have them -- but back when I played at South Charleston, there wasn't a whole lot of talent there, but the KVC was more talented than it (the larger Mountain State Athletic Conference) is today," said Alexander, who rushed for 5,872 yards in three SCHS seasons.
"We won a lot of ballgames, went to a state championship game (1975). Now, you look at South Charleston and they've got tons of athletes up there, more so than when I was there. And the KVC is down athletically, and they can't win ballgames. It doesn't make sense to me."
Alexander is where he wants to be personally and professionally. When he played in the North-South, his performance helped rekindle the spark for an event that was only in its second summer back after a 21-year hiatus.
Maybe his presence in the North-South inaugural Hall class will lead to something more in the Kanawha Valley again. At least, he talked like it.
"Athletes just aren't the same here now," Alexander said with a smile. "Hopefully, I'll be able to help out on that when I get to head coaching high school down here someday."
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