Invigorated

Oct 13, 2026 By John Sacco 5 min read

West Liberty University’s first-year football coach Chad Salisbury and his staff got a bit of a late start in the recruiting process this past off-season.

The 2026 Hilltoppers have started slowly in nearly all six of their games this season.

Yet, West Liberty is off to a fast start – its best since 2009 – and is on a five-game winning streak after a season-opening loss to Walsh.

The players, freshmen and seniors alike, credit Salisbury and his staff. Salisbury, a Frazier High School graduate and long-time PennWest California offensive assistant and coordinator, praises the players and his staff.

While this new era of West Liberty football is just starting, these Hilltoppers know how to finish. They’ve won in comeback fashion – twice in overtime and by margins of four, 21, six, one and three points.

“It’s surprising,” Salisbury said. “We’re a new group altogether for the first time and we didn’t know what we were going to get. But the kids have responded really well and they play hard. They play until the end of the game – every week. We’ve pulled out some games at the end and it’s a tribute to the kids. They have really bought into the things we’re saying and they’ve just, they’ve showed a lot of grit.”

Salisbury, hired in mid-December, succeeded Roger Waialae, who resigned after the 2025 season. Waialae was WLU’s football coach since 2005.

West Liberty’s last winning season was 2014. The last time the Hilltoppers played in the NCAA Division II playoffs was 2009 when they were eliminated by California.

They haven’t been 5-1 in 17 years.

The change in attitude, confidence and culture is evident.

“It was definitely something (that happened) very quick,” said freshman defensive back Seamus Mahon, a Pittsburgh Central Catholic graduate. “I came here the first day of August and we only had a couple weeks to get ready for the whole season, but coach Salisbury is a very high energy guy, and he demands a lot from us. So, I feel like the amount of work that we put in is paying off and it’s shown we’re able to come back late in games with that hard work.”

Added senior standout running back Hunter Patterson, a 5-11, 180-pound honorable mention All-American running back from Chester, West Virginia and an Oak Glen High School graduate: “I wasn’t here in the spring (after transferring to Old Dominion). I came back over the summer. But the first day I met the guy (Salisbury), you could tell what he wanted to get done here. He is very serious. He wanted to change the culture. How wanted everyone accountable, and you just could tell the change was going to come. I’m not surprised by this. I expect to keep winning.

“I saw buddies still here and I kept in touch with them. I heard about what they were doing in the spring, and I wanted to come back and finish where I started. I was excited about what (my former teammates) were saying about the coaches, so that’s why I come back.”

After an open week, West Liberty hosts West Virginia Wesleyan Saturday, plays at Glenville State on Oct. 24 and Fairmont State University on Oct. 31.

The Hilltoppers will host the University of Charleston on Nov. 7 and conclude the regular season at rival Wheeling University on Nov. 14.

Currently, the Hilltoppers lead the Mountain East Conference by a one-half game over Wheeling and Charleston. Fairmont has one loss while all others have two losses.

“I think this started with a good group of the veteran kids who made a decision to come back and do it the way that we thought was best, Salisbury said. “They’ve attached themselves to a good recruiting class. There is some buy in. And then when you win a game and games late, I think that then the kids start thinking that all that stuff we do in the preseason and in the winter, there’s a reason for it. Hopefully, that’s been proven to them, and we continue to take steps. I’d like to see us play a little better in the first couple quarters.”

Salisbury’s long-time friend, Bruce Wald – a former California Vulcans sports information director and university employee – is not surprised.

“It’s great; it’s tremendous what’s going on,” Wald said. “I was at the first game, and you could tell they were getting better as the game went on. But you knew they had to develop that confidence and the ability to not make mistakes.

“It’s just amazing when you look at the last four or five games down to the absolute wire. I guess you could say could have gone either way. But West Liberty’s prevailed and it shows somebody’s doing something right.

“You talk about good things happen to good people. This is certainly the case.”