Ranking the top 10 coolest college football mascots

By Phil Poling | Aug 14, 2019

MIAMI GARDENS, FL - SEPTEMBER 22: Miami Hurricanes mascot Sebastian the Ibis cheers on the field during the college football game between the Florida International University Panthers and the University of Miami Hurricanes on September 22, 2018 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL. (Photo by Doug Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

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ORLANDO, FL – DECEMBER 28: West Virgina Mountaineers mascot looks on during the 2018 Camping World Bowl between the West Virginia Mountaineers and the Syracuse Orange on December 28, 2018 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fl. (Photo by David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

player. Pick Analysis. West Virginia University. Morgantown. West Virginia Mountaineer . 877. Scouting Report. 4

Similar to Notre Dame’s leprechaun, West Virginia’s Mountaineer mascot doesn’t need a cartoon head to pump up the WVU fans. Instead, he wears buckskins, a coonskin cap, a powder horn, moccasins and carries an American-made black powder rifle.

The first official Mountaineer was Lawson Hill in 1934 and ’35, and the current Mountaineer is Buffalo-native Timmy Eads. He’s the 66th Mountaineer mascot. The honor hasn’t always gone to a male, though. Natalie Tennant, before serving as West Virginia’s Secretary of State from 2009 through 2017, became the first female Mountaineer during her time at WVU in the early ’90s.

You can see the Mountaineer at nearly every WVU sporting event leading cheers, but they also go through an intense amount of training. It’s a small fraternity, so we won’t dive into too many specifics, but you’ve seen them at WVU football games doing push-ups for every score. And in the Big 12, we know that can’t be easy.