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Champions among us

What would it be like to watch a pulse-pounding, championship game from just behind the sidelines? How would it feel to hold the trophy high and slip a championship ring on your own finger? These CPASS graduates know. They’ve been at the helm or on the crew of some impressive sports programs recently.

Houston Astros

Jesse Michel, Mental Skills Coordinator

Michel received his master’s and doctoral degrees from CPASS in 2012-2013. He says WVU is the epicenter of the sport and exercise psychology graduate universe.Ten months after Michel was hired by the Houston Astros, in 2017, the team won the World Series for the first time.

Pete Putila, Director of Player Development

Putila got his first taste of baseball operations when he worked for the WVU baseball team as a student manager. He earned his bachelor’s in 2010. Putila interned with the Astros in 2011 doing baseball operations and was hired as a baseball operations assistant that same year. He has held a variety of roles, from baseball operations assistant to assistant director of minor league operations and baseball operations coordinator.In 2016, he was promoted to director of player development and the next year also celebrated the Astros’ World Series win.


Philadelpha Eagles

Greg Delimitros, Director of Equipment Operations

Delimitros was the graduate assistant football manager for WVU from 2002 to 2003. Immediately out of his master’s degree program in 2003, he was hired by the Eagles. He started as the assistant equipment manager and became director of equipment operations two years before the Eagles won the 2017 Super Bowl.

Stephen Weingarten, Facilities Project Manager

Weingarten, once active in the Sport Management Club at WVU, joined the Eagles’ crew as an intern after graduating from CPASS with his bachelor’s in 2012 and later became facilities project manager — just in time to celebrate the team’s big win.


Loyola University Chicago

Corey Oshikoya, Head Athletic Trainer

Oshikoya, a 1997 CPASS grad, was hired by Loyola University in August 2015 to head the athletic training staff after working with three different NFL teams.

He has dedicated his life to athletic training and has received numerous accolades for his service, from giving distinguished lectures to receiving the 2010 Tim Davey Assistant Athletic Trainer of the Year Award, to serving as the president of the Colorado Athletic Trainers’ Association.


University of Charleston

Dan Stratford, Head Coach, Men’s Soccer Team

Stratford, who received his bachelor’s and master’s from CPASS,  was one of the most decorated players in WVU men’s soccer history, with a record of 85 career appearances and 27 assists. After graduating, he played professional soccer for D.C. United, the Scottish Premier League and League Two in England.

In 2017, Stratford was promoted to University of Charleston (W.Va.) head men’s coach and immediately led the Golden Eagles to a 21-1-2 season overall and the NCAA Division II Men’s Soccer National Championship.  Following the win, Stratford and his staff were named NCAA DII Men’s National Staff of the Year by United Soccer Coaches.


Villanova University

Jacob Whitten, Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing

At WVU, Whitten worked with the Athletic Marketing Department as an intern while earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from CPASS in 2011-12. He interned with the Camden Riversharks and the Mountaineer Athletic Club.

Whitten was hired by Villanova in October 2014 as the coordinator of marketing and, in July 2016, became assistant athletic director of marketing. While he has helped to spearhead marketing efforts, Villanova men’s basketball has won two national championships — in 2016 and 2018. 

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