The 1990s were almost like a dream for Marshall football fans.
The Thundering Herd went 114-25 (82%) during that decade, with nine of the 10 seasons seeing Marshall win 10 or more games.
Chad Pennington was among those iconic players, like Randy Moss and Troy Brown, that created a certain buzz in Huntington that many still talk about today.
Pennington, a Knoxville, Tennessee, native, came to Marshall ahead of the 1995 season and was the primary quarterback for four of the five seasons he was there.
"When I look back upon my experience, I first of all think of the people, teammates, coaches, faculty administration, fans and my family around that area," Pennington said. "The people is what makes Marshall special. If you dive into the people and build relationships with them, it will make your experience special."
Pennington captured the attention of Middle Tennessee State, Tennessee-Chattanooga and Marshall University while playing football in high school.
He had West Virginia connections before committing to the Thundering Herd.
"Although I was born and raised in Tennessee, most of my family is from Southern West Virginia," Pennington said. "Both of my parents went to Oceana High School. I've got family in Princeton and Lincoln County as well.
"I was always familiar with the state of West Virginia and traveled frequently to visit my grandparents on my dad's side of the family."
Football wasn't the sport Pennington loved most growing up.
"Basketball was actually my first love, and, as I progressed in middle and high school, I continued playing basketball and football," he said. "Moving into my senior year, football started to become apparent to me that, if my goal was to play at the highest level, that it would be football over basketball."
Pennington wasn't a widely sought-after quarterback while in high school. But a relationship that his dad had with Tim Martin's high school football coach at Soddy Daisy in Tennessee changed everything.
"Tim had come in to East Tennessee one summer and was looking for someone to throw to him," Pennington said. "His coach called my dad and asked if I could throw with Tim. So, we threw at the Webb School of Knoxville. Tim had mentioned going up to camp. I went up to camp, and the rest is history."
Pennington arrived to Huntington in 1995 and was made the starting quarterback after a knee injury sidelined Mark Zban.
The young quarterback led Marshall to the NCAA Division I-AA title game, in which the Herd fell short to Montana, 22-20.
Pennington threw for 2,445 yards and 15 touchdowns on a 62% completion percentage as a freshman. However, the Tennessee native was redshirted his sophomore season, which promoted Eric Kresser to the starting quarterback.
Getting redshirted didn't sit well with Pennington.
"Coach [Bob] Pruett decided to redshirt me coming off a year where I started 12 games and we made it to the national championship game," Pennington said. "I had to work through some things emotionally when he made that decision. Luckily, having my dad as a football coach and being able to look at it from a long-term perspective, I trusted coach Pruett that his plan was the right plan for me.
"I knew that I needed to develop physically and get stronger. I trusted the plan, but those first few years were certainly difficult."
Pennington learned a lot about himself during that 1996 season when he was redshirted.
He grew both on and off the field, which led to him being the signal-caller for the Thundering Herd his final three seasons.
"Patience is key in developing yourself," Pennington said. "There is no patience with kids developing themselves now. There's no patience within the FBS game of college football with development. It's all about win now. What you learn is that there is so much physical, mental and emotional development from a 17-year-old to a 22-year-old kid. It's light-years in terms of development.
"I developed a love for the game mentally during that time."
Pennington appreciates what Pruett did for him.
"I enjoyed him as a coach," Pennington said. "He's a player's coach. He understands players well and how to motivate them on the football side of things. He did a good job of always having systems put in place and everyone understanding the system.
"He always instilled in us a confidence that we knew we had a chance to win."
Pennington's first year back in the saddle came in 1997, which was Marshall's first year going from I-AA to I-A.
The Herd quarterback took advantage of the opportunity in front of him, but he also had some help from Moss.
Moss was coming off a season in which he caught 78 passes for 1,709 yards and 28 touchdowns.
Pennington and Moss, a native of Rand, immediately had a connection when they took the field.
"Physically, when you're looking at a receiver, you'd like for him to be tall, fast, have soft hands and understand football. Randy had all of those attributes," Pennington said. "Randy was also very competitive and loved to compete.
"The same competitive fire, competitiveness and enthusiasm that Randy had then was always there."
When Marshall moved to Division I-A football, the Thundering Herd's first game at the FBS level came against in-state foe West Virginia in Morgantown.
Marshall fell behind, 28-3, but the Herd didn't go away quietly as it scored 28 straight points, taking a 31-28 lead into the fourth quarter.
However, the Mountaineers scored the final 14 points of the game, giving WVU the 11-point victory.
Pennington believes that game showed that Marshall could compete at the FBS level.
"Our focus moving up of the standard of playing and excellence didn't change because we moved up," Pennington said. "Our expectation of ourselves did not change. We were not going to sell ourselves short. Although people on the outside may expect us to not do well, our expectation was to win every game.
"When we came off the field against WVU, people were patting us on our back for competing with those guys. We were extremely upset. I know it was because we had a chance to win that game, and I was one of the reasons why we didn't win."
Herd fans always rallied behind the home school, but the teams that featured Pennington, Moss and company made the university and town of Huntington closer than ever.
"We didn't have a '75 game' yet, but we understood that we were playing for a greater purpose," Pennington said. "We were part of the 'Ashes to Glory' era. The 1984 season was the first winning season after the [1970] plane crash. Then, starting in 1989 all the way through the ’90s, that was the true rise of Marshall football from the tragedy.
"We were part of that. To look back on that now, it makes you feel good, as a Herd brother. As a 21-year-old, you may not recognize the significance or impact, but you did know deep down that you were playing for something greater than you."
Pennington, a high school coach now at Sayre School in Lexington, Kentucky, has seen Marshall become what it is today with different coaches along the way.
The university announced Tony Gibson as the new coach of the Herd in December, replacing Charles Huff.
Pennington is ecstatic to see what Gibson does at Marshall.
"I'm excited for coach Gibson because I know he is a West Virginia guy from Boone County," Pennington said. "He's from the exact same place that my wife and her family is from. I know that he's excited to be back in his home state and be able to have a greater impact as the head coach of Marshall University.
"We'll see his passion in that space. That will permeate through his players and staff but also through the university and fan base."
In his Herd career, Pennington was 1,084 for 1,716 passing (63%), 14,098 yards and 123 touchdowns.
He mentioned players such as Moss, Nate Poole, James Williams, LaVorn Colclough, David Foye, James Williams, Ricky Carter and Martin who played a significant role in his career in Huntington.
Pennington still sits second all-time in the Herd record book in career pass attempts, completions and touchdowns. He remains Marshall's leader in career yards, with 19 more than Rakeem Cato in second place.
The former Herd quarterback was drafted in the 2000 first round with the 18th overall pick by the New York Jets.
He played 11 years in the NFL, with eight being with the Jets and three with the Dolphins.
In his 11 years, he completed 66% of his passes for 17,823 yards and 102 touchdowns.
Pennington now gives back to the sport as a high school coach.
"I grew up on a Friday-night bus," Pennington said. "I saw firsthand the impact that a high school football coach can have on young men at the high school level. I also witnessed it when my dad's players came to his celebration-of-life service in 2014 and specifically told me the impact he had.
"It's so gratifying, and the relationships and brotherhood that you build is just different than any other sport."
