NEW MARTINSVILLE, W.Va. -- As a teenager at Magnolia High School, newly named West Virginia football coach Bill Stewart used to scrawl offensive plays on scraps of paper. Then he'd pass his notes around the room and ask his classmates to devise defenses to try and stop them.

"He was an X's and O's guy during study halls in high school even when he was 16 or 17," said lifelong friend, Dennis Balcerek. "Coaching has always been his true passion, and football his true love."

Balcerek left western Pennsylvania in 1960 and moved to this tiny town of less than 6,000 in the northern panhandle of Wetzel County. He and Stewart quickly became friends.

"I first met him when I was 8 years old and we were in third grade," said Balcerek, who works for Bayer Corp. "We lived two blocks apart from each other and were always doing things together."

Stewart and Balcerek had a mischievous side to them. They lived along Route 2, the main road leading into town.

They used to throw snowballs at passing cars, and kept a running tally of how many they hit.

Stewart also has said that he skinny-dipped in the nearby Ohio River, stole turnips from neighbors' gardens and toilet-papered the houses of some cheerleaders and majorettes.

"Bill was a little ornery, and I guess I was, too," Balcerek said.

Stewart played football and ran track for the Magnolia Blue Eagles. As a freshman football player, he broke his leg. He did not play as a sophomore, but by the time he reached his senior season, he was named Mr. Football of the team, which finished 7-3 a year after going 2-8.

"Billy was a hard-working kid," said Keith Smith, who coached Stewart as a junior before turning the reins over to his brother-in-law, Lou Nocida. "Billy wasn't a great athlete, but he would do anything you asked him to do."

Mike Wolf played football with Stewart and they were part of Magnolia's Class of 1970. Wolf started at right defensive tackle, and Stewart lined up beside him on the left side.

Both were 5 feet 10 and 165 pounds, and were considered small for linemen even in that era.

"Bill was all football, all the time," said Wolf, a teacher at nearby Tyler Consolidated High School. "He was always thinking football, talking football, playing football or watching football.

"After the games, he was in the back of the bus and everyone would be gathered around him. He just had them all captivated. He was part comedian, part politician and part coach. He doesn't have to worry anymore. He can just coach.

"I'm really excited for him. Nobody deserves this opportunity more than him. He's paid his dues as a long-time assistant."

Stewart, a 55-year-old coaching nomad, has had a dozen jobs, including high school, college and in the Canadian Football League, spanning more than three decades.

He had the word "interim" stripped from his coaching title Thursday morning. A long shot, he was named the Mountaineers' 32nd coach after leading the team to a 48-28 upset victory against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl the previous night.

Stewart received a five-year contract worth $4.5 million. His only other previous head coaching experience came at Virginia Military Institute, where he was 8-25 from 1994-96. He resigned after being accused of using a racial slur during practice.

His hometown has been abuzz ever since Stewart was picked to replace another West Virginian, Rich Rodriguez, who has moved on to Michigan.

"We couldn't be prouder to have one of our very own leading the West Virginia football program," said Kathi Blair-Schmalz, an assistant principal at Magnolia. "I haven't seen this much excitement around here in a long time.

"I told the kids on the intercom that Bill Stewart walked the halls here at Magnolia High School, just as you are walking the halls here. I told them, 'Anything's possible, so dream big.'"

Blair-Schmalz graduated from the school on Maple Street in 1975, along with Stewart's future wife, Karen. They are good friends, and Stewart's in-laws, Ted and Gretchen Kacor, still live here.

Stewart proposed to his wife several years ago under a goalpost at Alumni Field. His older brother, Ted, also played football at Magnolia, and they are in the school's athletic hall of fame.

Stewart's parents, Blaine and Bobbie, are deceased, but his only child is named after his late father, who played in a country-western band.

When Stewart's hiring was announced three days ago, signs and marquee boards dotted the town, congratulating Stewart on his new job. On Main Street, Quinet's Court Restaurant was advertising a popular "Bill Stewart Special" -- a 10-ounce strip streak with French fries for $5.95. "We're loving every minute of this, and we wanted to honor Bill Stewart for his great achievement with a permanent item on the menu," said Jim Quinet, whose family has owned the popular diner since the mid-1930s.

"This is a great hire not only for New Martinsville, but for the state of West Virginia, as well."

There have been discussions about holding a "Bill Stewart Day" and officials are pondering the idea of putting up a sign along Route 2, informing travelers of their hometown hero.

Stewart, a Fairmont State graduate, is the second native of New Marinsville to hold the West Virginia job -- Mont McIntire led the Mountaineers to a 24-11-4 record from 1916-20.

"Bill Stewart is a loyal, down-to-earth guy, who also happens to be very humble," current Magnolia football coach Mark Batton said. "I've coached a couple of his nephews and I have another one on the team right now. It's a great family, all the way around."

Stewart last visited Christmas Eve, shortly before West Virginia departed for Glendale, Ariz.

"I had an inkling then that he might end up with this job permanently," Balcerek said. "I had my fingers crossed."

The Stewart hiring ended a tumultuous 18-day stretch for West Virginia, which is suing Rodriguez for the $4 million required as part of his buyout.

"To tell you the truth, I don't think people care about Rich Rodriguez right now," Batton said. "Bill Stewart has stolen the hearts of all West Virginians.

"He took a football program that was in total turmoil, from losing to Pitt and costing itself a shot at a national championship, to losing its coach a few days later, and within a 60-minute period against Oklahoma, he brought the whole state back together again."