CHARLESTON, W. Va. (WCHS) —

It was a sad week in the Kanahwa Valley and around the state with the passing of two football coaching greats – Roger Jefferson and Scott Tinsley.

Jefferson guided the last Charleston Mountain Lion squad to the Class AAA state championship in 1988. And then he led the first-ever Capital team to the Class AAA in 1989.

Capital was formed from the merger of Charleston and Stonewall Jackson. Jefferson would go on to lead two other capital teams to championships in 1991 and 1995.

He also had two state runner-up squads while at Capital. Jefferson was the West Virginia Sports Writers Association Coach of the Year for all sports in 1990. He was inducted into Marshall’s Hall of Fame in 2003, where he was a standout football lineman and wrestler. A native of Barboursville, Jefferson was inducted into the West Virginia Schools Athletic Coaches Association North-South All-Star Football Classic Hall of Fame in 2011.

Meanwhile, long-time coach Scott Tinsley died. Tinsley was the head coach of the Nitro Wildcats from 2002-2007.

Five of his six teams reached the playoffs, including his 2006 squad that lost a heartbreaker in overtime to Morgantown for the Class AAA state championship.

Tinsley had served as the offensive coordinator at Nitro before becoming the head coach. He helped the Wildcats claim the 1998 state title with j.R. House as the quarterback.

Tinsley also worked as a head coach for St. Albans, his alma mater, and on the collegiate level at WVU-Tech. His work as an assistant also included stops at Hurricane, George Washington and most recently at Buffalo.

A former standout athlete at St. Albans, Tinsley earned a football scholarship to Appalachian State. While at St. Albans, Tinsley led the Red Dragons to the AAA state title game as a quarterback in 1979 under the late, great Homer Criddle. Later, he was a key player for a state runner-up basketball team led by the great Tex Williams. Tinsley was the starting quarterback for the South team in the 1981 North-South Classic. He suffered a broken leg, unfortunately, in the first quarter.

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Tinsley also had some great girls basketball teams while coaching at Nitro.