Alabama coach Nick Saban and Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher are seeking equipment donations from high school coaches to help football programs in flood-devastated West Virginia.
Saban and Fisher, who are both West Virginia natives, have asked high school coaches in their respective states to donate one full uniform, including equipment and practice jerseys, to ensure that West Virginia high schools damaged from the severe flooding will have an opportunity to play this fall. Fisher said many schools will require assistance to field teams this upcoming season.
The June 23 floods in West Virginia caused significant damage to several schools, and 23 people were killed in the flooding.
"As football coaches, we can do a small part to help the community heal by assisting the high school football programs affected by this tragedy," Fisher wrote in a letter to Florida high school coaches. "We have all seen how athletics can help heal and rebuild communities that have suffered through a tragedy."
Saban, who coached with Fisher at LSU, is from Fairmont.
"Football was such an important part of my childhood in West Virginia," Saban said, "and to see the devastation the flooding has caused, and how it has threatened so many high school football teams, we wanted to find a way to help."