LeSean McCoy returns in time for the Backyard Brawl, but he has no extra tickets

The running back whose thick thighs, quick, nimble feet and broad back helped carry Pitt to its most historic upset victory returned to town Friday.

LeSean “Shady” McCoy was the guest speaker at the Pitt Kickoff Luncheon, where 17 seniors sat at the head table while hundreds of fans filled the rest of a huge ballroom at the Westin Pittsburgh.

“This feels good, being around the young athletes,” McCoy said. “I’ve been in their shoes, and I know what it feels like.”

McCoy, who carried 38 times for 148 yards in the iconic 13-9 upset of West Virginia in 2007, plans to be at the game Thursday night at Acrisure Stadium when the Backyard Brawl will be reborn after 10 years of inactivity.

But don’t ask him for tickets to the sold-out game. He already has turned down a Pro Football Hall of Famer.

Not long ago, McCoy was visiting Miami Dolphins training camp when he saw someone trying to get his attention.

“I’m looking over, there’s this guy, tall white guy,” McCoy said, “and he’s waving at me.

“I go over to him. We kind of meet: Dan Marino.

“And the first thing he says to me, ‘Hey, Shady, you got any tickets to the game?’

“I told him no.”

That got a laugh from the audience, but McCoy also showed his serious side when he talked about what his two seasons at Pitt meant to him.

“I always get emotional when I get asked this question,” he said. “I give a lot of credit to Dave Wannstedt.”

McCoy, who went to Bishop McDevitt High School in Harrisburg, was a highly coveted running back with college coaches eager to get his name on a letter of intent.

“I was All-American,” he said. “I was set on going to USC. (Former USC coach) Pete Carroll came to my high school. Reggie Bush would call me from time to time.”

Then, he broke his ankle, and suddenly he wasn’t such a hot commodity.

“Everything changed, from 80 scholarships to five,” McCoy said.

Wannstedt, however, kept his word and continued to recruit him while he was attending Milford Academy, a prep school in New York.

“He told me he’d give me the chance to regain my name and continue my career,” McCoy said. “Pitt has really helped me out, changed my family’s life, my life forever. I’m thankful for that.

“This Pitt thing is a family. It’s good to be back home.”

McCoy said he likes to recall Backyard Brawl memories, even the night fans threw batteries at Pitt’s team bus as it arrived in Morgantown. “Nothing matches up to the Backyard Brawl,” he said.

McCoy does like to reminisce with old friends and former West Virginia players Pacman Jones and Pat McAfee.

Jones was gone from West Virginia before ’07, but McAfee missed two field goals as the Mountaineers’ national title hopes crashed and burned.

McCoy said he never mentions the missed field goals to McAfee. “He’s a cool dude,” he said.

But he also reminds them, “I never lost to West Virginia.”

Pitt won 19-15 the next year in Pittsburgh, but the next three belonged to the Mountaineers.

McCoy said he never thought carrying the football 38 times was a big deal.

“I was younger back then, so it didn’t really matter,” he said. “Coach Wannstedt did a great job of keeping me humble. He said, ‘I played with Tony Dorsett. He had 45 carries (in a game).’

“When you’re in the heat of the moment, you don’t really think about it. The next day you’re sore.”

McCoy remembers the days before the game having a different feel.

“Everybody’s intensity was different, from coach Wannstedt down. It trickled down to Scott McKillop and the leaders on that team.”

The crowd at Milan Puskar Stadium was loud for most of the night, but the air got quiet as the game ended. The Mountaineers were 28½-point favorites.

“I can only imagine how many parlays were ruined that night,” McCoy said.

Retired after 12 NFL seasons and 11,102 rushing yards, McCoy, 34, has been mentoring young athletes.

“I never really had a real mentor, never had a player of my magnitude show me the ropes,” he said. “I made a lot of mistakes. If I had somebody to to call, ‘I have a question about this, a question about that,’ I’d probably have had an even better career. I’d be a better person.

“Now, I have the opportunity to give back.”