WVU Tech Athletics

Mann was born in Ronceverte, West Virginia, and attended Cedar Grove High School where he graduated in 1958.

A stellar athlete, Mann was a four-year letterman. He began his college football career in 1959 on a squad that many consider to be one of the best teams Tech ever fielded. He ranked high in yards per carry his first year. He played both offense (fullback) and defense (linebacker) his junior and senior years and led the team in rushing yards in 1961. His almost five yards per carry was among the best in the conference. He became defensive captain 1961 and was ranked second in total tackles behind the well-known John Bean. Mann was selected to the All-Conference defensive team (2nd team). He served as co-captain 1962.

 

After his days at Tech, Mann went on to earn a master’s degree from Marshall University and a master’s in education administration from West Virginia University.

Mann build a storied career in education. His 40-years in the Kanawha County school system included work as a social studies teacher, a high school football and track coach and a principal at both the junior high and high school level. He went on to coach collegiate-level football at West Virginia State University in 1979 and 1980. In 1981 through 1983, he coached at the semi-professional level, working with the West Virginia Rockets team in Charleston.

He was principal of DuPont Junior High School from 1989 to 1998. In 1993, the school was awarded both the United States Blue Ribbon School award and the West Virginia School of Excellence Award. In 1995, Mann was selected by the West Virginia Association of Student Council to receive the prestigious West Virginia Administrator of the Year Award.

Mann retired from the Kanawha County school system and his position as principal at Sissonville High School in 2002. He continued to serve the system as a consultant for a few years after his retirement.

He is a member of the West Virginia Retired Teachers Association and serves as a resource for the Boy Scouts of America in the fields of flint-knapping (the process of using stones to shape tools) and American Indian artifacts.

He is married to Wilma Caldwell Mann. Their children include Steve Mann of Teays Valley, West Virginia, an information systems specialist for the United States Postal Service and a 1994 business management graduate of WVU Tech; John Mann of Charleston, who works in GIS for TransCanada and is a 1993 computer science graduate of WVU Tech; and Becky Mann Harless of Teays Valley, West Virginia, the director of ambulatory services at CAMC who earned her undergraduate degree in business administration from Marshall University in 2002 and her MBA at WVU in 2017.