“What needs to happen now is the Valley needs to get their butts in the seats if you want this team to stay! Our April 19th home game will show where the actual support stands. If the Valley doesn’t show up, there won’t be a team in 2026. That’s the truth.”
That is what Miners Head Coach Josh Resignalo posted on the Wheeling Miners Facebook page following the team’s 20-13 loss to Shreveport on March 23rd that dropped their record to 0-3. Was he frustrated? Yes. Is he making changes? Yes.
Is the season over?
“Hell no, it’s not over. We’ve just not started the way I thought we would,” Resignalo said. “There’s plenty of season left, and I’m confident we’ll turn it around. But what I posted is true about this business. You have to be successful selling tickets for all of this to work.
“Are we going away? We’re not going anywhere, so let’s get that out there. But it’s minor league sports and it’s been tough, and the competition is a lot different than what we played against last season. Our guys have played well, and we’ve been in every game we’ve played,” he said. “We’ve made some changes and we’re moving forward, but this is a business, the numbers have to make sense, and we have to win football games.”
The Miners have welcomed community members to participate in the drum team, the “Mine Line,” to the “Lady Miners Dance Squad,” and they’ve created partnerships with a plethora of local businesses and organizations. Every Wednesday, ‘Coach Res’ also broadcasts his “On The Wire” podcast at the Silver Rail Bar & Grill in Wheeling and on the Miners’ YouTube channel, and it is re-broadcast on RAGE 96.5 FM each Friday at 6 p.m.
“The organization is doing the things in the community that we need to do so we can be members of that community. That’s something that’s important to me and it’s important to our owners, too,” he said. “In a league like the NAL and with a game like arena football, if the community doesn’t support a team, the team doesn’t last long.
“On the field, we have to take care of business,” he said. “And that’s what we plan to do.”
Paying Tribute on April 19th
There’s not a human being alive today who enjoys losing.
Coach Resignalo and the members of his staff and team among them. They’re not happy with how they’s started the season, but now all involved realized it’s now how they finished it. The Miners will travel to Greensboro this weekend for a Saturday matchup against the Cobras at 7 p.m., and then will enjoy a second bye week before they return to Wesbanco Arena on April 19th.
“Our first bye week came at a good time so our guys could go home, regroup, and come back ready to play. I know that’s what I did during the break,” Resignalo explained. “So, now, the guys are fired up, the morale is high, and they’re ready to get back to work. No one is happy with a 0-3 record, so they’re determined to change that one game at a time.
“I’ve told the players there’s no pressure at this point, and that’s because there’s only one way to go and that’s up,” the head coach and general manager said. “So, we’re getting things in order, and we’re preparing for the schedule we have coming up and first, we go back to Carolina (Greensboro) for some revenge against our number rival. That’s the first step, and that’s how we’re going to look at the rest of the season.”
When the Miners do return home in the middle of the month, the organization will welcome a very special crowd to downtown Wheeling, and those purchasing tickets will enjoy an unheard-of offer, too. The W.Va. National Guard and the 19th Hole Sports Bar in Wheeling have partnered with the Miners for Military/First Responders Appreciation Night, and tickets – in any section of the arena – are only $10.
“As a Marine, our appreciation night for local military members and veterans, as well as our local first responders, is very important to me because I know the sacrifices our men and women have made during their careers,” Resignalo said. “I was deployed in 2003 to the Middle East, and it wasn’t easy, I can assure you of that, and that’s why we’re offering the $10 tickets. We want as many fans in the arena as possible.
“That game will be very important to us in the standings, too, so it’ll be great for our team to have a big crowd on a Saturday evening in Wheeling. Our first game was on a Monday evening because of the arena’s schedule, but we’re looking forward to getting back to normal,” he explained. “Several of our owners are former law enforcement, and we have veterans in that group, too, so it’s important to lot of us in the organization, too.”
Resignalo brought the Miners franchise to Wheeling last year, and as a member of the AAL-2 development league, the team was 10-0 and won the title. So, during the organization’s inaugural season, and now during its second, the head coach/general manager has come to realize that the residents in the Wheeling area respect those who serve and protect in local and national levels.
“Plus, we’ll be taking time to recognize the families of our veterans, our firefighters, our police officers, and our dispatchers, because the families and what they go through are often forgotten,” Resignalo insisted. “I know my deployment was difficult for my family members because they never knew where I was and what I was doing. They were here in America, praying I made it home safe because that’s all they could do.
“I’ve met a lot of veterans in the Wheeling area, and a lot of first responders, too, and their dedication always impresses me. It makes me proud to be a veteran,” he added. “That’s why I love it when I see our fans sharing our posts about the $10 tickets and about honoring our veterans and first responders, and I hope to see it continue over the next couple of weeks.”
