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LET’S GO!

The story of how a simple phrase has united Mountaineers around the world and across decades

By West Virginia University

October 21^st, 2025

It’s only 2 words.

OK, 3 if you include the traditional response.

But these 18 letters are instantly recognizable to over 210,000 West Virginia University graduates (and even more fans) worldwide.

Whether you’re at a football game at Milan Puskar Stadium or even in the most unusual places, such as the palace of a Middle Eastern totalitarian (more on that later), they capture the essence of being a Mountaineer.

“Let’s Go!” is a greeting. A not-so-secret passphrase into the Mountaineer Nation. Along with the Flying WV and “Country Roads,” it makes up the holy trifecta of WVU emotional symbolism. Responding to it is a reflex, like our own uncontrollable “Shave and a haircut” bit from “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.”

What’s the history of this simple yet powerful phrase? Why has it become so much more than a sports cheer? When did it become popular, and who was responsible?

In the beginning ...

Like the start of many traditions, the true origin of “Let’s Go!” is a bit murky.

According to WVU traditions, it’s: “A rousing cheer at WVU athletic events led by the Mountaineer cheerleaders and mascot. One side chants ‘Let’s Go’ and the other side responds ‘Mountaineers.’”

And Wikipedia, surely the source of all knowledge, somewhat mechanically describes it as:

“The ‘Let’s Go ... Mountaineers’ cheer originated at home football games as a competition between opposite sides of the stadium. The student side of the stadium chants ‘Let’s Go ...’, and the press box side responds ‘Mountaineers.’ The chant can continue for long periods of time, as each side of the stadium tries to keep the chant from fading. The cheer has spread to other athletic events including basketball and soccer.”

Call-and-response cheers are a pretty basic part of sports, and including your team’s name seems obvious. But when did the phrase become part of Mountaineer tradition?

Joe Swan, senior director of WVU Athletics Publications/Design said, “From my perspective, I started following the Mountaineers early in the Don Nehlen era and remember it from that time period. I never saw a game at Old Mountaineer Field, so I’m not sure if it was something created for the new stadium or if it had been used Downtown.”

An aerial view of Old Mountaineer Field on the WVU Downtown Campus.

Let’s revisit Old Mountaineer Field

“Old” Mountaineer Field, located where Field Hall is now, was the downtown stadium home of WVU football from 1924 until “new” Mountaineer Stadium opened in 1980. It heard decades of “Let’s Go Mountaineers!” chants, according to Jay Redmond, who has only missed 2 home football games since 1966 [Wow!]. He attended both WVU and the WVU College of Law (and later owned Jay’s Daily Grind and other establishments in town): “I wouldn't be able to give you the exact date. It was sometime in the early 1960s.

“I was probably about 7 or 8 years old. And that was a time when, not like modern college athletics, there was a gate at the old Mountaineer Field that you could sort of show up at, and if you were a kid, they kind of turned their head to let you go in … they also let us run on the field after the game. And that's when I was first exposed to it. I remember seeing it and hearing it live.”

He remembers that “Old Mountaineer Field was a much more intimate stadium. It only sat about 30,000. And it was a bowl. Very like a horseshoe. The cheer used to be done by everybody at the same time. I don't know how it really started like way back, clear back to the beginning of the stadium. There was a long, drawn-out cheer. It didn't sound the way it sounds today.

“The old cheer made the hair on your back of your neck stand up, because it was kind of eerie and long and drawn out … the Mountaineer is down on the field, but he would pump his fist to sort it to the time of the chant. A lot of the fans did in the stands, too. It was like, ‘Let's Goooooo Mountaineeeers.’ But when the crowd was doing it, it was really effective. And very unique.”

A sign on the south end of Old Mountaineer Field displays WVU football home games in 1963.

A view of the press box at a WVU football game in 1967.

Tony Hylton, in a grocery cart, holds a sign that reads, — Tony Hylton, in a grocery cart, holds a sign that reads, "Go Mountaineers" as he is pushed down Temple Street in Hinton, West Virginia, by an unidentified person in 1976.

WVU football coach Bobby Bowden gives orders for the next play in a game against William and Mary in 1972.

The entrance to Old Mountaineer Field in 1964.

WVU football fans and students cheer during a game in 1969.

Let’s look at some yearbooks

There isn’t a single “Let’s Go!” in the 1971 or 1972 Monticola WVU yearbooks (but 1972 does show lots of miniskirts, muttonchops, and nude female photos that appear for no apparent reason). Nothing in the 1975 edition either, except plenty of plaid polyester, which even covered the male WVU cheerleaders. Nada in 1979.

But by 1980, the phrase appears quite a few times in the yearbook. “‘Let’s Go Mountaineers!’ boomed the crowd at the Lair Thuse,” is the caption for a photo of a pep rally that shares the page with an image of someone dressed as Darth Vader leading the Homecoming parade on High Street. Another caption earnestly claims that, “Spirit comes in many forms: it can be a fan's shrilling scream of ‘Let's Go Mountaineers!’; an athlete’s determined will to ‘go for it’; a reporter’s insight to get a good story for the school's newspaper; a student’s desire to learn and apply that knowledge.”

The phrase was used twice more in this publication, once describing the yell of student Junior Taylor at a basketball game, and another time to describe the spirit the Mountainettes [a white go-go-boots-wearing dance troupe] conveyed at a basketball game against Robert Morris.

Let’s boogie

Another WVU sports expert, Greg Hunter (Journalism ’83), the editor of Blue & Gold News for 24 years and co-host of the MetroNews Statewide Sportsline for over 2 decades, recalls the chant being used in 1971, when he moved to Morgantown. His favorite memories of “Let’s Go!” are, like Jay Redmond’s, when it emerged organically without prompting from the student section.

Redmond proudly declares, “I've been associated with the WVU Athletic Department for many years. Many, many years.” Indeed, he was working the scoreboard at Mountaineer Field during the legendary WVU vs. Penn State game in 1984 when WVU broke its 25-year drought against the Nittany Lions. He’s responsible for the scoreboard saying “FINALLY.” And speaking of those hated rivals ….

The Mountaineer Marching Band spells out — The Mountaineer Marching Band spells out "Let's Go!" at the WVU-Pitt game in September 2025.

We aren’t Penn State

According to Penn State’s official account, the “We Are” chant originated during the 1976 football season, and by 1981 it had become a permanent part of their games. So, the timeline for the long chant evolving into a back-and-forth chant across Mountaineer Field seems to line up.

Joe Swan even says, “To me, it’s reminiscent of the ‘We Are …. Penn State’ chant. I just don’t know if that was the inspiration or not.”

But fear not, Redmond has an explanation:

“When we moved to the new stadium, people tried to do the old cheer. But the stadium was too big. And they couldn't hear each other, if that makes any sense. They couldn't get themselves coordinated, so it never worked. So unfortunately, what happened at New Mountaineer Field is we started doing a cheer that was very similar to what Penn State does. Of course, we don't like Penn State.

“So, one side says, ‘We are’ and the other side says ‘Penn State.’ And a lot of our fans, I think, had been up there or maybe experienced that. So rather than a long, ‘Let's Goooooo Mountaineers’ cheer, it ended up going [side to side] because they couldn't hear each other. It became a side-to-side thing with ‘Let's Go!’ on one side and ‘Mountaineers’ on the other. And we old-timers, we hated that.”

But the original version lived on elsewhere. Redmond adds, “The WVU Coliseum opened in 1970. And the new football stadium opened in 1980. So, the first years of the Coliseum, the first 10 years, we were doing the old, ‘Let's Goooooo Mountaineers’ in the Coliseum, and it worked fine in there. Because everybody's close. You can hear other people. But for some reason, once it started to disappear at football games, we lost it in [the Coliseum] too.”

Greg Hunter feels that the version with opposite sides of the stadium calling and responding is less emotional, but that none are derived from “We Are … Penn State”: “The version I think of definitely is not copied off of that.” So there.

Let’s attempt a comeback

It’s not as if “Let’s Go!” ever went away, but it had changed. On September 25, 2009, John Antonik posted on wvusports.com a story called “The Forgotten Cheer.” It asked, “What happened to the ‘Let’s Go Mountaineers’ cheer? Just like the Frisbee dog that used to entertain fans at halftime, the old ‘Let’s Go Mountaineers’ cheer of the past was one of the great traditions at Mountaineer Field. When done correctly, the cheer rattled your fillings. We have received messages from coast to coast from Mountaineer fans of all ages wanting to know when it stopped, and more importantly, why it stopped. The younger fans? They just want to know how to do it.”

Jay Redmond asked broadcaster Tony Caridi for his help, and they made a video to show the older version: “We do the video and put it online and tried to tell people how to coordinate it with the Mountaineer. He was supposed to stand down in the middle of the field and pump his fist, and people were supposed to just look at him, and his arm movement was supposed to cue them to the words. We did not revive the old chant. But it's still going on in its new version.”

In 2010, ESPN writer Brian Bennet created a piece on the traditions of schools in the Big East Conference and described “Let’s Go!” as “An old tradition that has recently been making a comeback. It sounds pretty simple, but when an entire football stadium is executing the cheer, it works well.”

Mountaineer mascot Cade Kincaid chants — Mountaineer mascot Cade Kincaid chants "Let's Go!"

Let’s hear the Mountaineer

The Mountaineer has always been strongly connected to the “Let’s Go!” chant at all Mountaineer Fields, WVU venues, and beyond. Current Mountaineer Cade Kincaid, an accounting major from Fayetteville, feels deeply about all things WVU, including “Let’s Go!”:

“[It] feels like more than just words. To me it’s the call that represents the pride, unity, and the spirit of West Virginia. It reminds me that no matter where we come from, we all share the same love for this state, University, and its unmatched people.

“I grew up in a household with 2 WVU alumni parents who are some of the biggest Mountaineer fans you’ll ever meet. Growing up in southern West Virginia, getting to the games wasn’t easy, but that never stopped us from watching in person or on TV. Every Saturday, we’d make a spread of snacks and dedicate the whole day to WVU football, and I remember watching the TV and seeing the crowd do the chant. It gave me the same feeling then that it gives me now. As a kid, I was in awe that just 2 words could spark something so powerful.”

What does it feel like to be able to get thousands of people to yell “Let's Go!”?

“It honestly feels surreal. When I’m on the field and I am looking to my left and right, seeing how this chant brings everyone together just hits me in such a powerful way. I care so much about this state because of the strong communities here and the amount of people I have met who are always willing to give of themselves. For me, watching WVU come together in this chant is such a beautiful reminder of that spirit.”

Kincaid had a surprising “Let’s Go” moment when he flew to Texas for Big 12 Media Days: “On the way back in the Dallas airport, I was wearing the Flying WV when a woman sitting near me at the terminal looked over and said, ‘Let’s Go.’

“You hear those words so often in an airport, but I knew instantly by how she said it she had West Virginia ties. She wasn’t wearing gold and blue, and she had no idea that I was the mascot, yet just seeing the Flying WV was enough for her to feel that connection. That moment showed me how powerful WVU really is and how its spirit reaches people everywhere, even in places far from home.”

Let’s Go where?

It’s expected to hear “Let’s Go!” on a bright fall day while you’re sitting in Milan Puskar Stadium with 60,000 fellow fans. Or when you’re in the WVU Coliseum, at a basketball game. And at away games, Greg Hunter believes the chant stands out even more, when it packs a real punch coming from the visiting fans.

But what about someplace nearly unbelievable?

Amber Brugnoli (BS, ’01; Law, ’04; PhD ’17), who is now the associate vice president and executive director of the WVU Office of Global Affairs, was on active duty as an Air Force judge advocate in Iraq when she had such an experience.

She said “Let’s Go!” in perhaps one of the most unexpected places possible — Saddam Hussein’s former palace in Baghdad.

“I remember standing in a hallway and this older gentleman in civilian clothes walked by, and he was wearing a Flying WV hat,” she recalled. “And I said, ‘Let’s Go Mountaineers!’

He stopped, and turned, and looked at me.” The man had graduated from WVU in the 1970s, and a conversation that extended to lunch blossomed. Her colleagues were amazed that they didn’t know each other before and just connected with the phrase; “it just blew their minds.”

A world away from Morgantown, while on a military mission in a war zone, “Let’s Go!” showed its power.

A bus emblazoned with — A bus emblazoned with "Let's Go" gets ready to go.

"Let's Go!" sightings occur around the globe. The Mothman proudly displays his "Let's Go!" flag in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

A "Let's Go!" banner at the front of Colson Hall.

Scott Harper yells “Let’s Go!” as he leads the WVU robotics team in a cheer following the NASA Sample Return Robot Challenge at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2016.

A "Let's Go!" banner graces the women's soccer facility.

The — The "Let's Go!" flag flying at Glade Creek Grist Mill in Babcock State Park, Danese, West Virginia.

The — The "Let's Go!" mural outside the WVU Mountainlair.

Let's Go! vs. Let's Go Mountaineers!

Which phrase is winning in the marketplace?

WVU Brand and Trademark Licensing provided a breakdown of products bearing either “Let’s Go!” or “Let’s Go Mountaineers!” in recent years.

From 2016-2025, there have been 254,840 units of “Let’s Go!” products sold, compared to 236,403 units for “Let’s Go Mountaineers!”

Let’s wrap it all up

“Let’s Go!” has been a part of Mountaineer lore for a very long time, and despite its simplicity — or because of it — it has an undeniable power. According to WVU President Michael T. Benson, the phrase is “popular, pithy, and peripatetic.”

John Denver sang “Country Roads” at the dedication of New Mountaineer Field in 1980. And the Flying WV was adopted as the WVU official logo in 1985. While it’s taken until 2025 for “Let’s Go!” to take its official place among the markers of Mountaineer-ness, no matter how it started or how long it took to get here, it’s now our official tagline.

When presented with options for an updated tagline, the team working on the project realized that none had the simplicity, strength, or power of the phrase that was here all along.

The August 2025 WVU brand guidelines say that “‘Let’s Go!’ reflects the energy, pride, and determination that fuels WVU students, faculty, alumni, and fans. These 6 letters represent the bold, collaborative, and unapologetic spirit that makes us Mountaineers.

“By embracing ‘Let’s Go!’ we’re signaling our commitment to progress, not only for the University but for the entire state of West Virginia. It’s a call to action that speaks to innovation in research, dedication in service, and momentum in academics.

“Whether it’s breaking new ground in science, empowering students through hands-on learning, or driving economic development across Appalachia, ‘Let’s Go!’ captures the WVU drive to push boundaries and shape a brighter future.”

Not much left to say, except “Let’s Go!”

Footnotes

Story by Kathy DeWeese. Photos by Pamela Reyes, David Ryan, Jennifer Shephard, Matt Sunday, and the West Virginia Regional and History Collection at WVU.

FootNotes

Story by Kathy DeWeese. Photos by Pamela Reyes, David Ryan, Jennifer Shephard, Matt Sunday, and the West Virginia Regional and History Collection at WVU.

© 2026 West Virginia University

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