MORGANTOWN, W. Va. -- West Virginia players will wear a decal on their helmets with the No. 29 on it this season to honor the 29 coal miners who were killed in the Upper Big Branch mine disaster on April 5.

The decal will make its debut for the spring game on April 30.

“These 29 miners deserve our respect,” said WVU coach Bill Stewart, who lost his uncle, Buss Williams, in a mining accident in 1961. “This is a way we can honor what these guys stood for. They were true West Virginians who were working to support their families. That blue collar work ethic is what our program is all about."

Stewart attended a wreath-hanging ceremony on Charleston on Monday, and he was still emotional on Wednesday afternoon about what he saw there. Before practice began, he secured a Mountaineers jersey for a boy who lost his father in the mine tragedy. The jersey is going to be signed by Noel Devine and Jock Sanders and sent to the boy for his 7th birthday, which is Sunday.