There was a time when West Virginia football was trying to find out who was behind FauxHolgorsen. Let’s just say I don’t think people agreed with the portrayal. And on top of that, there was a suspicion this was coming from somewhere alarmingly close to home. I honestly can’t tell you who it is, not because I know and don’t want to share but because I don’t know.

It’s not me, I promise, even though this didn’t exactly help me debunk that theory. I don’t know who it is because I never asked. It’s really none of my business, either. But I’m confident I know who it is, and I’ve had WVU people mention that person as a candidate. There are a few others who are sure it’s that person, too.

I think what makes the case of Fake Bob Huggins so unusual and admirable is that WVU legitimately likes the account, knows who it is and set up a meeting between the person and the real Bob Huggins. You think about that!

Huggins only found out about the account when people decided to show him, because those people thought it was really funny. Huggins, a good sport if nothing else, was never alarmed by the prospect of being imitated 140 characters at a time. In so many ways, he’s a perfect foil.

“What are they going to say about me that they haven’t already said?” Huggins wondered. “I’ve been loved and hated more than anybody in the history of college basketball other than Bob Knight.”

Matt Wells, WVU’s senior associate athletic director, was the one who made sure the fake Huggins met the real one. Never once did he consider that it could be a bad idea, either.

“He has a track record,” Wells said. “He’s proven he’s having fun with it, and he doesn’t cross any lines. He hasn’t been problematic or been vulgar or nasty or inappropriate. He’s been somebody, from what I’ve seen and from what others have seen, who is pretty creative. He’s really done a good job.”

Wells oversees sports marketing and things like ticketing, apparel and sponsorships. Social media is an enormous tool in that line of work. There aren’t many limits, because the best in that world are always thinking about what’s new and what’s next and how best to generate a buzz. So I was talking with Wells and realized he was, I guess, a fan of the fake Huggins and how he’s used Twitter to craft, develop and popularize a persona. I asked about something popped into my head. It was unfair, but I was curious.

“Could you use him for something in the future?” I said.

“That’s a good question,” Wells said. “Anytime you’ve got somebody with that type of following, who’s out there talking about your program in pretty much a consistently positive way, I think that is helpful for the promotion of the program. I don’t know. I don’t know that I can say, ‘Hey, can you help us sell tickets?’ But I think because of the nature of social media, having a personality like that who’s always talking about your program is ultimately helpful.”

Perhaps there’s a future. I can say with certainty there’s a past. Seeing as if we here at WVUSBwMC take unusual pride in being your source for parody Twitter access and information, so please enjoy this out-of-character Q&A with the person behind @FakeBobHuggins.

Q: I’m always curious to know how or why things like this get started, and we’ll get there. But let’s begin with the when, because it’s been a couple years now, right?

A: I started the account in November 2011. I’d like to say I had a plan but it took me a year or so to figure out what I was doing — find my voice. At the time Coach Huggins himself wasn’t on Twitter so I felt there was something missing.

Q: That’s during a time when we saw a pretty strong bump for Twitter for news or entertainment or even parodies. You decided to get involved that way?

A: Most of the parody accounts to that point were absurd. I had seen the FauxHolgorsen account was this crazy caricature of a person, and I get it. Holgo was the wild hair bachelor who lived in the hotel and chugged Red Bull. To me though, Huggins seemed like such an accessible guy. The Final Four year I think gave us great insight to him as a person: the speech after UConn, the way he held DaSean and wiped his tears. I decided my portrayal of Huggins would be maybe just slightly exaggerated Huggins. Or maybe an unfiltered Huggins.

People have joked that sometimes it seems like the coach himself is the man behind @FakeBobHuggins, and I think that’s an incredible compliment.

Q: I bet. It’s evolved into an artform, hasn’t it?

A: This is just something I do on the side as a creative outlet. Some people craft; some people bake; I tweet.

Q: Frequently, but also creatively. Am I to assume this sort of comes natural based on your background?

A: Ultimately I’m just a fan — a very, very big fan. It’s in my blood. I grew up in Morgantown and my family had season tickets, so I was going to games from the time I was born. I was a ballboy for four years during the Catlett era. I’m a 4th generation WVU graduate. My great grandfather graduated from WVU in 1927. My wife is a WVU graduate. We met while going to school and our first date was a WVU football game.

Q: Of course it was.

A: I think my connection and passion for WVU sports is what resonates for people through @FakeBobHuggins. It’s 80 percent my own opinions with 20 percent of what I think Coach would say. Then I just exaggerate it and play it up.

Q: Yeah, I think that works. To me, it almost feels like a mouthpiece. I’ll tell you, I have Twitter open during games, because it’s good for additional perspectives or even information like what the broadcast is telling viewers that I don’t have access to. But I’ll catch one of yours from time to time and it just feels like a thought bubble floated from Huggins’ head to my timeline. But that’s sort of the point, right?

A: I’ll admit that sometimes the tweets are funny to just me and maybe a few others and that’s okay. I’m not going to be all things for all people at all times. But it is really fun when there’s interaction and agreement. It’s an incredibly unifying experience to connect with WVU fans all across the country who are equally as passionate, in both the good times and the bad. There are some emotions that are shared by WVU fans, and I like being able to play a small part in rallying us together.

Q: And that’s a core function of Twitter. People gather and complain about a game or team or celebrate a game or a team. You’ve popularized that in different ways.

A: The #sorryNate hashtag was a perfect example of that unifying experience. Mountaineer Nation as a whole was pretty cruel to Nate. And to his credit he has proven the doubters wrong. I thought it was amazing to see all these fans own their previously expressed opinions and apologize. You don’t often get that kind of authenticity and accountability anywhere, let alone Twitter. And I completely get the irony of an anonymous parody account saying that!