SOUTHINGTON - Joshua Irizarry may not have gotten the job as head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers football team, but the response he received was more than enough to keep his dream alive.

In December Irizarry wrote a letter to West Virginia University President Michael Garrison offering to coach the team after coach Rich Rodriguez left for the University of Michigan.

Garrison responded by sending the 12-year-old a letter late last month that thanked him and told him the position has been filled by an "equally qualified candidate."

"I didn't expect it, but it was really cool to get," Irizarry said. "When it came in, I raced back inside and found they had sent me an official letter."

The response brought smiles to the faces of Josh and his mother, Lina Irizarry, and joy to a four-sport athlete forced to take the winter off after breaking an ankle.

Lina Irizarry said the winter has been hard because it was the first time he had to stop being active, but that the correspondence has encouraged him to pursue an athletic career.

She said her son learned of the vacancy while watching ESPN and asked if he could apply.

They discussed the challenges of age and not having a vehicle, two things she told Josh would make it difficult to do the job. He convinced her that he would find a way to live on campus and sent the letter.

"When I talked with Josh, he was so willing to work around some of the hurdles and he really wanted to apply, so I told him writing the cover letter wouldn't hurt," she said.

"When he received the response, he just lit up."

The letter from the university president was accompanied by a package that included a CD wallet, team picture and autographed photo of his favorite WVU player, sophomore Noel Devine.

It was Irizarry's enthusiasm for Mountaineers football that impressed university representatives the most, especially since he is from UConn country.

The Huskies are one of West Virginia's rivals in the Big East Conference.

The Mountaineers have been a favorite team of Irizarry's since he began watching football at the age of 4, his mother said.

It is not his only out-of-area favorite; he also roots for Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs and the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles.

The seventh-grader at Kennedy Middle School and lifelong Southington resident is a multiple-sport athlete, playing soccer, baseball and basketball since he was 4.

When he turned 8, he signed up for the Southington Valley Midget Football League and he has played ever since, helping lead last year's Patriots championship team.

Garrison said in an e-mail that Irizarry's letter was one of the best he received, including details of his football experience, love of the game and an offer to coach under conditions determined by the university.

The letter also uses humor that university employees found entertaining: "I understand this would be a move more suited for a team like Temple, but I am just asking for your consideration."

"As president of West Virginia University, I have the pleasure of interacting with young people on a daily basis. I listen to them and I value their opinion; they are our future leaders," Garrison said.

"Josh, at his young age, had the courage to write to a university president and ask for him to be considered for the coaching position, and he deserved a response."

For the Irizarrys, the response was more than they could have asked for and it has only encouraged Joshua to remain involved in sports, regardless of whether he could play, and work toward getting the grades and extracurricular activities to one day find the job he wants.

When asked if he was interested in being a Mountaineer, he didn't hesitate in answering "yes." He hopes that the university will accept him and train him to be a coach or trainer.

"I told the president in an e-mail after to keep my letter on file for when I am ready to start applying for college," he said.