FAIRMONT — Football recruiting is a funny and strange science.

Sometimes coaches work extremely hard, pursuing and courting a given player only to have that individual commit somewhere else on signing day. On other occasions, the hard work involved with the recruiting process pays off.

And then there’s the rare circumstance when a potential standout player shows up at the doorstep of your program virtually unannounced, just wanting an opportunity to play and go to school and the impending marriage of the two benefits both the individual and the program.

Such is the case between Patrick Pinchinat and Fairmont State University.

Pinchinat, who hails from Rockville, Md., was a former prep football and track star at Richard Montgomery High School. As a junior he started at wingback for the Rockets and averaged over 11 yards per carry, but his touches of the football were relatively few and far between as he toiled behind then-senior standout Richard Montgomery tailback Kevon Calhoun.

If that name sounds a bit familiar, it should. Calhoun started his college career at Mansfield University, but transferred to West Liberty University and enjoyed a breakout junior season last fall for the nationally-ranked Hilltoppers when he led the West Virginia Conference in rushing with 1,529 yards and 26 touchdowns.

When Calhoun departed for college in the fall of 2006, the explosive Pinchinat stepped into the tailback spot for Richard Montgomery and flourished. He rushed for 1,722 yards that fall, nearly 300 yards more than Calhoun had compiled his senior season with the Rockets.

“Every now and again a coach has the pleasure of mentoring a great athlete,” said Richard Montgomery head coach Steve Forsythe, who was the team’s offensive coordinator during Pinchinat’s senior season. “Patrick is just that person. In my opinion there are three qualities that can’t be coached: speed, size and heart. Patrick has all three — he’s an electrifying runner.”

Pinchinat stands 6-2, weighs 230 and has sprinter speed. He had aspirations of playing D-I football coming out of high school, but no big schools really courted him for his services more than likely because he had only played tailback for one season. He, however, did get several looks from NCAA Divison I Football Championship Sub-Division schools (old I-AA) and numerous NCAA Division II programs before finally settling on Wingate University, a D-II school in North Carolina.

Pinchinat played sparingly for the Bulldogs as a true freshman, but it was during his sophomore year when he became the team’s kickoff return man and backup running back when he began to gain recognition. Pinchinat rushed for 523 yards and four touchdowns on just 69 carries (7.6 yards per carry) in the fall of 2008, but really turned heads as a return man when he finished second in the country in kickoff returns with an average of 35.1 yards per return. He brought back 22 kickoffs that season for 772 yards and two scores and was named the South Athletic Conference’s first-team kickoff return man.

But Pinchinat, who says he has no qualms with Wingate, was somewhat frustrated and undecided about his academic future and decided it was in his best interest to return home to Rockville.

“Wingate was a good school, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do academically so I felt it was best for me to come home, enroll at Montgomery Community College and figure out what I wanted to do in terms of finding an academic major in college,” he said. “At the same time I knew I really needed football as a way to help me pay for my schooling.”

Pinchinat ran track for Montgomery during the 2009-10 academic year, met Knights’ assistant track coach Jeff Campbell, a North Marion High School and Fairmont State graduate, who steered him toward FSU and back into football.

“Coach Campbell suggested that I check out Fairmont State,” said Pinchinat. “I did and really liked it. I had decided I wanted to major in health science and business. Fairmont had that major so I came over here, checked things out and really liked the atmosphere. The coaches here put a big emphasis on academics and I like that. I also like the football program. I know this team was 3-8 last year, but I think it has the potential to do big things this year.”

So too does Pinchinat have that potential, but once again he’ll have to earn his way on the field. The Falcons have proven senior Doug Brazill listed as the number one guy on the depth chart at running back and senior Zack Page, who is poised to set three NCAA Division II national return records this fall, has pretty much exclusively held the return jobs for the squad the past three seasons.

“Doug and I have a good relationship,” said Pinchinat. “We have a nice chemistry between us. Actually, it’s that way with all of the our backs. We’re all a little different and we all have a little something we can bring to the table.

“Me, I feel I have the potential to score or break a long run anytime I touch the ball. Given the opportunity, I promise I won’t disappoint.”

Page, who readily admits he’d welcome the chance to work alongside Pinchinat on returns, says the Falcons’ newest talent isn’t just blowing smoke when he talks about his abilities.

“Patrick has tremendous talent and athletic ability. It didn’t take long for any of us to figure that out,” said Page. “He’s big, he’s strong, he’s fast and he has an ability to break tackles.

“I’m sure he’s going to get some returns for us and that’s fine with me. We’re all here to win football games. That’s the ultimate goal and if I’m back there, he’s back there or we’re back there together than I’m confident our kickoff return team will continue to be the best in the conference. Heck, we might even be better than we’ve ever been before and that would be great.”