Jeff Casteel is Making His Return to the West Virginia Coaching Staff

Longtime defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel will be joining Rich Rodriguez's coaching staff at West Virginia, according to multiple reports. The role Casteel will have is undetermined at this point in time but should be finalized soon following the hire of defensive coordinator Zac Alley.

Casteel, a native of Paden City, West Virginia, first joined Rodriguez's staff in 2001 as the defensive line coach after spending some time at Shepherd and UTEP. In 2002, he was promoted to co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach and then the following season earned another promotion, becoming the full-time defensive coordinator, a role that he held through 2011, also coaching for Bill Stewart and Dana Holgorsen.

In 2012, he reunited with Rich Rod at Arizona, serving as the coordinator there for four seasons. His last actual on-field coaching stint was as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Nevada from 2017-19. He did return to WVU to coach outside linebackers under Neal Brown in 2020, but that was, of course, in a COVID-shortened season. He then stepped into a senior defensive analyst role through 2023.

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