West Virginia Football: Jeff Casteel Gets a Much-Deserved Pay Raise

One of the most consistent fixtures for the West Virginia football program is defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel. A native of Paden City, WV, Casteel has been the defensive boss for WVU since 2003 and coached the defensive line and linebackers there the two years before that.

The West Virginia University Athletic Department has decided to give Jeff Casteel a new contract, his current contract went through 2012 and he earned $295,268 annually. His new contract gives him $400,000 a year and covers a three-year period, the first for a Mountaineer coordinator. It also makes him the highest paid assistant in the Big East.

So why is Casteel being rewarded? It's simple, he is good at what he does and has shown loyalty to the old gold and blue.

Casteel's defenses have been some of the best in school history and some of the best in the country. Last year the Mountaineer defense was ranked in the top 10 in the country in several categories.

Passing defense:10th

Rushing defense: 2nd

Points allowed per game: 2nd

Total yards allowed per game: 3rd

Casteel may be viewed as the man that stayed behind after Rodriguez left for Michigan but let's not forget about Bill Kirelawich, who has coached mainly the defensive line at WVU since 1979, making him the longest-tenured assistant in currently on the staff. Give credit where it is due. It is because of coaches like Kirelawich and Castell that WVU has had the defenses that it has been able to produce in the past few decades.