Rich Rodriguez Announces Jake Casteel as Defensive Assistant Coach

West Virginia University head coach Rich Rodriguez hires Jake Casteel as defensive assistant coach

West Virginia University football / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

West Virginia University football head coach Rich Rodriguez named Jake Casteel as the defensive assistant coach Thursday afternoon.

"We are excited to welcome Jake back home to Morgantown to continue on our coaching staff as the defensive assistant," Rodriguez said. "His knowledge, passion for the game and strong defensive background will be key in helping us build a competitive and hard-nosed defense."

Jake, son of WVU bandits coach Jeff Casteel, comes to West Virginia from Jacksonville State where he was the defensive analyst and SAM’s coach. The Gamecock linebackers accounted for more than 240 tackles in 2024 to lead the No. 11 ranked red zone defense in the country. The JSU defense also finished No. 16 nationally in turnovers gained with 24.

Before Jacksonville State, Casteel landed his first full-time position at Cal Poly as the linebackers coach and co-special teams coordinator in 2022 after serving stints at West Virginia (2021) and Boise State (2020) as a defensive graduate assistant.

Casteel was a linebacker at Northern Arizona from 2014-18 before launching his coaching career as a defensive graduate assistant at his alma mater in 2019.

He played in 44 contests over four seasons, making 250 tackles (125 solo), including a team-leading 90 in 2018. In 2017, he was instrumental on a defense that helped the Lumberjacks earn an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs, the program's first postseason berth since 2013.

He earned his Bachelor of Science in information systems management from Northern Arizona in May 2018 and a master’s degree in educational leadership in December 2019.