Notable WVU Football Assistant Lands Head Coach Opportunity

A coach will depart the WVU football program for another opportunity, one that keeps inside the state. Jake Casteel will take over as the head coach of Glenville State, as announced on Monday morning.

Casteel spent the 2025 season as a defensive assistant coach with the Mountaineers, mostly working primarily with the linebackers under his father, bandits coach Jeff Casteel. In January of 2025, Jake was hired by former GSU head coach and current WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez.

Welcome 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞, Coach 🤝

Thrilled to introduce Jake Casteel as the 26th Pioneer Head Football Coach!

🗞️ https://t.co/rpFH6hNb1W#GoPioneers pic.twitter.com/fr3kRrgL7m

— Glenville State Football (@GlenvilleStFB) December 8, 2025

Prior to following Rodriguez back to West Virginia, Jake served on his Conference USA championship staff at Jacksonville State in 2024.

He started his full-time coaching job at Cal Poly in 2022 as the linebackers coach and co-special teams coordinator. Before that, he spent time as a graduate assistant at West Virginia (2021) and Boise State (2020) on those defensives staffs.

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.