Jeffrey Allen Casteel (born February 1, 1962) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach. He was the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

for

Nevada Wolf Pack The Nevada Wolf Pack are the athletic teams that represent the University of Nevada, Reno. They are part of NCAA's Division I's Mountain West Conference. It was founded on October 24, 1896 with football as the Sagebrushers in Reno, Nevada. H ...

Early life and education

Casteel was raised in

Paden City Paden City is a city in Tyler County, West Virginia, Tyler and Wetzel County, West Virginia, Wetzel counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia, along the Ohio River. It was incorporated in 1916. The population was 2,550 at the 2020 United States ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

and graduated from Paden City High School where he was a football stand out and member of the Paden City 1979 West Virginia Class 'A' State Champion Football Team.

Coaching career

Early years

Casteel earned bachelor's and master's degrees from

California University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Western University, California (abbreviated as PennWest California) is a campus of Pennsylvania Western University in California, Pennsylvania, United States. The campus had an enrollment of 2,717 as of fall 2024. Founded in 1852 ...

. After graduation, he served as a graduate assistant for his alma mater from 1984 to 1986 and also served in the training camp for the

Baltimore Stallions The Baltimore Stallions (known officially as the "Baltimore Football Club" and previously as the "Baltimore CFL Colts" in its inaugural season) were a Canadian Football League team based in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States, which played ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL). However in 1987, Casteel was defensive coordinator at

Miami Palmetto High School Miami Palmetto Senior High School is a public high school located at 7431 S.W. 120th Street in Pinecrest, Florida. The school is on in southwest Miami-Dade County, and is part of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools district. Miami Norland S ...

. He then served as defensive line and strength coach for

Shepherd University Shepherd University is a public university in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, United States. It is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In the fall of 2023, the university enrolled 3,274 ...

from 1988 to 1990. He was then moved to assistant head coach and defensive coordinator from 1991 to 1999. During that time period of being assistant head coach, Shepherd won six

West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) was a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference which historically operated exclusively in the state of West Virginia, but briefly had one Kentucky member in its early y ...

(WVIAC) championships. After his tenure at Shepherd, Casteel moved to

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public university, public research university in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1913 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, it is the third oldest academic component of the Univers ...

(UTEP) and coached the defensive ends for 2000. During that season, UTEP won the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

(WAC) title and a berth to the

Humanitarian Bowl The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, previously the Humanitarian Bowl (1997–2003, 2007–2010) and the MPC Computers Bowl (2004–2006), is an National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA-sanctioned post-season college football bowl game that has be ...

West Virginia

After his one season at UTEP, Casteel moved to

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

to join head coach

Rich Rodriguez Richard Alan Rodriguez (; born May 24, 1963), also known as Rich Rod, is an American college football coach and former player. He is the current head football coach at West Virginia Mountaineers football, West Virginia University, his second sti ...

and coach the defensive line for the 2001 season. He was elevated to co-defensive coordinator alongside

Todd Graham Michael Todd Graham (born December 5, 1964) is an American college football coach and former player who serves as an offensive analyst for TCU. He was most recently the head football coach at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Playing car ...

in 2002 and eventually became the full-time defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in 2003. In 2005, the Mountaineers defense ranked 15th in the nation in total defense and 13th in points allowed under Casteel. In 2006, the Mountaineers pass defense ranked #109 out of the nation, 119 teams. The next season, 2007, the acquisitions of safety

Ryan Mundy Ryan Gregory Mundy (born February 11, 1985) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a Safety (American football position), safety for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by h ...

and freshman defensive backs helped the Mountaineer defense to a top 10 defensive ranking. His 2007 defense also ranked in the top 30 in eight categories. The Mountaineers finished seventh in the nation in total defense, eighth in scoring defense and 14th in pass efficiency defense. Following the season, Casteel was named the Defensive Coordinator of the Year by

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. When former head coach Rodriguez departed West Virginia to accept the head coaching job at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, Casteel originally planned to follow Rodriguez. But after interim head coach Bill Stewart was promoted to head coach following Mountaineers' victory over the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the college athletics in the United States , athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to ...

in the

2008 Fiesta Bowl The 2008 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl was a college football bowl game. It was part of the 2007–2008 Bowl Championship Series (BCS) of the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Played annually since 1971, first at Sun Devil Stadium on the campus of ...

, Casteel decided to stay at West Virginia. For the 2008 season, Casteel and the new defensive staff helped the young Mountaineers defense to a #1 redzone defense national ranking, a #11 scoring defense national ranking, a #11 fourth down defensive national ranking, and a #16 passing efficiency defense national ranking. These Top 20 ranking were despite starting a true freshman at safety, Robert Sands, and the loss of all-conference linebacker Reed Williams to a medical redshirt.

Arizona

Following West Virginia's victory in the

2012 Orange Bowl The 2012 Discover Orange Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game on Wednesday, January 4, 2012, at Sun Life Stadium, now known as Hard Rock Stadium, in Miami Gardens, Florida. The West Virginia Mountaineers defeated the Clemson Tigers by ...

, Casteel departed to join the staff at Arizona under Rich Rodriguez, who was hired as head coach in November 2011. An official announcement and Casteel's formal introduction to the Tucson media was made on January 11, 2012. On January 4, 2016, Jeff Casteel was fired as the Arizona Defensive Coordinator. Casteel was offered the defensive coordinator position at

UTEP The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1913 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, it is the third oldest academic component of the University of Texas Syste ...

prior to the 2016 season, but turned it down. Instead, Casteel spent the 2016 season watching his son, Jake, play linebacker for

Northern Arizona Northern Arizona is an unofficial, colloquially defined region of the U.S. state of Arizona. Generally consisting of Apache, Coconino, Mohave, Navajo, and Yavapai counties, the region is geographically dominated by the Colorado Plateau, the ...

. It was the first time in 31 years that Casteel took a year off from coaching.

Nevada

On December 19, 2016, Casteel was announced as the new defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for the

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and prim ...

under head coach Jay Norvell. Casteel earned $225,000 annually, the most ever for a

Nevada Wolf Pack football The Nevada Wolf Pack football program represents the University of Nevada, Reno in college football. The Wolf Pack competes in the Mountain West Conference at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision level of the NC ...

assistant coach. Nevada and Casteel used the 3-3-5 as the base defense.

Personal life

Casteel and his wife, Rosemary, have two children, Jake and Sarah. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees from

References

External links

Arizona profile

Nevada profile

West Virginia profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Casteel, Jeff 1962 births Living people Arizona Wildcats football coaches Pennsylvania Western University, California alumni California Vulcans football coaches High school football coaches in Florida Nevada Wolf Pack football coaches Paden City High School alumni People from Paden City, West Virginia Shepherd Rams football coaches UTEP Miners football coaches West Virginia Mountaineers football coaches Sportspeople from Wetzel County, West Virginia