West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck brought in Dana Holgorsen as the Mountaineers’ offensive coordinator -- and now head coach -- to bring back the spark to WVU’s offense that has been missing since the days of Rich Rodriguez and to become the new face of the program.
But Luck plans on keeping the Mountaineers’ defensive staff around too.
Multiple media outlets are reporting today via the Dominion Post that defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel (pictured) has re-signed with WVU through 2013 with a pair of $50,000 increases in pay annually that will bring his base salary to $500,000. Casteel is set to make $400,000 this year, a bump of over $100,000 from 2010.
Additionally, Casteel, who has been with WVU for nearly a decade, will receive a “retention incentive” bonus of $75,000 if he is still employed by Feb. 1, 2013.
Defensive assistants Bill Kirelawich (D-line), Steve Dunlap (safeties) and David Lockwood (cornerbacks) have signed through 2012 with an increased salary from $214,740 to $250,000 annually.
One of the concerns when Holgorsen and his staff came in was how the defensive coaches, who were either hired or retained by former coach Bill Stewart, would react/mesh with the new guys.
West Virginia had one of the better defenses nationally last year, so this could very well be a combination of rewarding the defensive staff for their accomplishments as coaches and trying to make sure they’re happy in a situation in which they didn’t have much of a say.