MORGANTOWN — The chance to coach on the same staff as his son was enough for Jeff Casteel to emerge from retirement and rejoin the West Virginia University football team.

Casteel, the former defensive coordinator at WVU during some of its most successful years, is coaching bandits this season for head coach Rich Rodriguez. He’s thankful for the opportunity to get back onto the sideline as much as he’s thankful for the opportunity to coach with his son Jake, an assistant on the defensive staff.

When Jake Casteel moved from Jacksonville State to WVU along with Rodriguez, Rodriguez called Jeff Casteel to see if he was interested in joining the fray. The elder Casteel accepted and said he has really enjoyed the chance.

“This probably sounds bad, but I’ve probably spent more time with Jake in the last three months than I had, really, in forever,” Casteel said. “That was a really, really good piece to me coming out of that. I’m really appreciative of Rich and Jake does a good job. It’s really good to work with him.”

There were good times for Casteel working with Rodriguez in the past. He was on WVU’s defensive staff from 2001-11, starting as defensive line coach and climbing to the role of defensive coordinator. He held that role during West Virginia’s best seasons under Rodriguez. He was the Rivals Defensive Coordinator of the Year in 2007, the Big East Defensive Coordinator of the Year in 2008 and a five-time nominee for the Broyles Award, given annually to college football’s top assistant coach.

The two reunited at Arizona, where Casteel also served as Rodriguez’s defensive coordinator. He had a stint as Nevada’s defensive coordinator before returning to Morgantown in 2020 and serving in several on- and off-field roles for several staffs.

Now Casteel will focus on the defense’s bandits, linebacker/defensive end hybrids that can both rush the passer and drop back into coverage. The traits that make for good bandits, he said, haven’t changed.

“Number one, I think, is speed,” he said. “We had a guy named Bruce Irvin back in the day. We probably won’t find a Bruce right now, but if we can find a kid that’s explosive, can get off the football and press the pocket … improved foot speed is the first thing I’m looking for.”

Rodriguez is happy to see Casteel back on the sideline, too, to impart the wisdom that comes from 35 years of coaching, including 27 as a coordinator.

“Jeff’s a good football coach,” Rodriguez said. “That’s the biggest part. He’s been there, seen it and done it. And he’s going to be a great resource to (new defensive coordinator) Zac Alley and the rest of the coaches. He’s seen about everything and he’s very knowledgeable.”

It will be a different perspective for Casteel than it was in the early 2000s, being an assistant coach as opposed to being the coordinator. Yet Rodriguez expects no problems with that dynamic because that’s simply not the way that Casteel is.

“Jeff’s not an ego guy,” Rodriguez said. “He’s not one to say ‘I was this or that.’ He’s a really good football coach and a great person. It’s good to have him here.

“I know some of the stuff he’s done in the past is similar to some of the stuff that Zac’s doing,” he added, “so that’s a good combination.”

Casteel also likes the combination he has with his son on the defensive staff. He loves having a front-row seat for his son’s development as a coach. He hopes Jake has a little more patience than he has, but Casteel said his son has been around good coaches and those experiences have rubbed off on him.

Now he gets the chance to work side by side with him.

“We’ve already had a few semi-arguments in the meeting room about some things,” Casteel said. “But he’s got a good head on his shoulders. I’d say he’s ahead – and I tell him that, too – that he’s ahead of where I was at 28, 29 years old in the coaching profession.”