Who are the WVU Coaches?

Dana Holgorsen and his receding hairline come to Tampa for the season finale.

The WVU Mountaineers are led by first year head coach Dana Holgorsen. Dana took over after WVU let Bill Stewart walk, allowing the great offensive mind take over the entire show at WVU. Last season, he was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State, leading one of the best offenses in the country. He is known for his passing offense, spreading the field out and slinging the ball all over the field, lighting up the scoreboard and the secondary of teams. Before he went to OSU, he was the offensive coordinator at Houston for two years, again leading a huge passing offense.

Before he took that job, he was the wide receivers coach at Texas Tech, passing offense is in the blood of Dana. WVU has been off and on this season, throwing well, but finding it hard to get the running game going. The Bulls are thin at corner (Webster likely out for this game) so the Bulls defense will be tested the entire game. Louisville found a way to pick apart their zone coverage so they have to find a way to either pressure Geno Smith (Quarterback for WVU) or stay disciplined in the secondary and attack. (Note, Holgorsen is calling the plays for WVU this season, so he takes over as the offensive coordinator).

The defensive coordinator for WVU is Jeff Casteel. Casteel has been with the Mountaineers for years and still uses a unique 3-3-5 defensive scheme at times, allowing the linebackers to make all the plays on the field. He was the linebackers coach from 2003 to 2009, so his experience with that unit allows them to roam all over the field thanks to his play calling. Casteel likes to call pressure, but has to rely on the nose tackle to anchor the line. If the defensive line can hold, the linebackers are able to come off the edge and anchor the middle of the field for WVU. The secondary is very fast (a few athletes from Florida on this team) which will make life hard for the USF offense.