MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Neal Brown and West Virginia are in the mix for a second new assistant coach.
Inside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator Blake Seiler has accepted the defensive coordinator position at Old Dominion.
The website footballscoop.com first reported Seiler’s departure from West Virginia.
The Mountaineers recently lost lost wide receivers coach Xavier Dye after he took the same position at South Florida.
Seiler spent 10 years coaching at Kansas State and was the Wildcats’ defensive coordinator in 2018.
West Virginia’s special teams were vastly improved under Seiler’s watch. The Mountaineers were 10th nationally and No. 1 in the Big 12 with an average of 17.27 yards allowed per kickoff return. WVU also blocked a punt, field goal and returned a kickoff for a touchdown this season.
Seiler, 35, will work with new ODU head coach Ricky Rahne.
Rahne and Seiler coached together at Kansas State in 2009 and 2010. Rahne, a former offensive coordinator at Penn State, was hired last month to replace Bobby Wilder.
West Virginia will also need a new recruiting coordinator with the loss of Casey Smithson to Houston, according to 247Sports.
Smithson, who accepted a position as director of player personnel at Houston, was the defensive recruiting coordinator at West Virginia. Former WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen just finished his first season with the Cougars.
A recruiting coordinator since 2014, Smithson had worked with the Mountaineer football program since 2007.