OK, perhaps commandeers is a strong word because Jeff Casteel didn’t rush into anyone’s office and demand more money, but he was the general for one of the nation’s very best defense last season and has, through the years, been admired and awarded around the country.

And for that, that ability to be just generally and consistently good at what he does, Casteel was given a brand-new, three-year contract after a subtle temptation was offered by Vanderbilt and its new coach, James Franklin.

Casteel, 49 and headed toward his 10th season as the coordinator of WVU’s 3-3-5 odd stack defense, had a two-year contract through June 2012 that paid $295,268 annually.

Had is the key word there.

Now, after again having one of the nation’s top defenses in 2010 – and following a job offer to be Vanderbilt’s defensive coordinator that the Paden City native turned down – Casteel is working with a new three-year contract at $400,000 annually.

That keeps Casteel as the highest-paid defensive coordinator in the Big East.

That last part is significant because athletic director Oliver Luck is image-conscious. He speaks of how peers do things and of his desire for his athletic department to be in line, if not in the lead. The Mountaineers are there.

Keeping Casteel  in place and seemingly in peace does a lot of things for the long term and that, of course, matters for WVU in the Big East, where it wants to be and look the best.

It’s also a brown paper bag for those hyperventilating about relationships and perceptions among the staff. The new staff members were brought in and given two-year contracts at or above $200,000 — and that includes Daron Roberts. All teh defensive staffers are above $200,000, but they’ve been here and done things previously.

Dana Holgorsen is going to be the head coach in 2012 and that’s a pretty large explanatoin for how he’s to make $750,000 this season, but there was also a pretty large gap between that and the more-accomplished-here Casteel.

That gap is narrowed now and, at the least, it looks like there is a genuine effort to make this look right and work right.