New West Virginia State football coach John Pennington has added another former teammate from his West Virginia University days to his staff.
WVSU announced Tuesday morning that former West Virginia Wesleyan head coach George Shehl will join the Yellow Jackets as their defensive coordinator. Shehl was a WVU defensive back from 2002-05 and teammates with Pennington when the head coach was a Mountaineer wide receiver.
"Hiring George Shehl was a no-brainer," Pennington said. "He has a passion for developing young men into leaders and wanted to be at a place where we could build something special."
The move also reunites Shehl with former Mountaineers Quincy Wilson and Reed Williams, also members of Pennington's State staff.
"I have wanted to coach with John ever since we were college teammates," Shehl said. "To finally have the chance to do that, in such a great situation, especially alongside Quincy and Reed, was an opportunity I couldn't pass up."
Shehl was named the Bobcats' head coach in December 2012 and spent three seasons there. He spent this past season as an analyst for the Marshall football team. Prior to his stint at Wesleyan, Shehl worked as a quality control assistant at the Citadel, a graduate assistant at WVU, one season a defensive assistant at Marshall and two seasons as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at the University of Charleston.