The West Virginia football program has shown its loyalty to assistant football coach Lonnie Galloway.
Galloway, currently in his second stint with the Mountaineers, just received a contract extension, according to the Charleston Gazette-Mail.
The report says that Galloway’s new contract goes through the 2017 and he receives a raise of $25,000, bumping him up to $375,000.
Galloway has been with the Mountaineers since 2013, under head coach Dana Holgorsen. He previously was at WVU from 2008-2010. Both times at West Virginia, Galloway has coached wide receivers. It’s the same role he had at his other college coaching stops at Wake Forest Elon, East Carolina and Appalachian State.
Galloway is a 1994 graduate of Western Carolina, where he was a quarterback. Galloway threw for more than 5,000 yards and completed 355 of 639 career passes.
Now, he wants to make sure his guys are on the receiving end of the WVU quarterback.
In his first stint with the Mountaineers, Galloway was able to coach talented players like Jock Sanders, Ivan McCartney, J.D. Woods, Brad Starks and Tavon Austin in his relative infancy.
Returning to WVU, Galloway helped close out Austin’s decorated career, while guided players like Stedman Bailey, Mario Alford, Daikiel Shorts, Jordan Thompson and Kevin White as the Holgorsen-patented “air raid” offense was installed for the Mountaineers.
This year provided a new challenge for Galloway and the receiving corp because WVU attempted to run the ball more. Galloway needed his players to block more for running backs Wendell Smallwood and Rushel Shell. Their contributions downfield helped as Smallwood became the Big 12’s leading rusher.
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Galloway is said to be one of the program’s best recruiters. It helps, already, that Galloway is now the longest-tenured assistant on staff. As the Mountaineers have shown loyalty to Galloway, he has shown it right back to the program and the university. That strong relationship, along with Galloway’s vibrant personality, on-field success and track record of producing professional talent is noticed by high school players and their families.
Keeping Galloway in Morgantown for as long as possible is the right call for the present and near future of the WVU football team.