Noel Devine, a 38-year-old former West Virginia University star running back who returned to his alma mater in 2025 as an assistant RB coach, was arrested on September 13 following a felony strangulation charge. According to the criminal complaint, Devine was allegedly tracking the victim’s phone location before the incident outside a bar in Morgantown.
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The complaint, as reported by The Voice of Morgantown, states that the woman, identified only as T.W., told officers Devine allegedly had access to her phone location. She said he used it to find her at Kegler’s sports bar on Chestnut Ridge Road in Morgantown on September 12.
The victim further said Devine called and texted her repeatedly that night. When she did not come outside quickly, he entered the bar, according to her account. The victim told officers the situation moved outside the bar. She alleged Devine pushed her against his vehicle, threw her into the back seat, got on top of her, put his hands around her neck, and slapped her. She reported difficulty breathing.
Friends, including one identified as L.T., heard her screaming and came closer to the vehicle. The victim said she got away when they approached. Police later reviewed Kegler’s security video. The video showed bystanders coming toward the vehicle as Devine allegedly forced her back toward it. Officers said the footage corroborated parts of her account.
The victim later approached Morgantown police officers who were already on High Street for an unrelated EMS call. Officers noted no visible marks on her neck at that time. They also noted that marks are not always present after strangulation.
She first declined extra medical care, but later went to Ruby Memorial Hospital with a severe headache and vomiting. The complaint says those symptoms can follow strangulation. It also says Devine allegedly tracked her location to the hospital. Staff alerted police after she said he was trying to enter.
Police located Devine at a nearby gas station around 12:45 p.m. on Sunday, September 13, and arrested him. He was booked into North Central Regional Jail on a felony strangulation charge.
The charge involves allegations of strangling, suffocating, or asphyxiating someone and causing bodily injury or loss of consciousness. Bond was set at $40,000, but Devine pleaded not guilty. A preliminary hearing is set for September 23, before Magistrate Judge Deanna Lindsay.
The complaint includes more from a police assessment T.W. completed that night. She answered yes when asked about prior threats to kill her, prior attempts to choke her, following or spying on her, and constant jealousy. Those answers are part of the official complaint. They have not been verified in court.
The victim told police she and Devine had been together for about one year. That would place the start of the relationship around September 2025. She said they stayed at her apartment and that he had a key.
The arrest reached the West Virginia football program. The school is handling the matter while the court process moves forward.
WVU Places Devine on Leave After Arrest
Rich Rodriguez had hired Devine when he returned to West Virginia in December 2024. The latter played for Rodriguez in his earlier stint at the Mountaineers. The head coach learned of the arrest on September 13 and placed Devine on indefinite leave the same day.
“Upon receiving information of the arrest, I have immediately and indefinitely put Noel Devine on leave from the Mountaineer football coaching staff,” Rich Rodriguez said in a statement released through the WVU football program. “Any future decision on his status will be determined after more information becomes available,” he added.
Devine was inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame in 2021. He later played in the CFL and rejoined the staff in January 2025 under Rodriguez.
WVU’s official staff biography still lists Devine as married to Candace. It says they have been together since high school and have five children. One of those children, Andre, is a running back on the current West Virginia team. The allegations involve a separate woman, T.W., whom the complaint says Devine had been seeing for about a year.
Devine was on the sideline for West Virginia’s 52-7 win over UT Martin on September 12, hours before the alleged incident later that night. As of September 14, no reports said he had posted the $40,000 bond.