Noel Devine, a West Virginia University assistant football coach who was once labeled the sport's "next" big star by ESPN, has been arrested on a strangulation charge, according to the state's corrections website.
Devine, 38, was booked at a lockup in Greenwood, West Virginia, on Sunday at 12:45pm and is being held on $40,000 bail, online records show.
The circumstances surrounding the arrest have not been made public. The Monongalia County Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond to a request for further information, and Devine does not currently have an attorney listed online.
WVU places Devine on leave
West Virginia University has put Devine on indefinite leave from its football program in response to the arrest.
"Upon receiving information of the arrest, I have immediately and indefinitely put Noel Devine on leave from the Mountaineer football coaching staff," head coach Rich Rodriguez said in a statement. "Any future decision on his status will be determined after more information becomes available."
A can't-miss prospect out of Florida
Devine is a product of North Fort Myers High School in Florida, the same school that produced NFL legend Deion Sanders years earlier. He was once ranked among the top football recruits in the country, and ESPN went so far as to label him the sport's "next" big talent at running back.
Devine nearly became Sanders' ward after losing both of his parents to AIDS, his father when he was an infant and his mother when he was 11. At 16, he watched a friend get murdered.
Sanders reportedly had the permission of Devine's grandmother to become his guardian, but another family member objected to the arrangement and phoned 911 to accuse the former NFL cornerback of kidnapping.
"I am calling for the possible abduction/kidnapping of one Noel Devine," the caller told the 911 operator, according to a 2010 ESPN report. "The person who is kidnapping, and this is not a joke, is Deion Sanders, the one and only, famous Deion Sanders."
Sanders stayed on as a mentor
Devine never became Sanders' legal ward, but Sanders continued to mentor him. By age 17, Devine was already the father of two children.
"He didn't have any structure and he wasn't used to it," Sanders told ESPN at the time.
Rushing yards, a missed draft and the CFL
Rodriguez, then in his first stint as West Virginia's head coach and about to leave for the Michigan Wolverines job, recruited Devine to Morgantown. Devine went on to rush for 4,315 yards over four seasons with the Mountaineers.
Despite that production, Devine went unselected in the 2011 NFL Draft. He was invited to training camp with the Philadelphia Eagles but ultimately settled for a four-year career in the Canadian Football League.
Back at his alma mater
Devine returned to West Virginia in January 2025 as an assistant running backs coach and offensive analyst.
The Mountaineers are currently 2-0 after wins over Coastal Carolina and Tennessee-Martin. They face their first major test of the season on Saturday against No. 25 Virginia.
