The West Virginia Tech Golden Bears football coaching staff let their money do their talking.

And Ironton offensive tackle Jesse Carmon liked their kind of talk, especially the part about playing football at the college level.

Carmon, a 6-foot-5, 275-pound senior, signed a letter of intent Wednesday to play football for West Virginia Tech.

Tech is an NCAA Division II school and offers full scholarships. Carmon said the full ride was just one of the factors in his decision he picked the Golden Bears over other schools such as Glenville State, Ohio Wesleyan, Syracuse and Bowling Green.

“I talked to several schools. (Tech) started throwing money on the table and I liked their offer,” Carmon said.

“Of all the schools I talked to I really liked Tech. There are a couple of guys from (Ironton) who go to Tech. Eddie Zeek plays football and Greg Linn plays baseball. They called me and said they liked it.”

The Tech coaching staff evaluates film of potential recruits and rates them on a scale from one to five, with five being the best.

“They gave me a four out of five on my film. They said they rarely give a five,” Carmon said.

A Southeast all-district honorable mention selection, Carmon stepped in and played offensive tackle and helped the Fighting Tigers to a 10-3 record and a regional runner-up in the Division IV playoffs.

“Jesse was one of our most improved players,” Ironton coach Bob Lutz said. “He has the size and the work ethic that college coaches are looking for. He’ll be a good player for them.”

Carmon was recruited as a tackle, but he said the Tech coaches may try to expand his talents.

“They want me to play tackle this year but they said they’ll play me some at guard. They said they like the way I move for a big guy. They think I can be in the mix this year and start next year,” Carmon said.

“I like the coaching staff. They’re like family. Everyone is real close. All their coaches are nice and they spend a lot of time with you.”