The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Breaking News

College Sports

April 7, 2011

Casteel: Spring is important to defense

By Dave Morrison Sports Editor

MORGANTOWN — Last year, West Virginia had one of the top defenses in the nation, led by the play of a group of seniors who took pride in their craft.

From a stout defensive line, a play-making group of linebackers and a ball-hawking group of defensive backs, West Virginia had it all.

Now, defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel is charged with finding replacements for six seniors and Robert Sands, who left early to pursue an NFL career.

That makes this spring ultra-important for Casteel and his defensive staff.

“We’re teaching concepts and putting in the defense in steps with kids, so that’s all we’re concerned with,” Casteel said. “We want to make sure they are getting aligned properly and want to make sure they are communicating properly. Those are the things we’re looking at and seeing how they’re playing downhill to people and covering the right route. We want to make sure we can execute the defense we have going.

“This is going to be a big spring for us defensively. Losing the caliber kids that we lost this year is big.

“When you look at who you lost and where at, it is spread throughout the defense.”

Casteel doesn’t need a program to know what he lost or just how important those seniors were to the success of the Mountaineers, who finished the season 9-4.

“One of the reasons for our success last year was that we had seniors who played their best football,” Casteel said. “Chris Neild had been a solid guy throughout his career but played his best last year. Scooter Berry had a great career here but played his best football as a senior.

“ When you get back into the linebackers, you lost J.T. Thomas, Anthony Leonard and Pat Lazear, who was hurt the majority of the year, but if you would have seen how he was injured, you would not know how he was still playing. J.T. played his best, and Anthony really stepped up and played well for us.

“You look in the back, and we lose Robert Sands, who again was a big-play kid for us. We also lose Brandon Hogan, who was arguably our best player on defense last year. And we lost Sidney Glover who made a lot of plays for us.”

But he may well need a roster to call names out in practice.

Now, the key is finding replacements for the seven, hopefully by the time the spring game ends spring drills April 29.

The cupboard isn’t totally bare. Julian Miller returns to the fold, being moved inside to tackle from end, and he had 54 tackles and 14 tackles for a loss. Also back is Bruce Irvin, who will transition from a third-down specialist — when he had 14 sacks, second in the nation — to an every-down player.

Najee Goode returns at linebacker, and the secondary has All-American Keith Tandy (six interceptions, top in the Big East and 10th nationally) and Terrence Garvin.

But the key will be the replacements.

“We still have to find some ways to see what our kids do best and put them in a position where we can play to their strengths,” Casteel said. “We had great leadership last year. They were very competitive, and as the year went on, they got more and more confidence. That is what we need to stress this spring. The standard has been set, and it is very reminiscent to after the Fiesta Bowl when we lost so many players.”

Casteel said he’s liked what he has seen from Josh Francis, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound Lackawanna (NY) Community College transfer.

“He’s quick, and he’s an aggressive kid,” Casteel said. “He’s a thumper with great expressiveness. At times, we may have to slow him down a bit, but he’s done some things in these first few days that we thought he was capable of.”

Text Only
College Sports
  • 1MUSGRAVE1.jpg Musgrave, WVU teammates see tornado devastation up close

    West Virginia University pitcher Harrison Musgrave has spent his entire life in the hills of West Virginia. He didn’t know what a tornado siren was — let alone the damage that can be done by swirling winds.
    “I didn’t even know that they were going off,” Musgrave said. “I didn’t even know that they had sirens. I know I feel like a total idiot, but I heard them go off and I just thought it was an alarm going off.”

    May 22, 2013 1 Photo 6 Stories

  • WVU’s Musgrave wins Pitcher of the Year honors

    Six months ago, West Virginia University sophomore left-hander Harrison Musgrave was questioning his future with the WVU baseball program and first-year head coach Randy Mazey.

    May 21, 2013

  • Big 12 shifts tourney format

    The Big 12 Conference will still play the 2013 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship this week at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Okla., but in the wake of the devastating storm that blew through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore on Monday, there will be some major changes to the format.

    May 21, 2013

  • WVU baseball team helps tornado victims

    West Virginia University head baseball coach Randy Mazey was having lunch at an Oklahoma City restaurant Monday afternoon, keeping a close watch on the television set.
    With every passing minute, the tornado that devastated the Oklahoma town of Moore, was moving closer and closer to his location and its path was being documented by a local television station. At one point, the coach even looked out the window to see if he could see the approaching funnel.

    May 21, 2013

  • College Roundup

    May 21, 2013

  • WVU should reinstate men’s track — not golf

    West Virginia University has not had a men’s golf team since 1982.
    But Oliver Luck, who’s been the school’s athletic director going on three years, reportedly is talking about bringing back that sport “because it’s cheap.”

    May 21, 2013

  • Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship Format Changed

    In the wake of this week’s devastating storm in the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, the Big 12 Conference is postponing the start of the 2013 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship. No. 3 seeded WVU scheduled to take on Kansas at 4 p.m. (Central) on Thursday.

    May 21, 2013

  • Misled West Virginia students deprived of Big 12 baseball games

    It now appears to be a fact that West Virginia University athletic officials misled students and the general public in not playing any Big 12 Conference baseball games at Hawley Field in Morgantown this season.

    May 21, 2013

  • Cleveland St. hires Oak Hill alumnus

    When Cornelius Jackson was dominating the Mid-American Conference as Marshall’s starting point guard, coaches around the league took notice.

    May 20, 2013

  • West Virginia to meet Kansas in Big 12 baseball tournament

    Third-seeded West Virginia will take on No. 6 Kansas on the first day of the 2013 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship, set for Wednesday through Sunday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City.

    May 19, 2013