Winning No. 1 Objective
April 08, 2010 05:47 PM | General
(5:47 p.m.)
Jeff Casteel’s true worth to the West Virginia football program can’t be measured purely by the statistics his defenses produce.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo
Sure, West Virginia has had one of the better defenses in the country the last five years, the Mountaineers finishing eighth in scoring defense in 2007, 11th in scoring defense in 2008 and ranking seventh in total defense in 2007 giving up just 301.7 yards per game.
No, what makes Casteel so special is that winning is and always has been his No. 1 objective.
If that means helping out an offense battling youth and inexperience, so be it.
If that means defending half the football field because the kickoff coverage unit is struggling, so be it.
If that means working for an offensive-minded coach who wants to score from his own 3, so be it.
The bottom line for Casteel has always been getting one more point on the scoreboard for the good guys.
“Coach Casteel and those guys don’t get enough credit … they get it,” said offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen. “There has never been a complaint. It’s awesome, and to have the ability to rely on that is just wonderful.”
Casteel has always placed the betterment of team above all else and that’s why Mullen is so effusive in his praise of Casteel and his defensive staff.
“Our defense is a nightmare,” Mullen said. “I am so glad they are on our side.”
Casteel got his start on the small college level at Shepherd at a place where you not only learn how to coach, but more importantly, where you also learn how to improvise.
“Being at a small school where you have to adjust to what you’re going to have every year – not only that, but I’ve had to line the field and go home on the bus and wash the laundry,” said Casteel. “Doing that for 13, 14, 15 years I think that helps when you get to this level and you think, geez, this is pretty nice.”
Casteel says there are four things he looks for when searching for winning football players:
1. Speed
2. Toughness
3. Instincts
4. Smarts
“You’ve got a pretty good shot if a kid has those four qualities,” Casteel said. “We want a guy that can run because we are going to ask the kid to do a lot of different things. You obviously want a tough kid because he is going to be in on a lot of collisions and you want a kid who is smart enough because once they understand what they’re doing they can start to anticipate things and make plays.
“With instincts, I’ve heard a lot of linebacker coaches talk about coaching them for the first step and then God takes over. There is a lot of truth to that,” Casteel said.
Casteel pointed out that consensus All-American linebacker Grant Wiley played that way.
“A guy like Grant Wiley would do things and I would be like, ‘Grant, can you tell the other guys what you’re doing? Help us out a little bit.’ He was just a great football player and no coach is going to take credit for that,” said Casteel. "The great football players, a lot of them are born. Grant could really tell you exactly … he just knew.”
Johnny Dingle was another player with tremendous instincts.
“They couldn’t run a screen on Johnny Dingle,” said Casteel. “Johnny Dingle always knew when the screens were going on. I said, ‘Johnny, will you tell the other guys.’ He just had a sense about it. And Johnny could be on the other side of the field and he would get that screen. Some guys are just good football players.”
According to Casteel, even players with physical limitations can thrive if they know what they’re doing.
“It’s the ability to anticipate where you gain your step,” Casteel explained. “They can anticipate what is going to happen and a 4.7 guy can maybe play at a 4.6 or a 4.5. Just like a 4.5 guy can play like a 4.8 or a 4.9 guy because he doesn’t see what is going to happen and he is always two steps behind.”
Casteel says there is no secret formula for finding those types of players, although years of watching film can offer some clues.
“You see a guy who is always around the ball and who understands where he needs to be,” Casteel said. “That’s where you start. We’ve been fortunate here the last four, five, six years to have guys who get into the system, study it, watch it year-round and the next thing you know they’re playing pretty good football their second and third years.”
Today’s game is much more offensive minded with most of the rules benefitting the offensive side of the ball. Casteel recalled a meeting with the Big East coordinator of officials last fall when the entire defensive staff complained about all of the new rule changes that were being adopted to help the offense.
“We complained about what they were implementing but it is what it is and they’re going to do it,” Casteel shrugged. “People want to come and see kids running up and down the field and that’s exciting, but for us defensive guys it’s not very exciting.”
Casteel has an interesting take on those who say today’s college football fans are not interested in watching low scoring, 6-3 defensive struggles.
“I know the team with six, if they did that 12 times, I wonder how many fewer people there would be in the stands,” Casteel said. “You’ve just got to have the six rather than the three. It’s all about winning, whether you win 46-43 or 6-3, as long as you are on the right side, people are going to come and watch you.”
It’s hard to argue that.
Thursday's Notes ...
ESPN’s Andy Katz’s early preseason poll has West Virginia 11th but that is with forward Devin Ebanks returning to school for his junior year. If Ebanks chooses to enter the NBA draft (April 25 is the last day to declare), senior John Flowers will likely fill the role of being the team’s defensive stopper out on the wing.
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| Kevin Jones |
Junior Kevin Jones and sophomore Deniz Kilicli should be the team’s top two scoring options next year, with Joe Mazzulla and Truck Bryant providing experience in the backcourt. A real key will be how far along Casey Mitchell, Dalton Pepper and Danny Jennings progress, and what players Huggins and his staff can add to the mix before next season.
A player who can score off the dribble seems like a nice prescription for next year’s team.
The Mountaineers faced a total of 12 early entrants this year (with more still possibly declaring).
Cincinnati guard Lance Stephenson and South Florida guard Dominique Jones have also declared for this year’s draft.
Coach Mike Carey has his entire roster returning for 2011.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ed Bouchette all but ruled out Bulger’s hometown Pittsburgh Steelers as an option with the Steelers resigning Charlie Batch to back up Ben Roethlisberger.
Other teams mentioned as possibilities for Bulger include Carolina and Buffalo.
West Virginia’s last trip to NCAA nationals occurred in 2000.
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| Vince Belnome |
Belnome hit .418 with a team-best 84 RBI at WVU in 2009 before being taken in the 28th round by the Padres.
All four batted better than .357 last season.
The baseball team is presently one game under .500 (14-15) with a couple of tough conference weekends on the horizon. The Mountaineers travel to St. John’s this weekend for a three-game series against the 16-10 Red Storm and then face ninth-ranked Louisville the following weekend in Morgantown.
At 2-4 in conference play after the first two weekends, West Virginia is in a four-way tie for seventh place with Villanova, Georgetown and Cincinnati in the league standings. The top eight qualify for postseason play.
I seem to recall some pretty smart people making similar arguments before BC chose to leave the Northeast for the ACC.
And now that the Big Ten and Pac 10 conferences are considering expansion, will there be even more regional and cultural dysfunction at the expense of annexing schools with footprints in the biggest television markets?
To me, the No. 1 reason why the SEC is the best conference in America is because the core schools were smart enough to realize long ago that they were always stronger together than they were apart. That’s why Tennessee and Alabama can coexist while still trying to scratch each other’s eyeballs out.
After just two seasons at Stanford, Harris later served as quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator for Akron. Today, Harris, 63, is expected to be named assistant coach at Division II California, Pa.
Once used to only taking the bus to the airport, now Harris must ride it all the way to the stadium …
And finally, our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims of the Upper Big Branch mine explosion. Hopefully, the two miners hospitalized will make a full recovery and the four still missing can be located soon.
