It's Early But Casteel Pleased
August 09, 2010 12:04 PM | General
August 9, 2010
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel is pretty pleased with the way his group has been performing early in camp.
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| Defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel is pleased with his players' focus and attention to detail so far.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
“They have really showed up with a sense of purpose,” said the 10th-year WVU aide. “They have given outstanding effort. They are really focused and doing some good things, from what you can evaluate in shorts.”
It appears Casteel will have more athletes to work with this year, including 6-foot-3-inch, 235-pound junior college linebacker Bruce Irvin, who looks like another Gary Stills with dreds.
“He is an explosive kid,” Casteel said of Irvin. “He is strong, physical, and he shows a willingness to learn and fit in with his teammates. We’re trying to find out a little bit about Bruce and what he can do at this point because we didn’t have him in spring practice.”
Irvin is listed as an outside linebacker, but has been working with both the linemen and the linebackers. On Sunday, Irvin was down with the defensive linemen working on pass rushing drills and was on the third-down defensive package that included Julian Miller, Will Clarke and Scooter Berry.
“Obviously, Bruce is going to get an opportunity to get his hand in the dirt and go after the quarterback on third down,” Casteel said. “Those are the things we are evaluating right now. He’s learning, and we have some things that he has to learn to be able to function. Once we get the pads on and see him fly around, we’ll see if he can do the job and highlight what he can do.”
Casteel has also been impressed with the continued development of redshirt freshman Brodrick Jenkins at corner. Jenkins is now working himself into contention for substantial playing time.
“Brodrick Jenkins had a great spring and two days into camp, he’s doing the same things and putting himself in position, “Casteel said, also noting the good work Keith Tandy and Brandon Hogan are doing as well. “Brodrick looks really good at this point and we’re happy with him. Then you have Pat Miller and he made a couple of plays today.”
Behind them is a group of safeties that includes Robert Sands, Sidney Glover and sophomore Terence Garvin.
“Garvin is going to be a good kid,” Jenkins said. “He played a little bit for us last year out of necessity, and I think in the long run that will help him. Those guys had a very solid spring in doing the things that we asked them to do and they are picking up where they left off.”
Casteel said he hopes to have six linebackers capable of manning the three spots this year and he has a lot of veteran guys to work with this fall.
“We have a lot of hope for the guys we have coming back,” he said. “We’re trying to fit Irvin in and get him some reps. We have about four or five right now, but I always like to have six guys that you can count on.”
Specifically, Casteel will likely rely on veterans J.T. Thomas and Pat Lazear to anchor the group.
“J.T. has been a guy who has been a big play maker really since he’s gotten on the field,” Casteel said, noting Thomas arrived at camp weighing a rock-solid 234 pounds. “The things we stressed with him in the spring were being better at getting off blocks, separating, and those types of things to help his game.
“The best thing that J.T. does is penetrate,” Casteel added. “He has a great nose for the football and he has worked hard to improve his pass coverage.”
A big area of emphasis this fall will be cleaning up some of the big plays the defense allowed last year. The secondary last year allowed 12.2 yards per catch and 19 touchdown passes, including several long scoring plays in games against Auburn, Connecticut, South Florida, Pitt and Florida State.
“I think we’ve really tried to stress to the kids, through the spring and these last two days, is to give great effort and fly to the football,” Casteel said. “All great defenses have the ability to run to the football, communicate and be physical. I think if we can get them to play in that mode, and do that consistently, you are going to give yourself a chance to win because you are going to create turnovers, and they change the game.”
Day Two Camp Notes …
“Branko is a kid that, in the spring, really did some good things for us and he’s had a good, solid two days for us,” Casteel said. “He knows where he is going and has a knack for finding the football.”
Casteel said freshmen Troy Gloster, Doug Rigg and Jewone Snow are still trying to figure out where to go.
“These kids’ heads are spinning right now,” Casteel said. “It’s tough to evaluate them right now, but I like all of those kids.”
“When you have a guy like Scooter, you have an athletic kid that knows how to play the game,” Casteel explained. “He’s a football player. Scooter is a guy that can make plays. Then you couple him with guys like Chris Neild, who is an outstanding player as a zero nose – there aren’t many that play his position better than him, and Julian Miller just continues to come on. He’s a little bigger and stronger now.
“Scooter is a guy that we need to be out on the field to be successful,” Casteel said. “Our job is to keep him healthy through camp.”
Stewart said regular field goal kicker Tyler Bitancurt has been nicked up and wasn’t sharp on Sunday, but he was happy with the punting by Gregg Pugnetti as well as Corey Smith’s placekicking.
“When you say Noel Devine has to touch the ball so many times, and Jock Sanders has to touch the ball so many times, and then you want to throw the ball to Brad Starks, too, and incorporate the tight ends like Tyler Urban and Will Johnson … then you put Tavon Austin out on the field – he’s been the biggest addition,” Stewart said. “When you put him on the field, our defensive coaches will tell you that he’s lightning in a bottle. He needs to touch the ball, too.”
The trick, according to Stewart, is figuring out a way to condense all of that in order to get the ball to the right people at the right times. That means keeping defenses off-balance but also getting the ball in the hands of your best playmakers.
“We’re going to run No. 7,” Stewart added.
