Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
NFL Decision Can Wait As Stills Readies For Challenging Gophers Front
December 27, 2021 02:20 PM | Football, Blog
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Dante Stills has a big decision to make, but like quarterback Jarret Doege, he's putting it off until after Tuesday night's Guaranteed Rate Bowl game against Minnesota.
Because of the COVID year in 2020, Stills actually has another year of college eligibility remaining despite playing four full college seasons. The Fairmont resident played roughly 190 snaps as a true freshman during coach Dana Holgorsen's final season in 2018.
Three years ago, weighing as much as 309 pounds, a beefed-up Stills generated 11½ tackles for loss and a career-high seven sacks playing alongside his big brother, Darius.
Last year, Dante logged just two sacks in 10 games, although he did have 10½ TFLs, but he felt he had left some of those big plays out on the field. Although he considered entering his name into the NFL Draft, he instead chose to return for his senior season in 2021.
Shedding 20 pound before the season, a slimmed-down Dante had another outstanding season with six sacks and a career-high 13 TFLs to go with 32 tackles. He was a first-team All-Big 12 First Team by the media and the coaches, so his senior season ended up being much more productive.
But was it productive enough?
"For me, I always like to improve," he admitted yesterday afternoon. "Even when I'm having a good game I'm feeling like I haven't played my best.
"I want to make it to the next level and the next level is very strict," Stills continued. "It's all about business. If you're not doing the right things they will get rid of you, so I'm just trying to develop my game and talk to the right people to make sure I'm good enough to be at that spot."
His daily discussions usually begin with Darius, who went through the NFL process last year. Darius ended up slipping through the draft and was signed as a free agent by the Las Vegas Raiders before getting released during training camp.
Before each game, Darius sends Dante a text message that reads: "Good luck, the GMs are watching." Dante said it's his brother's way of motivating him.
"That's just him telling me, 'If you are going to be lazy, they are going to mark it down. If you are aggressive, they're going to mark it down.' He's really just trying to get my head right," Dante said. "I think my head is definitely in the right place, but as an older brother, he always wants to make sure."
Dante said his timeline for making a decision will come sometime after the bowl game.
"I've been thinking about the best options I need to do," he said. "There are pros and cons either way. If I stay there are pros and cons, and if I leave, there are pros and cons to that."
Dante watched this first hand with his consensus All-American brother.
"We all expected something different, but it's all part of God's plan," he said. "That's how we think of it. Darius had his opportunity in Vegas, and he's hoping to get signed after the season so it's really about opportunities. After going through that last year, I have a good idea what can happen and the consequences of coming back or leaving. I've got a lot of information, and I've been thinking about it every day."
Dante's coach, Neal Brown, said he doesn't like comparing the two players and their personal situations are different.
"I don't think that's fair," Brown admitted. "I never talked to Dante and mentioned Darius and when Darius was on the team I never talked to Darius and mentioned Dante's name. I have nephews and they're really close in age, and I always see people talking about the Stills brothers and when they talk about my nephews, they talk about twins.
"I think it's so important that they are separate individuals and they're different," he added. "Their personalities are different and their games are different. There are more differences than there are similarities in how they play football. As far as Dante, he's going to play this game and then he's going to make a decision on what he wants to do."
In Brown's opinion, Dante is a much better football player today than he was three years ago when he inherited him.
"He's a better player now than he's ever been throughout his career," Brown noted. "But there is still improvement there that he can make. His body has changed, and I think his best football is still in front of him."
Dante agrees.
"I've matured. The first couple of years I was just out there playing ball," he admitted. "Then, you realize you've got to take care of your body and do the right things to make sure you're successful."
Playing Tuesday night against Minnesota's massive offensive line that features three players who have earned some form of All-Big Ten honors will be a huge test for Stills. He understands a strong performance against those guys could really open some eyes.
"First of all, they're all seniors. They're all veteran O-linemen and they know how to play football," he said. "Their left tackle (Daniel Faalele), I played against him in the Under Armour game so I know of him. They're a very well-coached group. They work very well together, and I think they have a couple of Senior Bowl invites, so that's a good challenge for me to go out there and prove that I'm able to compete and play against anybody in the country."
Stills said he has faced some good offensive lines during his four years in the Big 12, but most of those Big 12 offenses had some elements of spread and downfield passing attacks.
Minnesota can throw it downfield, too, but it's clear the Golden Gophers want to run the ball first by trying to maul teams at the line of scrimmage. If they are successful, they will continue doing it.
Stills admitted it could be a strength versus quickness matchup on Tuesday night.
"We might be quicker, but they do work really well together so they might pick it up," he said. "I feel like I'm strong enough and our D-line is strong enough to go against anybody. The Big Ten is a hard conference. I have full respect for them and this game is all about discipline and being physical up front."
"I feel like we're ready to go," he added. "I'm going to give it my all and be really tired at the end of the game. That's my goal."
West Virginia has one final on-site practice planned for today before meeting the 8-4 Golden Gophers Tuesday night at Chase Field in downtown Phoenix. The game will kick off at 10:15 ET and will be televised nationally on ESPN.
Because of the COVID year in 2020, Stills actually has another year of college eligibility remaining despite playing four full college seasons. The Fairmont resident played roughly 190 snaps as a true freshman during coach Dana Holgorsen's final season in 2018.
Three years ago, weighing as much as 309 pounds, a beefed-up Stills generated 11½ tackles for loss and a career-high seven sacks playing alongside his big brother, Darius.
Last year, Dante logged just two sacks in 10 games, although he did have 10½ TFLs, but he felt he had left some of those big plays out on the field. Although he considered entering his name into the NFL Draft, he instead chose to return for his senior season in 2021.
Shedding 20 pound before the season, a slimmed-down Dante had another outstanding season with six sacks and a career-high 13 TFLs to go with 32 tackles. He was a first-team All-Big 12 First Team by the media and the coaches, so his senior season ended up being much more productive.
But was it productive enough?
"For me, I always like to improve," he admitted yesterday afternoon. "Even when I'm having a good game I'm feeling like I haven't played my best.
"I want to make it to the next level and the next level is very strict," Stills continued. "It's all about business. If you're not doing the right things they will get rid of you, so I'm just trying to develop my game and talk to the right people to make sure I'm good enough to be at that spot."
His daily discussions usually begin with Darius, who went through the NFL process last year. Darius ended up slipping through the draft and was signed as a free agent by the Las Vegas Raiders before getting released during training camp.
Before each game, Darius sends Dante a text message that reads: "Good luck, the GMs are watching." Dante said it's his brother's way of motivating him.
"That's just him telling me, 'If you are going to be lazy, they are going to mark it down. If you are aggressive, they're going to mark it down.' He's really just trying to get my head right," Dante said. "I think my head is definitely in the right place, but as an older brother, he always wants to make sure."
Dante said his timeline for making a decision will come sometime after the bowl game.
"I've been thinking about the best options I need to do," he said. "There are pros and cons either way. If I stay there are pros and cons, and if I leave, there are pros and cons to that."
Dante watched this first hand with his consensus All-American brother.
"We all expected something different, but it's all part of God's plan," he said. "That's how we think of it. Darius had his opportunity in Vegas, and he's hoping to get signed after the season so it's really about opportunities. After going through that last year, I have a good idea what can happen and the consequences of coming back or leaving. I've got a lot of information, and I've been thinking about it every day."
Dante's coach, Neal Brown, said he doesn't like comparing the two players and their personal situations are different.
"I don't think that's fair," Brown admitted. "I never talked to Dante and mentioned Darius and when Darius was on the team I never talked to Darius and mentioned Dante's name. I have nephews and they're really close in age, and I always see people talking about the Stills brothers and when they talk about my nephews, they talk about twins.
"I think it's so important that they are separate individuals and they're different," he added. "Their personalities are different and their games are different. There are more differences than there are similarities in how they play football. As far as Dante, he's going to play this game and then he's going to make a decision on what he wants to do."
In Brown's opinion, Dante is a much better football player today than he was three years ago when he inherited him.
"He's a better player now than he's ever been throughout his career," Brown noted. "But there is still improvement there that he can make. His body has changed, and I think his best football is still in front of him."
Dante agrees.
"I've matured. The first couple of years I was just out there playing ball," he admitted. "Then, you realize you've got to take care of your body and do the right things to make sure you're successful."
Playing Tuesday night against Minnesota's massive offensive line that features three players who have earned some form of All-Big Ten honors will be a huge test for Stills. He understands a strong performance against those guys could really open some eyes.
"First of all, they're all seniors. They're all veteran O-linemen and they know how to play football," he said. "Their left tackle (Daniel Faalele), I played against him in the Under Armour game so I know of him. They're a very well-coached group. They work very well together, and I think they have a couple of Senior Bowl invites, so that's a good challenge for me to go out there and prove that I'm able to compete and play against anybody in the country."
Stills said he has faced some good offensive lines during his four years in the Big 12, but most of those Big 12 offenses had some elements of spread and downfield passing attacks.
Minnesota can throw it downfield, too, but it's clear the Golden Gophers want to run the ball first by trying to maul teams at the line of scrimmage. If they are successful, they will continue doing it.
Stills admitted it could be a strength versus quickness matchup on Tuesday night.
"We might be quicker, but they do work really well together so they might pick it up," he said. "I feel like I'm strong enough and our D-line is strong enough to go against anybody. The Big Ten is a hard conference. I have full respect for them and this game is all about discipline and being physical up front."
"I feel like we're ready to go," he added. "I'm going to give it my all and be really tired at the end of the game. That's my goal."
West Virginia has one final on-site practice planned for today before meeting the 8-4 Golden Gophers Tuesday night at Chase Field in downtown Phoenix. The game will kick off at 10:15 ET and will be televised nationally on ESPN.
Players Mentioned
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Rich Rodriguez | Nov. 29
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