Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
Locked-In Stills Readying For Final Go-Round With Mountaineers
June 10, 2022 02:39 PM | Football, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Sitting on the top of my desk was a copy of this year's Athlon Sports College Football Preview. On its cover was a growling Dante Stills in his arms-flexed pose he usually does whenever he sacks quarterbacks.
Just a few months ago, there weren't many West Virginia football fans who thought it was possible Dante Stills was going to be on the cover of anything this year wearing a Mountaineer uniform. It was pretty much a forgone conclusion that he would enter his name into the NFL Draft once WVU finished its season in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl.
His older brother, Darius, chose to leave school early after a consensus All-America season in 2020 to pursue his NFL dream, just as their father Gary once did after playing three seasons for the Mountaineers from 1996-98.
Actually, Dante considered turning pro following his 2019 sophomore campaign when he produced seven sacks and 11½ tackles for losses playing next to his older brother.
But the signals he kept getting were always a bit confusing. Yes, he has a great deal of talent; yes, he has the body and the measurables to become an NFL player. But the technique, the consistency and the other things the pro people are seeking were always lacking.
The data Dante kept receiving was always, "Yes, but …"
"I wanted to be smart with my decision," Dante said earlier this spring. "I got the data from the coaches and, honestly, I went back and watched all of my games and did my own self-evaluation and I was like, 'I could have done stuff better here, here, here …' What the scouts were telling me was matching up to what I watched."
What Stills watched was a player who made a lot of plays, who did a lot of great things for significant portions of football games, but also left some plays out there.
There were times when a great play could have become game-changing had he punched the football out of the quarterback's arms instead of just settling for a sack. Had he been in the proper area during a specific play, it could have meant the difference between forcing a punt or allowing a first down to seal a defeat.
These things go unnoticed to the rest of us, but not to his coaches and not to those ubiquitous scouts who seem to notice just about everything a player does.
"I feel like there were a couple of times when I could have stripped the ball out, especially Texas Tech," he explained. "I remember one of my sacks, I came around and tackled (the quarterback) from behind and I could have easily punched the ball out and it's our ball. Just watching my film from last year, I missed out on a lot of those plays that could have helped us win games."
If you think about it, a play or two here or there could have meant the difference in at least two or three games last year. How does seven, eight or nine victories look in Year Three of Neal Brown's WVU tenure instead of six?
Stills admits his decision to return to West Virginia for his senior season was for personal reasons, which also include some unfilled team goals that he would like to accomplish before his college career concludes.
Growing up in nearby Fairmont, Dante Stills is well indoctrinated in the meaning of Mountaineer football. Kids go to school on Fridays wearing their gold and blue colors, weddings are delayed until after football season and vacations are made around bowl games.
When the Mountaineers are struggling, it spills over into everyday life for West Virginians. Dante has seen and lived this since he was a small child.
"I feel like West Virginians deserve a championship," he admitted. "I grew up here, and I've seen a lot of greats come through here, and I want to have that feeling that we are finally champions. We haven't had that feeling as an organization in a while and the way last year ended, the loss in the bowl game and not a great record, I feel like this year is all about improving that."
Bear in mind, Dante made these remarks before it was known Georgia quarterback J.T. Daniels was transferring to WVU to play his senior season. Daniels, who won all seven games he started at Georgia last year before getting injured, is considered among the prized transfer prospects of 2022.
Mountaineer fans have visions of another Will Grier when considering the impact Daniels could have on West Virginia's offense this season.
Getting Stills back for his fifth season could have a similar impact on the defense. When it's all said and done, Dante is going to go down as one of the best hand-on-the-ground pass rushers in school history. His 19 sacks are tied with College Football Hall of Famer Darryl Talley for sixth in school history.
Among the school's top five pass rushers, only Julian Miller (26 sacks) played with his hand down. Miller is tied with Dante's father, Gary, for second among WVU's best pass rushers. Edge rusher Canute Curtis, a consensus All-American in 1996, is tops on the list with 35 career sacks, so that should give you a pretty good idea what type of career Dante Stills has had so far.
With a great season in 2022, who knows how close Dante can come to Canute's school record? Dante wants to perform well this year, for sure, and perform consistently well more often than he has in the past.
"I need to run to the ball on every play, which I wasn't doing," he admitted. "People always see the sacks and the TFLs and think he's good enough, but there is a lot more stuff going on in a game that (NFL scouts) want to see that I didn't show. I think this year is all about that."
He continued, "I want to play smarter this year rather than just running around out there. I'm at the point in my career where I need to study the whole game and know where all of the pieces go, where I need to go and where the other players need to go so I can learn all of the positions on the D-line instead of just mine."
Those are pretty mature remarks from a player who has all of the ability in the world. He's got good people coaching him, good people advising him and good players around him.
This year he wants to put that all together.
As safeties coach Dontae Wright so aptly said toward the end of spring drills, it's a lot easier going to the league off a 10-win season than it is off a six-win year. Team success matters, and Stills is eager to prove that West Virginia has what it takes to compete against a very challenging Power 5 schedule that will once again be considered among the most difficult in college football.
"Seeing it will be better than explaining it," Stills said. "We're locked in."
Just a few months ago, there weren't many West Virginia football fans who thought it was possible Dante Stills was going to be on the cover of anything this year wearing a Mountaineer uniform. It was pretty much a forgone conclusion that he would enter his name into the NFL Draft once WVU finished its season in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl.
His older brother, Darius, chose to leave school early after a consensus All-America season in 2020 to pursue his NFL dream, just as their father Gary once did after playing three seasons for the Mountaineers from 1996-98.
Actually, Dante considered turning pro following his 2019 sophomore campaign when he produced seven sacks and 11½ tackles for losses playing next to his older brother.
But the signals he kept getting were always a bit confusing. Yes, he has a great deal of talent; yes, he has the body and the measurables to become an NFL player. But the technique, the consistency and the other things the pro people are seeking were always lacking.
The data Dante kept receiving was always, "Yes, but …"
"I wanted to be smart with my decision," Dante said earlier this spring. "I got the data from the coaches and, honestly, I went back and watched all of my games and did my own self-evaluation and I was like, 'I could have done stuff better here, here, here …' What the scouts were telling me was matching up to what I watched."
What Stills watched was a player who made a lot of plays, who did a lot of great things for significant portions of football games, but also left some plays out there.
There were times when a great play could have become game-changing had he punched the football out of the quarterback's arms instead of just settling for a sack. Had he been in the proper area during a specific play, it could have meant the difference between forcing a punt or allowing a first down to seal a defeat.These things go unnoticed to the rest of us, but not to his coaches and not to those ubiquitous scouts who seem to notice just about everything a player does.
"I feel like there were a couple of times when I could have stripped the ball out, especially Texas Tech," he explained. "I remember one of my sacks, I came around and tackled (the quarterback) from behind and I could have easily punched the ball out and it's our ball. Just watching my film from last year, I missed out on a lot of those plays that could have helped us win games."
If you think about it, a play or two here or there could have meant the difference in at least two or three games last year. How does seven, eight or nine victories look in Year Three of Neal Brown's WVU tenure instead of six?
Stills admits his decision to return to West Virginia for his senior season was for personal reasons, which also include some unfilled team goals that he would like to accomplish before his college career concludes.
Growing up in nearby Fairmont, Dante Stills is well indoctrinated in the meaning of Mountaineer football. Kids go to school on Fridays wearing their gold and blue colors, weddings are delayed until after football season and vacations are made around bowl games.
When the Mountaineers are struggling, it spills over into everyday life for West Virginians. Dante has seen and lived this since he was a small child.
"I feel like West Virginians deserve a championship," he admitted. "I grew up here, and I've seen a lot of greats come through here, and I want to have that feeling that we are finally champions. We haven't had that feeling as an organization in a while and the way last year ended, the loss in the bowl game and not a great record, I feel like this year is all about improving that."
Bear in mind, Dante made these remarks before it was known Georgia quarterback J.T. Daniels was transferring to WVU to play his senior season. Daniels, who won all seven games he started at Georgia last year before getting injured, is considered among the prized transfer prospects of 2022.
Mountaineer fans have visions of another Will Grier when considering the impact Daniels could have on West Virginia's offense this season.
Getting Stills back for his fifth season could have a similar impact on the defense. When it's all said and done, Dante is going to go down as one of the best hand-on-the-ground pass rushers in school history. His 19 sacks are tied with College Football Hall of Famer Darryl Talley for sixth in school history.
Among the school's top five pass rushers, only Julian Miller (26 sacks) played with his hand down. Miller is tied with Dante's father, Gary, for second among WVU's best pass rushers. Edge rusher Canute Curtis, a consensus All-American in 1996, is tops on the list with 35 career sacks, so that should give you a pretty good idea what type of career Dante Stills has had so far.
With a great season in 2022, who knows how close Dante can come to Canute's school record? Dante wants to perform well this year, for sure, and perform consistently well more often than he has in the past.
"I need to run to the ball on every play, which I wasn't doing," he admitted. "People always see the sacks and the TFLs and think he's good enough, but there is a lot more stuff going on in a game that (NFL scouts) want to see that I didn't show. I think this year is all about that."
He continued, "I want to play smarter this year rather than just running around out there. I'm at the point in my career where I need to study the whole game and know where all of the pieces go, where I need to go and where the other players need to go so I can learn all of the positions on the D-line instead of just mine."
Those are pretty mature remarks from a player who has all of the ability in the world. He's got good people coaching him, good people advising him and good players around him.
This year he wants to put that all together.
As safeties coach Dontae Wright so aptly said toward the end of spring drills, it's a lot easier going to the league off a 10-win season than it is off a six-win year. Team success matters, and Stills is eager to prove that West Virginia has what it takes to compete against a very challenging Power 5 schedule that will once again be considered among the most difficult in college football.
"Seeing it will be better than explaining it," Stills said. "We're locked in."
Players Mentioned
DL
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