MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – It was sort of a whack-a-mole season last year for West Virginia's porous defense.

As one problem would pop up, the prior coaching staff would try and take a whack at it, only to see another one pop up someplace else. The two areas that never got fixed were in the secondary and rushing the quarterback – a lethal combination, for sure.

Returning coach Rich Rodriguez has brought in new players and coaches across the board to try and address these issues, including Wyoming senior transfer Braden Siders.

In the 6-foot-2, 241-pound Siders, Rodriguez is hopeful he's at least found a veteran player who can get to the passer.

"He plays really hard," he said earlier today. "He's an athletic guy who is really intelligent. He's one of those really good pass rushers who is also probably going to be a really good special teams guy, too. We added five or six guys since spring ball to get after the quarterback."

When healthy, Siders proved he could do that at Wyoming. His best year came in 2022 as a redshirt freshman when he made seven sacks and 13½ tackles for loss for a Cowboys team that went 9-4 that season.

A year later, he played almost the entire season with a hamstring injury and last year was limited for a good portion of it because of a concussion. Still, he managed 7½ sacks and 10½ tackles for losses in the games in which he was healthy enough to play.

After last season, Siders decided a career reboot was in order, and he originally committed to Arizona before eventually souring on the Wildcats when he found out about the defensive staff changes taking place in Tucson during the offseason.

"You want to wrap it up, but you want to make sure it's the right decision, and you don't rush through it and end up in a crappy situation," he explained.

So, while Siders was in football purgatory and still searching for a place to play, West Virginia assistant defensive coach Jake Casteel reached out to check on his availability. Siders said he was still shopping himself around, and a winter visit was set up.

"I really wanted to come here, but there was almost like a dead period when I wasn't hearing much from West Virginia," Siders recalled.

Once he visited, saw the football facility and became comfortable with the coaching staff and the campus, he switched his commitment to West Virginia, although he wasn't entirely sure about the defensive scheme he was going to be playing. 

That sort of made it a cart-before-the-horse situation.

"I just didn't know what I was getting into with a new staff, but I was pleased when I found out," he admitted.

The position he was recruited to play at West Virginia is called bandit, requiring him to do some explaining to relatives and friends living back in Thornton, Colorado, a Denver suburb about 10 miles north of downtown.

He laughs when thinking about it.

"I've just been saying edge," he said. "The explanation just doesn't get through, though."

His position coach, Jeff Casteel, recently gave us a little more detailed explanation of what Siders and the bandits are required to do, in case anyone living back in Colorado is reading this.

"Their job is to set the edge and hit the quarterback, by and large," Casteel observed. "We need to be more productive than we've been the last three or four years in terms of affecting the quarterback. 

"It would be nice to all get 10 sacks apiece, but it's just affecting the quarterback. That's what our guys have got to do. We're talking about trying to be physical on every play and knocking people back and playing football. That's what we're trying to get to them; that it's football," Casteel added, smacking his hands together to emphasize his point.

While at Wyoming, Siders said he never switched sides, so he's had to learn to play the field and the boundary in coordinator Zac Alley's defensive scheme. There are some similarities in terms of pass coverage responsibilities, but not quite as much carryover as Siders would have liked.

That's meant he's had to get into his playbook and really study Alley's defense to learn on the fly.

"This is definitely more studying than I've had to do in the past, but it's raising my football IQ, which I appreciate," Siders said.

Having someone working with him every day with the vast experience Jeff Casteel possesses has also been extremely beneficial, according to Siders.

"(Coach Casteel) has been amazing," he said. "He wants us to get off the block and run to the ball. That's what it comes down to.

"I'm so thankful," he continued. "He's what you want. Old school, in my opinion, is the way to be sometimes. There are times when he puts his arm around you (to explain things), and then there are others when he's screaming, and spit is going everywhere. 

"It's the best of both worlds."

West Virginia, it turns out, has become the best of both worlds for Braden Siders, too, especially when he found out that his Ralston Valley High and Wyoming teammate Chase Wilson was also on the Mountaineer roster.
The two were not a package deal, by any means.

"I had no idea," Siders said when asked about his longtime teammate. "I asked him, 'What schools are you talking to?' And he was here, and I couldn't believe it. I'd love nothing more for him to play behind me, or vice versa. It's nice having that connection."

Casteel said he likes what he's seen so far from Siders.

"Braden has a done a good job, really since he's gotten here. He's a tough, strong, and really physical player," he said.

"In my experience, the guys that don't need a coach to tell them how to blitz are the best blitzers. I have been blessed with quite a few of those over the years," Casteel mentioned.

"Our pass rush group got a lot better in the last five months," Rodriguez concluded.

West Virginia had a shortened practice this morning and the plan is to be in shorts tomorrow before Saturday morning's closed scrimmage inside the stadium. Rodriguez and Alley are scheduled to meet with media afterward.