MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Dante Stills was very forthcoming with his intent entering the 2020 season at WVU – he wanted it to be his last with the Mountaineers.
“My main goal going into my junior year was pretty much I wanted to leave,” Stills said this week. “I wanted to be a three-year-and-out guy.”
Instead, Stills is one of the top returners and leaders with the team this spring, shown (and heard) by his vocal nature during Saturday’s scrimmage inside Milan Puskar Stadium.
So what happened to Stills’ bold goal?
For him, coming back to the Mountaineers when he didn’t expect to be before is far from a bad thing, and his older brother, Darius, served as the perfect example.
Darius was in a similar situation last year, knowing he had a good chance at the NFL but wasn’t satisfied with where he was. He opted to come back to WVU for his senior year, and is now considered one of the top defensive tackle prospect for this month’s NFL draft.
Dante had a good junior campaign in 2020, finishing with 10 1/2 tackles for loss, but his sack numbers decreased from seven in 2019 to two last season.
“I just felt like I didn’t do as much as I needed to to be at that level that Darius is going to,” Dante said. “I thought it was best for me to stay another year and work so I’m able to be at that level next year.”
Head coach Neal Brown said the team sent in paperwork to NFL scouts on Dante’s behalf, and there were many discussions throughout the year about what is best for his future.
“He made a lot of fundamental strides last year, but I think it’s beneficial for both he and for our program for him to come back his senior year,” Brown said. “He had a great offseason, he’s in a different mindset, he’s maturing and I fully expect him to have a big-time senior year. I think he’ll put himself in significantly better position than if he was in this year’s draft class.”
Just a year apart, Darius and Dante have done just about everything together growing up, but especially on the football field. Both played three years together at Fairmont Senior from 2014-16, but Darius was a freshman at WVU while Dante was a senior with the Polar Bears in 2017.
Then, the duo spent three more years together with the Mountaineers from 2018-20. Now, Dante will be by himself again following the draft — Darius is currently in Morgantown preparing for the NFL.
Seeing Darius’ success and high hopes to play at the next level is definitely having a positive effect on Dante as he hopes to be in the same position in 2022.
“What I’ve noticed throughout this whole thing is his patience,” Dante said. “It’s all about controlling what you can control. After your pro day, you have no control over when you’re going to get picked or by what team. As of right now, I’m learning from him just to be patient. I know all the stuff he’s going through and he’s very excited about it so I’ve just got to be there to support him. For me, I’ve just got to play my game. I know Darius is going to handle his business and Darius knows I’m going to handle my business.
“I’m hoping I’m in his position one day.”
Help at Will
During Saturday’s scrimmage, there was a new face at a position in desperate need of help. Devell Washington, who was recruited to play receiver with the class of 2020, played Will linebacker, a significant position change.
Brown, though, said it wasn’t the coaching staff’s idea to make the move. They were approached by Washington just before the Easter break.
“He played safety in high school and his body has changed so much since he’s been here, he’s bigger,” Brown said. “I think it will stick and has real potential at that position, especially with how we use the Will playing outside the box so much. To be honest, if we were to go out and recruit a Will, it would look exactly like Devell. He’s 6-foot-2 and about 212 (pounds). I do think he has a high ceiling.
Brown also said redshirt freshman Jairo Faverus moved to Will after being recruited as a cornerback. Faverus is out for the Spring with a knee injury.
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