MORGANTOWN — There are only a few instances Dante Stills wasn’t protected by his big brother, Darius.
Dante’s senior year at Fairmont Senior in 2017 is the most recent example, as Darius already moved on to WVU for his first season with the Mountaineers. The time before that was when Dante was an 8th-grader as Darius moved on to high school.
Now, Darius is onto his next step after college, working through the preseason with the Las Vegas Raiders, leaving Dante with one year left at WVU as a senior.
Not only is Dante trying to make a name for himself — not Darius’ little brother or WVU Sports Hall-of-Famer Gary’s son — he is being asked to be an outspoken leader of the entire defense, even if it means getting out of his comfort zone.
Head coach Neal Brown wants the same out of Dante, and it started with asking Stills if he could attend Big 12 Media Days in July at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
With a self-admitted stuttering problem, it was a challenge Stills wanted to face head on.
“I stutter, all you guys know that, and I don’t really like speaking in front of a large amount of people,” Stills said. “It was a great challenge. I loved it and I loved being down there. It was a being growth for me since I have to speak in practice, during meetings and stuff like that. I never really had to do that — I usually just sat back and watched, but I’m growing up for sure.”
The next step for Stills is to combine the production of his sophomore and junior seasons on the field. Named to the Bednarik (best defensive player), Bronko Nagurski (best defensive player) and Outland (best interior defensive lineman) awards watch lists, Stills has NFL aspirations, but consistency has been an issue.
Two years ago, Stills had eight sacks and 14 tackles for loss, but those numbers significantly decreased in 2020, albeit in three less games. Last season, he had just two sacks and 9 1/2 tackles for loss.
However, defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley said Stills had a better season last year than the year prior. He fit the bill as a prototypical defensive tackle and his technique was much improved.
Still, Stills wants to get to the quarterback more often.
“I played with more confidence last year, when my sophomore year, I was kind of just out there,” he said. “I also weighed a lot more, I was around 300 pounds. Last year, I just didn’t get back there enough and that needs to change.”
Stills trimmed his body down to 280 pounds and becoming a complete player — playing his own game — is what he hopes allows him to live up to his preseason expectations.
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