Rumored New Defensive Coaches At WVU: Some Background Info
by WVUIE97 on Jan 12, 2012 2:02 PM EST
in Mountaineer Football
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With the defections of coaches Casteel, Kirelawich and Lockwood, the WVU football staff needs some replacements. The three most heavily rumored have been Joe DeForest, Brian Stewart and Zac Spavital. These are just the rumored possible coaches. Nothing is official until a release from the WVU Department of Athletics says it is. Now Brent Venables' name is also being mentioned. In the meantime, we've put together some basic info on the possible coaches to help everyone become more familiar with them. DeForest has already publicly stated he's coming (details remain to be worked out), so we'll look at him first:
Joe DeForest
- Most recently Safeties and Special Teams/Assistant Head Coach at Oklahoma State
- Previous stints at Duke and Rice
- Coached 2008 Ray Guy Award winner Matt Fodge and the 2010 Lou Groza Award winner, Dan Bailey
- OSU's special teams showed marked improvements in his first year, going from 73rd to 10th in net punting, from 67th to 12th in punt returns and from 92nd to third in kickoff returns
- Mack Brown calls DeForest's kicking units "not good, but great"
- Known good recruiter, especially in the talent rich Houston area
Brent Venables
- Associate Head Coach and current DC at Oklahoma under Bob Stoops (whose brother Mike is coming back to be Co-DC)
- Has been coaching LB's at OU since 1999
- Coached 12 NFL draftees (so far)
- Consistently fields one of the best defenses in the Big 12
- Also coached at Kansas State from 1993 - 1998 (starting as a GA, then full assistant)
- Known as a recruiting "Closer"
Brian Stewart
- Most recently Houston Cougars Defensive Coordinator
- Resigned from Houston last week to "pursue other opportunities"
- Defensive Coordinator with Dallas in 2007-2008
- Other previous stints in NFL with Philadelphia and San Diego
- Previous college coaching stints with Syracuse, Missouri, San Jose State, Northern Arizona and Cal Poly
- Employs a 3-4 scheme at Houston, which would be the likely switch at WVU
- Houston's defense improved from 96th in 2010 to 40th in 2011
- Houston's Red-Zone defense second only to Alabama in 2011 and also ranked 7th in turnover margin
- Another highly regarded recruiter
Zac Spavital
- Most recently Safeties coach under Brian Stewart at Houston
- Coached cornerbacks for Houston in 2008-2009
- Graduate assistant at Oklahoma from 2005-2007
- Older brother of WVU QB's coach, Jake Spavital
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Never thought I'd see the day
when WVU could possibly pry away a Assoc HC/DC from a school like Oklahoma…even though it’s just a possibility
I agree WVUIE
Case in point, Jeff Mullen is now OC at Charlotte.yes Charlotte’s strat up program. Bill Stewart is out of coaching,
Now we are getting guys to leave OK and OK State to come here. Imprressive.
RR is so far in my rear view mirror I’ve actually forgotten about him.
by PicktownMountie on Jan 12, 2012 4:12 PM EST up reply actions
Any rumors on who we'd get for a D-Line coach?
2012 Orange Bowl Champs: "I haven’t seen a Tiger take a beating like that since Elin grabbed her 9-iron."
if a combination of these and only 3 of them
possibly Dunlap moving to DL coach, have also seen rumors of Jim Jeffcoat
Reports are
Venables has been offered <-LINK
But just because he was offered, doesn’t necessarily mean he’s accepting
this list is AWESOME!
5 – 10 years ago, wvu would be grabbing up and commers…with them using us as the stepping stone to bigger and better things. this list shows thats not the case anymore. and nothing makes me smile more then taking coaches away from not so big game bob
" Lord Stanley, scratch their names on your fabled cup" Mike Lange june 12, 2009
by oldtimehockey09 on Jan 12, 2012 4:07 PM EST reply actions
Is it me?
If I remember OKST and OU weren’t necessarily known for their defenses. OKST for a while has had great offenses but not enough defense to become an contender. OU brought in Mike Stoops to be the Co-DC with Venebles especially after OU’s defense blew it on a number of occasions most notably vs. Baylor. This also applies to Houston as well
I know these guys are big names, but are we going to have to get used to more 34-31 games with the onus on the offense to out-score our opponent because our defense can’t stop them?
"Thus, it is with those nurtured in Appalachia—they leave, but they look back, remembering pleasant things. The land has claimed them, and its ties will not be severed." --Maurice Brooks
Dr. Charley West, Please don't block me if I have typos or poor grammar.
by Oregon Mountaineer on Jan 12, 2012 4:45 PM EST reply actions
OK State's defense gets a bad wrap..
On my mobile, so I cant really dig into stats, but they lead the nation in turnovers this year, and Houston was like top 10 in several categories.
Stats are deceptive sometimes I understand. But to that point, a good offense creates oppertunities for their defense, since they can force the other offense into forcing throws and playing from behind.
by beckett929 on Jan 12, 2012 10:18 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
Big 12 Defenses don't compare well statistically
because they’re on the field so much. Everyone plays no-huddle now-a-days. Snap counts are getting huge. Oklahoma State’s D for instance averaged somewhere in the area of 40 minutes per game on the field. It sounds like excuses (and I am biased), but I believe Alabama’s defense would look at least 15% worse if they played in the Big 12 and those guys are GOOD. Holgo and WVU are just going to add to the offensive emphasis in the Big 12.
For what it's worth...
by Something Witty on Jan 13, 2012 12:19 PM EST up reply actions
Not trying to be a contrarian...
But if BOTH offenses are prolific, wouldn’t that tend to even out the snap count and time of possession? It probably wouldn’t help the yard and point totals, though.
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@CountryRoadsWV
by Country Roads on Jan 13, 2012 1:01 PM EST up reply actions
Another thing
I’m slightly concerned about getting exclusively Texas guys. I think it’s really important to recruit our region well. PA/DC/OH et al. I also know the talent pool in TX is much deeper than other places but I wouldn’t want to lose the inroads we’ve made in FL as well. (specifically the Miramar pipeline)
"Thus, it is with those nurtured in Appalachia—they leave, but they look back, remembering pleasant things. The land has claimed them, and its ties will not be severed." --Maurice Brooks
Dr. Charley West, Please don't block me if I have typos or poor grammar.
by Oregon Mountaineer on Jan 13, 2012 2:17 PM EST reply actions
Apparently all hell is breaking loose
The twitter is a buzz with comments like, Spavital and Venables have withdrawn their names.
"Thus, it is with those nurtured in Appalachia—they leave, but they look back, remembering pleasant things. The land has claimed them, and its ties will not be severed." --Maurice Brooks
Dr. Charley West, Please don't block me if I have typos or poor grammar.
by Oregon Mountaineer on Jan 13, 2012 3:36 PM EST reply actions
Metronews said
Spavital not interested in WVU
http://www.wvmetronews.com/wvu.cfm?func=displayfullstory&storyid=50315
Venables reported to have withdrawn interest
Dave Sittler wrote a source said Venables withdrew consideration from WVU (Tulsa World).
Does anyone have updates on Brian Stewart?
Its going to be hard to replace Casteel. I can’t get excited about this change with the thought of Holgerson taking the next best offer out West to coach in a few years. Why would Casteel take a pay cut, sorry I don’t think all is well here in Motown…
by wesvinmorgantown on Jan 16, 2012 2:40 PM EST reply actions
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