Whether he likes it or not, Dante Stills is old.
No, he’s not old old — he turns 22 in December — but as he enters his senior season at West Virginia, he’s cemented his status as the veteran leader in the defensive line room.
“I still think about [my] first game, first time being on campus,” Stills said. “Time does fly by. It’s been a quick journey. I wish it didn’t go as fast, but I’m here and I’ve always wanted to be in this position: a senior, old guy in the head.”
As the team’s starting defensive tackle, Stills will anchor the Mountaineers’ front three this fall. He’s likely to be flanked by inexperience — second-year Akheem Mesidor and Taijh Alston, who has played in three games over the last two years, as his linemates — further securing the need for the Fairmont native to be a leader up front.
It’s a situation that’s somewhat foreign for Stills, considering that it’s been his brother, Darius, who people have looked to for veteran leadership on the defensive line. Now that Darius is in the NFL, Dante is the one that will be tested this fall.
Adjusting to his new role began with his work during the offseason which included, among other things, representing the Mountaineers at Big 12 Media Days — something that head coach Neal Brown said was intended to push Stills out of his comfort zone.
“I stutter, so I really don’t like speaking in front of a large amount of people,” Stills said. “It was a great challenge. I loved it, I loved being down there talking to everybody. I’m just getting ready for the season. It was a big growth for me, like having to speak a lot during practice or during meetings and stuff like that because usually I never really had to do that, I’d just sit back and watch and listen. I’ve grown for sure.”
On the practice field, Stills has worked to improve his consistency as well as his ability to speak up. While it hasn’t been a difficult adjustment to no longer be playing beside his brother and lifelong teammate, it’s still something to get used to.
“With Akheem, I don’t want to say it’s really any different, I’ve just got to be more vocal,” Stills said. “Darius was vocal, but now I’ve got to be the one that really takes charge of the line.”
Taking charge is exactly what Stills has done.
Despite being more than two thousand miles away from each other, Dante says he still talks to Darius almost daily, trying to learn something new and get better.
“That’s one thing that he wants to do, he calls me probably every other day, maybe every day, talks to me about his practice and how he did and just teaching me little things that I could fix,” Dante said. “I might send him film of me, he might critique it. I just learn from him every day, really, on how the process goes and how to be patient with it.”
With the full backing of the coaching staff, Stills has fully embraced his new role as the team nears Week 1.
“I definitely take it into my own hands and [members of the coaching staff] do it also,” Stills said. “They want me to lead, d-line, defense, the team. I’m taking that role head-on.”