Though he tweaked alignments and began making adjustments throughout December’s bowl practices, newly promoted coordinator Keith Patterson couldn’t change the mentality that hampered West Virginia’s defense all season.
“That one bad play happens and whooooosh, it’s like we go south and we go into the tank,” said Patterson after his defense allowed 369 rushing yards in a 38-14 Pinstripe Bowl loss to Syracuse. “That seems to have been the tendency all year long.”
Now comes the time for the real transition — the offseason conditioning program, that will run concurrently with Patterson and head coach Dana Holgorsen evaluating how to rebuild a defense that was among the nation’s worst this season.
“That’s where you make your team: It starts as soon as we get back and start winter conditioning,” Patterson said. “That’s where you have to instill all these traits and these qualities that I’m talking about.”
What does Patterson envision for 2013 and beyond as WVU tries to slow down Big 12 offenses?
“I want to be a multiple, attacking 3-4 defense, and to do that you have to be disciplined, you have to be very passionate and you have to be able to attack,” Patterson said. “I do not believe you can allow quarterbacks to sit back there and comb their hair and throw the football. They’re too good, too well-versed, and the receivers are too good at moving into the open voids.”
The next month also will be crucial for recruiting, though Patterson said the staff already has begun targeting the kind of athletes who fit the 3-4.
“We have to recruit to this system. You can’t just sit there and say, ‘Let’s squeeze a square peg into a round hole,’” he said. “You have to make sure you have the right guys.
“We want to have long, lean athleticism at linebackers, guys who can make plays in open space. How many times did we have people at the point of attack and we don’t make the best of those opportunities?”
Gold and Blue Now Wednesday, June 19 
Gold and Blue Now Monday, June 17 
Gold and Blue Now: Friday, June 14 
Sportsline: Jed Drenning 
Sportsline: Morgantown's Amanii Brown 
Sportsline: John Bowers 
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Comments
Butthead
Better have a compliment to your "long lean athletic LB's". The Big 12 does not look to run the ball but if you run into a team that pounds the ball your long lean athletic LB's will be asking the FS for help.
DEPTH, DEPTH, DEPTH, DEPTH.........
Don't focus on just one aspect of your defense. Being able to disguise your defense and having the type of "quality" of athlete and "depth" across the line of scrimmage is key to winning.
I know this by playing hours of PS3 video games..
Huh, huh, huh, huh, huh
Sincerely,
Butthead
January 1, 2013 at 9:59 am | Report comment
Robert
"Some of you people make me sick with your fire em mentality". Well two can play that game. Some of YOU people make me sick by not realizing that Patterson and DeForest simply switched titles (still the same two clowns). And don't tell me about giving them guys time: I fully support Holgerson and think given time he's capable of giving our team a chance at a big 12 title, just not with that defense. Some of YOU people need to realize that the way football works is by outscoring your opponent. Hard to do when you gave up over 3900 passing yards in a season. For comparison there were only 8 QBs all season who threw for that much for their respective teams. And the worst comment of them all: "If you're such a die hard fan and big time ticket holder then stick with your team through rough years just like the good ones." Who said I wasn't sticking with my team? I still go to every game, yelled at Deforest at every game this season, and will yell at Patterson every game next if things go as expected. A good fan voices frustration when needed. There is a reason we had our first 5 game losing streak in 26 years, and I think I've stated my opinion. If your going to stick by Patterson now, then please don't complain next season. You should know more of it is coming.
January 1, 2013 at 10:06 am | Report comment
Robert
Another reason I don't support Patterson/Deforest:
“We were trying to sink a safety down in the box. There was times we’d fit up air-tight and the next thing you know, they split us. I’m sitting there kind of perplexed, because honestly I thought we’d be able to stop them from running the football.”
- Coach Patterson after the Syracuse game
January 1, 2013 at 10:34 am | Report comment
shawn
Yea it's fans like you that I can't stand sitting around! Instead of supporting your team, all you do is complain and yell at the coaches the entire time. Any smart fan knows it takes more than one season to recruit and get kids to but into your system. Also remember we aren't playing UConn, USF, etc. emery year. We are playing the big boys now and it requires more talented players to accomplish the goals needed to win the Big 12! Come on die hard...I thought you would know that!
January 1, 2013 at 1:46 pm | Report comment
Alum
And the yelling at the coaches on every play for the entire game, during every single game at MPS, gets old and annoying. The complaining gets old, very old - between the "coaches" where I sit at games and the "coaches" in cyberspace one can't get away from the negativity and complaining.
January 1, 2013 at 2:10 pm | Report comment
Robert
Well it is awful easy to make broad generalizations about me from behind your computer screen, shawn. But welcome to reality. I will drive 3 hours and be at the colloseum this weekend supporting the basketball team in the big 12 opener, and lord knows they are having a bad year. How is that for sitting around? I stand behind Huggins despite the bad year and I stand behind Holgorsen. But there is no excuse for the way we played on the defensive side of the ball this year on the gridiron.
Now it's my turn to make generalizations. You must be one of those fans who thinks everyone deserves a trophy after the game. There is a difference in learning to lose and learning to be a loser. You sound like the latter.
January 1, 2013 at 2:10 pm | Report comment
shawn
Hey bud I was born and raised here and graduated from WVU! I played a number of team sports including football so I am fully aware of what it takes to win games and what it's like to lose them. From your tone I can see now that i've hit a nerve with you. I'm glad you make it top all these games but that doesn't change the fact that you don't understand how the hiring of new coaches and recruiting players to fit a system works. Our D players are by no means top notch talent but you work with what you have. The coaches have went out and got some guys who are going to do big things for us on D. Just relax and read a book or watch a video during the offseason. Preferably one on the basics of football and how it works!
January 1, 2013 at 2:34 pm | Report comment
Robert
I didn't realize that graduating from WVU gave you more credentials. I would have already told you that I graduated there with a 4.0 GPA if I knew that mattered.
I think our D players are more than capable of being top notch if coached properly. The stars that they get from recruiting sites are meaningless. The development of the talent is way more important. If we had showed some improvement during the season I would be in support of our defensive coaches, but they seem as confused now as day 1.
I'll make you a deal. I'll go and get that book on football if I can mail it to you at the end of next season with "I told you so" written on it.
January 1, 2013 at 3:39 pm |
Greg
Sometimes you just can't make chicken salad out of chicken, well you know what. This team just didn't have any character and that was the biggest problem. They were just a much less talented version of the '98 team which lost to Ohio State the first game and gave up after the first hint of adversity.
January 1, 2013 at 11:45 am | Report comment
Wolfshund
At the end of the day Holgerson is the head coach, thus he responsible for the entire team and staff. It has been an embarassing year and he is to shoulder the brunt of the blame. Offense alone doesn't win championships. Jmo
January 1, 2013 at 12:55 pm | Report comment
protechcpa
If you want to put a period on this season, just look at the Baylor Bears. We played them just about dead even. The peak of our offensive output and maybe the worst of our defense. Where did Baylor wind up? Kicking the crap out of number 17 UCLA. Where did WVU end up? Being embarrassed by a mediocre Syracuse team. End of story.
January 1, 2013 at 4:46 pm | Report comment
Robert
+ 10
January 1, 2013 at 5:52 pm | Report comment
Alum
Was Baylor as depleted as WVU (sincere question). WVU's cupboard was bare this year. If you don't believe me, go find the article published in the Charleston Gazette on Election Day.
January 1, 2013 at 8:43 pm | Report comment
shawn
I guess Robert wishes we still had Casteel! Man he really killed it in his first year too! Oh wait I do believe WVU finished ahead of Arizona in total D! So I ask you again...do the coaches not deserve a couple years to recruit there kids and get a polished product together?
January 1, 2013 at 9:17 pm | Report comment
Robert
My goodness man, you are like a broken record. Now you are tiring me out. And please stop with the generalizations. You don't know a thing about me other than my distaste for your garbage philosophy and overuse of the ! key. Let me try one more time at this, and then I give up on you.
Deforest/Patterson don't deserve a couple years. Why? They have never proven themselves to have any success at the position. And I repeat. His players showed no improvement during the year. Here is a good story for you. Bob Huggins almost fired an assistant coach in Cincinnati for stating that in order to win more games they needed "better players". His response was that a coach's job is to take the players you have and make them BETTER.
Now, at the end of this season do you think that we are any better on defense than when we began? Do you think we can keep a decent team out of the end zone 5 times, or a good team 7 times? If you think that answer is no (I do), then why give a couple of coaches with no proven success at the D-coordinator position another go?
January 1, 2013 at 9:58 pm | Report comment
Shawn
Its probably in our best interest for us to agree to disagree. All i'm saying is WVU lost a handful of premier players from last year. We lost a lot of talent and leadership when Irvin, Goode, Smith, and Tandy graduated. We switched from one scheme to another and the whole defensive staff is new. All i'm trying to say is give it another year or two. I agree that if these guys aren't putting a good product on the field then its time to make a change. But give them at least 2 recruiting classes (starting with the upcoming class) to see what they can do. We had one of the best defenses at WVU back in 2010 but alot of those guys were veteran players who bought into the system and were given time to mature and grow. Lets Go EERS!
January 2, 2013 at 9:51 am | Report comment
Wesley Franks
I think its a personnel problem on defense. Most teams go through a year with a ton of youth and inexperience on one side of the ball or the other. WVU just doesnt have the talent or depth needed right now. Give the defensive staff a couple of years. The program took a major hit in recruiting overall in the Stewart era. Its going to take time, and some major JUCO help.
January 1, 2013 at 9:24 pm | Report comment
cutty77
After 12 games there Not Freshman anymore.2 things they have not done all year.They can't tackle,and they never have covered the sidlines.I don't want to hear anything about Castell staff either.There is 120 FBS schools in the country.Castell Defense is118 out a 120. This was a Step Up Bowl for Failure from the start.You could see,the players didn't want to play,the Coaches didn't Coach,and the equipment people didn't know what was going on either.They had The wrong Shoes on all day too.This was a Total Team Effort for Disaster.Including Oliver Luck too.Who in The Hell wants to be in New York after Christmas Playing in a Football Game in a Damm Baseball Stadium.I said before the Game,that this would BE The Worest Bowl Game In WVU History.Someone Please Prove Me Wrong.
January 1, 2013 at 9:58 pm | Report comment
Robert
I agree with you cutty. This game was a disaster, could easily be the worst bowl game in my lifetime. If I had to challenge you on the worst bowl game it would be for personal reasons. The Tire bowl game against UVA, back in the Rasheed Marshall era. My family got in a huge fight over that game and we wouldn't talk to each other for days after it. At least I was able to laugh through this one, lol.
January 1, 2013 at 10:09 pm | Report comment
KeithJS
Terrible Bowl, played very poorly on WV's side. Apparently this is a bowl which has a contract with the B12. We have to finish higher to avoid future visits.
January 2, 2013 at 4:57 pm | Report comment
George
I'm not going to blame Patterson for the 2012 Defense for he was the Co-Coordinator. The person who the Defense for most of this year was DeForest. Patterson while at Pitt turned that Defense into one of the nation's Best. I think Patterson deserves a year as the Head of WVU Defense and unlike 2012 Patterson won't be sharing the position with DeFrost as Defrost was supposed to do with Patterson in 2012.
I blame Holgorsen for 2012. Holgorsen left the Defense entirely upto DeFrost and was pretty much hands off. There was a lot of things that needed corrected during the year, and Holgorsen, from what I saw, did little to correct them. Holgorsen made a lot of bad coaching decisions, and week after week he and his coaches plamed the players. WVU will struggle in 2013, for the recruiting is average at best. And I believe WVU needs to replace DeForest and Bedenbaugh, hire a Special Teams Coach - kicking coach and hopefully they can get Chip West as DB Coach. And Duncan needs to retire.
WVU needs a kicking game, a defense an offensive line that can block, and an offense that can run and pass. But a quality team that can do this year after year iusn't cheap. It takes quality coaches and facilities, and I'm sure WVU and the alumni has deep enough pockets.
January 1, 2013 at 10:20 pm | Report comment
Hersh
This has to be one of dumbest threads of comments I've ever read. Apparently the people at the top don't realize that Patterson wasn't our Defensive Coordinator this season until right before the bowl game. We have some of the most moronic "cyberfans" in the country.
Giving a guy like DeForest that kind of money for what equates to on-the-job-training was, honestly, insulting, considering our stature, affiliation and tradition. Dana and Oliver need to share the blame for that defensive trainwreck, but I'm at least encouraged they are being proactive. As for the DC...this ain't Patterson's first rodeo.
Let's GO Mountaineers!
January 2, 2013 at 3:31 am | Report comment
fred
i th ink the DC needs to take a lesson from Syracuse defense. it works and I was impressed
January 2, 2013 at 8:13 am | Report comment
tony
hope the best with progress, Coach Patterson! gary. lets go eers!...should be better on d next year..my concern next year will be offense first....my concern down the stretch was the O leaving town....
January 2, 2013 at 10:41 am | Report comment
Peasant
it cracks me up when fans start this "we showed no improvement throughout the year" Fact is, you cant teach a midget to dunk a basketball! Translation = the skillset was not there to make improvements. IMO the majority of players on defense had very low football IQ's. Sure, they may have excelled in high school on their athletic ability, however, when they faced opponents with equal speed and strength their low football IQ and INABILITY to be coached showed!
January 2, 2013 at 11:04 am | Report comment
Robert
I don't know why that would crack you up. I think the most important thing a player asks of his coach is to "make me a better player". And I don't think you are being fair when you say they are incapable of learning. I hope you are just exaggerating to make your point. You can't teach a midget to dunk, but if you can't think of a different way for him to score then you shouldn't be coaching him.
My opinion is that the coaches have failed our players. I think we should have seen at least minor progress by now. Others are saying it will take a couple seasons. For the sake of the team I hope I am wrong. I'll be at every game again next season cheering for them to prove it to me.
January 2, 2013 at 12:04 pm | Report comment
Shawn
There were times this year when the D was just awful. I feel like it had a lot to do with inexperience at key positions and bad game-planning by DeForest,
I do believe he was a good hire to coach parts of the D but not the full blow D-Coordinator. Patterson is a hard core coach and will whip these guys into shape.
I feel like we will be a lot better on defense next year with Will Clarke, Isaiah Bruce and Karl Joseph at all three levels.
January 2, 2013 at 1:41 pm | Report comment
Helen5844
We seem to have three defensive players that want to play. We need all eleven. Looking forward to better recruitment or better coaches, which ever we need. Also, I love seeing Geno light up the sky with his prolific passing attack. However, that can only happed if the whether permits. In a wind storm or a blizzard it doesn't happen. We not only need a defense, but we need a couple more "run away beer trucks"!!!!!.
January 2, 2013 at 12:05 pm | Report comment
Helen5844
I watched the FSU game, and I was surprised at how many people were there to cheer on Northern Illinoise. No one thought they would win , but a lot of people showed up. Every year Mountaineer fans are vocally displeased with what ever bowl we are in. I am sick of hearing how everything is bad. Maybe some of you should go on into the garden, eat the worms and get it over with. Looking forward to a year when the fans stand behind the team. GOOOOOO MOUNTAINEERS.
January 2, 2013 at 12:12 pm | Report comment