West Virginia linebackers Bobby Hathaway, left, and Pat Lazear, center, tussle as linebacker coach Jeff Casteel, right, looks on while running drills during practice on Friday, Dec. 28, 2007, in Scottsdale, Ariz. West Virginia will face Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2, 2008. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)

MORGANTOWN — On the West Virginia practice field, Jeff Casteel has his arm around one of his players, and the next minute, he’s spitting everywhere, chewing out one of his players for messing up, similar to Rich Rodriguez.

Casteel has to be tough, though. He’s in charge of the bandit position. The bandit is not a traditional position name, but if you’ve watched WVU football or looked at rosters in the past, bandit is a bit more of a known position.

Wyoming transfer Braden Siders is an outsider, never been to WVU, and when his family and friends ask what position he plays, he’s just been saying:

“I’ve just been saying edge,” Siders said.

Siders didn’t even quite know what it was until he arrived at Morgantown, too. “I kind of found out on my visit what it was going to be,” Siders said. “I was super, super happy once I learned more about it, for sure.”

Edge is a bit more of a common term, which is just a pass rusher, and has similar responsibilities to a bandit. Their job is pretty simple in concept, but hard to execute.

“Their job is to set the edge and hit the quarterback,” Casteel said. “That’s what their job is.”

Casteel has five players in his room, Siders being one of them, and could have six if highly anticipated UTSA pass rusher Jimmori Robinson can get his waiver passed by the NCAA. For now, Robinson can’t practice or sit in on meetings, and a couple of weeks out, it’s looking slim for him to play before the first game.

“We’ve got some guys that come around,” Casteel said. “We get some guys that get off the ball. We have some good blitzers and some natural blitzers. In my experience, the guys that kind of don’t need a coach to tell them how to blitz are the best blitzers. I’ve been blessed with quite a few of those over the years. Guys who just have a knack for blitzing.”

Last year, WVU struggled to get ot the quarterback. The Mountaineers ranked 12th in the Big 12 in sacks. Casteel was on staff last year, and most of the Neal Brown era, and realized sacks needed to be an emphasis in 2025. After the spring game, defensive coordinator Zac Alley said echoed that.

“It’ll be nice if the guys all get 10 sacks a piece, but it’s just affecting the quarterback,” Casteel said. “If we can affect the quarterback, turn the ball in when we’re supposed to turn the ball in, that’s what our guys gotta do. We’re talking about trying to be physical every play, knocking people back.”

Casteel believes he has a couple of guys in his room who can rack up 10 sacks. Robinson had 10.5 sacks season, so that’s already one, if he plays. Casteel also gave insights into Siders and Huntington, W.Va., sophomore Curtis Jones Jr.

“Braden’s done a good job, really, since he’s got here,” Casteel said. “He’s transferring in from Wyoming. He’s a tough, strong, really physical player. Curtis is a young guy that is very athletic. He’s got a huge upside.”

Whether it’s bandit or edge, Casteel’s goal is to make sure his players play with a hard edge and smack the quarterback.

“Playing football, that’s really what we’re trying to get through to them.”

Smack, smack, smack. Casteel pounded his hand into his other palm.

“It’s football.”