Most eyes were on what is happening with West Virginia's offense as the post-Rich Rodriguez era began in earnest with the start of spring practice Friday.

What happens on the defensive side, though, might be more important.

Think of it this way: No matter what system is being run, most of West Virginia's offensive players return. And, truth be told, the offensive system in which they will now work won't be dramatically different than what those players already know.

On defense, the system remains the same, but most of the key players need to be replaced. And that's a tough order to fill.

"We've got a lot of good football players to replace,'' defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel said. "You talk about Eric Wicks, that guy's been making plays here for the last three or four years. Keilen Dykes was a mainstay for us up front for three years. Johnny Dingle had a career year. Marc Magro has been playing a lot of football for the last three and even four years.''

Here are the cold, hard facts: Of the 11 players who started on defense during the Mountaineers' 48-28 Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma, seven are gone. That includes four of the five secondary positions (safeties Wicks and Ryan Mundy and cornerbacks Larry Williams and Antonio Lewis) and two of the three linemen (nose tackle Dykes and end Dingle). Also gone is one of the three linebackers, Magro.

While West Virginia's top two tacklers - seniors Reed Williams and Mortty Ivy - are back, seven of the top 10 on that list are gone. That includes safety/linebacker John Holmes, who was one of three players dismissed from the team last month after being arrested on drug charges.

Oh, and Reed Williams won't take part in spring practice because of an injury.

Casteel has his work cut out in more ways than one.

Most eyes were on what is happening with West Virginia's offense as the post-Rich Rodriguez era began in earnest with the start of spring practice Friday.

What happens on the defensive side, though, might be more important.

Think of it this way: No matter what system is being run, most of West Virginia's offensive players return. And, truth be told, the offensive system in which they will now work won't be dramatically different than what those players already know.

On defense, the system remains the same, but most of the key players need to be replaced. And that's a tough order to fill.

"We've got a lot of good football players to replace,'' defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel said. "You talk about Eric Wicks, that guy's been making plays here for the last three or four years. Keilen Dykes was a mainstay for us up front for three years. Johnny Dingle had a career year. Marc Magro has been playing a lot of football for the last three and even four years.''

Here are the cold, hard facts: Of the 11 players who started on defense during the Mountaineers' 48-28 Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma, seven are gone. That includes four of the five secondary positions (safeties Wicks and Ryan Mundy and cornerbacks Larry Williams and Antonio Lewis) and two of the three linemen (nose tackle Dykes and end Dingle). Also gone is one of the three linebackers, Magro.

While West Virginia's top two tacklers - seniors Reed Williams and Mortty Ivy - are back, seven of the top 10 on that list are gone. That includes safety/linebacker John Holmes, who was one of three players dismissed from the team last month after being arrested on drug charges.

Oh, and Reed Williams won't take part in spring practice because of an injury.

Casteel has his work cut out in more ways than one.

"It's not just that we have a group of kids where we have to find out which ones can play. Once we find that out we also have to find out what they're going to do best as a group,'' Casteel said. "You always want to play to your kids' strengths, so not only do we have to find the kids and get them in the right spots, we also have to find out what they do best and try to build the defense around that. You might not be able to see it with the naked eye, but we're always tinkering with the defense.''

Those in line to get the first shots on defense include a few with considerable experience as backups and a few without much previous playing time at all. The pre-spring depth chart lists Chris Neild as the starter at nose tackle and Zac Cooper at end, with Pat Lazear filling Magro's spot at linebacker. All have played in the past, although Lazear mainly saw his action on special teams as a true freshman last season, while Cooper was a linebacker who filled a specialty role as a rush end in passing situations.

The real work will come in the secondary, where Wicks and Mundy held things together with their experience. The three cornerbacks who played consistently (Larry Williams, Lewis and Vaughn Rivers) are all gone.

The only returning starter in the secondary is safety Quinton Andrews. The depth chart lists Boogie Allen and Sidney Glover as the other safeties in the 3-3-5 scheme and Ellis Lankster and Kent Richardson as the corners. Charles Pugh and Nate Sowers are sure to be involved in the mix at safety and Guesly Dervil at cornerback, but those are the only players with any real experience.

What Casteel is looking for from everyone this spring is consistency. That's what will determine who plays, he said.

"In terms of learning what they have to do, that's not that big a deal. They can all do that,'' Casteel said. "What we want to do is find the guys who are going to do what we want consistently, play after play, period after period, day after day. They can't be on a yo-yo.''

The Mountaineers held the first of 15 spring practices Friday and will have three others by Wednesday. That will be the last workout until March 31, when students return from spring break. Drills end with the Gold-Blue game April 19.

To contact staff writer Dave Hickman, use e-mail or call 348-1734.