(Photo via Rebecca Striffler/WCSN)
Before the game had started or a snap had been taken, changes were evident with Arizona State Football.
As kickoff neared, the Sun Devils walked through the Pat Tillman tunnel near the back of the north end zone. The crowd eagerly awaited to welcome the captains onto the field, who usually arrive first for the coin toss, but interim head coach Shaun Aguano had another idea.
Aguano locked arms with his five captains, with the rest of the Sun Devils behind him in a familial embrace, or as Aguano refers to it, “ohana,” which is something he has emphasized since taking over as interim head coach.
Aguano expressed a list of changes he wanted to implement upon being promoted, including recruiting Arizona high school prospects “personally,” increasing his team’s physicality and providing his players with support.
Some of these changes took place immediately, as Aguano’s first practice last Tuesday appeared to be more uptempo. Players were pushed harder than they ever were under former coach Herm Edwards, a difference in preparation that a number of players said is showing early signs of progress, despite a 34-13 loss to Utah in Aguano’s debut.
“All three phases had a stack three good days of practice, a fourth one if you count Friday,” graduate defensive linemen Nesta Jade Silvera said. “And we just didn’t capitalize on a great week of practice because that’s what we truly had. We still believe in everything Coach Aguano is saying. …. the team is still intact, and we still know what we got to do. And we still got a lot more to play for.”
No. 12 Utah was certain to be a difficult task for ASU, as the Utes have been at the top of their game since last year’s victory over the Sun Devils, consistently ranking within the AP Top 25 poll and coming into the season as the defending Pac-12 Champions.
That sentiment proved to be true on Saturday night.
“We have grown as a team, and this is going to be a process,” Aguano said on Saturday. “I didn’t think that this will be four days, then a miracle was going to happen. It’s going to be a process. I got the kids’ attention. They’re going to play, and we can get better and better. But going back to your question, it is tough.”
But Aguano was up for the test, he made that much clear during his first press conference after being named the interim
“I like the challenge of competing with the three top 20 teams right off the bat,” he said. “If I came in, and we challenged the team that was mediocre, and we got a win, so what? Now let’s go and win these next three games. And that’s our mindset, and we’ll attack it”
Even through the gauntlet of ranked opponents, Aguano is trying to convey support for his players, revealing the entire program had Sunday dinner with all the coaches and their families.
“I’ve always had a Sunday night dinner in our family since I was a little kid,” Aguano said Monday. “And that’s an important part to celebrate the successes that we’ve had during the week, and that’s my dinner table, and also to go over things that we need to work on. And last night, I thought all of our coaches brought their families and kids and spent time with our kids in here to also know that when things don’t go, right, we’re all here for you.”
… I love their fight. I love what they’re going to give me, and I wanted to make sure that they know that they’re supported from outside and our coaches’ families and everybody else. So, it was a great thing that we did on a training table. There are about 170 people in that in that area. And we shared at dinner for about 45 minutes. We did not talk football at all. It’s everything else besides football. And our kids enjoyed it.”
The Sunday night dinners are just one step toward Aguano’s goal to keep the team unified, but for his plan to work, the players will need time to adjust and stick together through the changes.
“It’s just a family thing for us,” redshirt junior quarterback Emory Jones said on Saturday. We all locked arms, and we know we got each other’s back. We’re all in this together. And that’s where we are. I mean, our head coach got fired this week. We look at each other, and that’s all we have. We just go stay together for the rest of the season – offensive and defense. Just keep trying to get better every single week. I mean, we’re in a good headspace. Obviously, we hate losing, but we go come back tomorrow and attack the weak, and it’d be ready to go for USC.”
