(Photo via Reece Andrews/WCSN)
During media day on Monday, Edwards spoke about how, despite the whirlwind offseason, the focus is on the players. During his tenure at ASU, Edwards has always emphasized the player’s willingness to put in the work and the change, and with this year of guys, he believes it.
“Coach-fed, players-led,” ASU head coach Herm Edwards said on the culture of the roster. “It’s their locker room. Whatever they decide it is, that is what it is. It’s their team, I’ve always said that, player’s team. All [coaches] do is give them directions.”
ASU’s coaching staff put together a leadership committee of 10 to 11 players, meeting weekly to discuss where the team can improve. The council is a common link for coaches and the hundreds of Sun Devils in the program to bond. Those selected for the committee early on have done a great job, and their experiences are a big help in being about to gain the respect of the other teammates, a process that Edwards cherishes.
“It’s fun to watch these guys grow up,” Edwards said. “Some of them were freshmen when they got here, some of them sophomores just to watch them grow up and have the voice of the team and the locker room. I can lean on them and say, ‘hey, I need this, I need that,’ We talk all the time, but it’s their football team, and they get to set the culture.”
Edwards, entering his fifth season at ASU, has seen the complete college life cycle for many of his key players, and now they’re returning the favor by helping the newcomers. One example is redshirt senior defensive end Michael Matus started in the program at the same time as Edwards and is now trusted to be a leader for the 43 new members of the program.
The bond between Edwards and many other upperclassmen has made the communication between the coaching staff and new players a smooth transition. That harmony isn’t reserved just for new transfers or commits but also for new members of the coaching staff, as ASU offensive coordinator Glenn Thomas has found the beginning of his Sun Devils’ journey off to a great start.
“It’s been fantastic,” Thomas said. “It’s a day off for the players, but there is a building full of guys out there getting extra work in. That’s a compliment to the culture in the building, how those guys are working to create a standard and expectations.”
Early on, the former UNLV offensive coordinator was impressed by the players’ initial commitment to one another and saw a lot of talent on the roster. One highlighted was the quarterback room, where another fellow newcomer joins ASU to make his mark in Tempe. Redshirt junior quarterback Emory Jones, who transferred from Florida, has caught Thomas’ attention.
“He’s been super proactive, super conscientious, takes fantastic notes, he’s really on top of it,” Thomas said. “He has the luxury of experience of being around a couple of offenses, so he has some of that background which helps those older guys learn the new system a little faster.”
Jones has impressed Thomas and the coaching staff on the field with his size and arm strength. However, off the field, his leadership and work ethic has shined. Despite only being in Tempe for a few months, Jones has made an impression with his teammates, and Thomas believes the team has responded well to his presence.
Nevertheless, an excellent first impression isn’t enough to crown Jones the starting spot. Thomas and Edwards agreed that the position isn’t finalized and is still between other viable options on the roster. The other two redshirt juniors, Trenton Bourguet and Paul Tyson, are both still in play, but Edwards hopes for a decision soon.
“Sooner or later, the sooner is better,” Edwards said. “We got to figure that out. You only have so many reps, and you got to build the offense around the quarterback. We feel like we’ll be able to do that, and we’ll have success.”
Thomas echoed Edward’s sentiment mentioning the difficulty of building his scheme with the quarterback position not solidified. The decision will come down to the small things, like breaking up the huddle or quickly setting up at the line, to get that rhythm and foundation going on the offensive end. Thomas believes the key to Arizona State’s success is to execute.
“Execution at the end of the day is the most important,” Thomas said. “We can talk all the fancy, all the X’s and O’s, but if we can get done what we are trying to get done, then I think at the end of the day you’re going to have success, so, I think consistency and execution pieces. If you have those, then good things will happen.”
Last year, ASU shot themselves in the foot on more than one occasion with ill-advised turnovers and penalties derailing the Sun Devils in all their losses. The coaching staff is trying to eliminate those mental mistakes but believe at the end of the day, they trust their guys to play smart when the lights are bright.
Despite all the noise the quarterback position has generated, it hasn’t changed the Sun Devil’s mindset to run the ball. ASU has found great success in the run game the past few years, a trend that Edwards isn’t looking to stop now.
“You can’t run the ball; you can’t win,” Edwards said. “You have to be able to run the ball. I think we have a couple of backs that are pretty good. We’ll see. There’s something about that when you can do that. There’s a toughness about that. There’s a will about that.”
In 2021, ASU rushed for 116.6 yards per game in losses, but in wins rushed almost double that with 239.3 yards per game. Edwards sees the key to success in the run game and doesn’t look to switch that up – even with the departure of running back Rachaad White to the NFL. The team doesn’t expect a dropoff with the talent in the backfield.
Wyoming transfer graduate student Xazavian Valladay has already stamped his name into the national spotlight, being named to the Doak Walker Award watch list for the nation’s top RB. His time at Wyoming saw him rush for over 3,000 yards and accumulated two 1,000 yard seasons.
“Obviously, [Valladay] is creating some notoriety in the media, as far as preseason recognition and so forth, but what he’s done, not only on the field but in this building as far as his impact on the team, has been really impressive,” Thomas said. “He’s been voted to the captain’s council as a new guy. That’s a huge compliment to him of what people think of him and what he’s bringing to the table.”
He now looks to share the reps with returning redshirt sophomore Daniyel Ngata. Even with limited toches in 2021, Ngata showed flashes of what he can do, which excited fans and coaches. Thomas highlighted Ngata being “productive” and “effective” last year and believes his growth will continue heading into the 2022 season.
Thomas emphasizes that even if a cliche answer, he wants to play to his personnel. Where the Sun Devils lack wide receivers, they make it up with depth at tight ends, leading to a heavy dosage of multiple tight end sets. Thomas fully understands that seeing all the pieces is the first step to finishing the puzzle.
The talent level offensively is a bright spot for ASU, but it might be even more of an emphasis on the other side of the ball. The Sun Devils’ defense has gone through some losses, both players and coaching staff, but still carries that hunger to get their moment on the turf. Defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson expects the defense to be “really good.”
“We play pretty good defense here,” Henderson said. “We haven’t changed much of the defense. I haven’t put a lot of new things in. The one thing I wanted to do was to keep continuity with the players when I took this job.”
Even with the lack of changes to the defensive scheme, ASU is still bringing in a lot of new players on the roster that will cause the early going of training camp to be a process. Henderson, this early into training camp and preseason, says he’s only focused on “attitude” and “effort” for the next three weeks to determine who will make an impact for ASU.
Uplifting players while teaching them is a delicate balance, but Henderson believes it is crucial for the success of the team as a whole. Henderson has found the process easier by being honest with the players and giving “directions instead of corrections.” The defensive members of the leadership committee have also been an enormous help for Henderson in that cause to help spread that message across to the new guys.
“If I got to get information out there, I go out to those guys. What I was trying to do was bring it to them that ‘this is your team, not mine,'” Henderson said. “I think that’s the best way to create chemistry, too. It’s between the players. It’s their team. Their locker room makes them believe it’s theirs.”
While Edwards and Henderson both mentioned how the defensive roster is weak in reps together, the depth isn’t with guys who are hungry and ready to compete for the starting spot. The secondary and defensive line were two of the positions highlighted as enriched with talent from top to bottom.
Even in lacking places, like the linebacker position, Edwards believes the talent there more than makes up for it. Many coaches praised fifth-year linebacker Merlin Roberston as one of those guys who improved the most this offseason, physically and mentally. Many coaches look to him to take the next leap and be a vocal point of ASU’s defense.
Since the beginning of last year, there has been a cloudy perception and expectations of what ASU could be and what it has become. The noise could’ve been too loud on this year’s team, and now expectations are low, but Edwards relishes in that and is excited about training camp because he believes from the first snap, the energy will make people take a step back.
“You know what I learned when I was in kindergarten,” Edwards said. “The worst thing a teacher can do to me, they figured me out after about a week because I was always talking in class, put your nose on the window, and watch the other kids go have recess. See how that feels because recess to me is the greatest thing ever invented, greatest thing ever invented. We get to have recess now. We’re going on the grass. We’re going to go practice and coach football. That’s the fun of it.”
