(Photo: Brady Klain/WCSN)
The press conference was supposed to be over.
Arizona State Football head coach Herm Edwards had just finished speaking about his high expectations for the Sun Devils’ offense in 2021 when offensive coordinator Zak Hill – who was next on the podium – blew into the room.
“We’re going to score a lot of points!” Hill screamed.
Instead of leaving the podium, Edwards stayed and left one more message.
“I’ve been with [Hill] now for two years and it’s remarkable!” he proclaimed. “He has more assistants and GAs… I think I’m in the NFL again.”
There might be a viable reason for all of Hill’s apprentices and helpers. While Hill’s new scheme produced passable results during ASU’s four-game 2020 season and uncovered a potentially dynamic running back duo of freshman Chip Trayanum and junior Rachaad White, ASU’s two losses in the Fall yielded point totals of 18 and 27. For Edwards, that’s simply not enough.
“I’ve already told Zak [Hill], ‘Hey, you got to score,’” Edwards said. “[It’s] college football, you have to score.”
The Sun Devils trounced their final two opponents of 2020, putting up 70 points on rival Arizona and 46 on Oregon State to close out the year. But the Wildcats’ horrific start to December’s Territorial Cup put ASU in prime position to capitalize, and sophomore quarterback Jayden Daniels threw for only 139 yards in the Sun Devils’ win over the Beavers.
“We always have to have balance in our offense,” Edwards said. “We had no idea how our young running back room was going to perform and it was beyond our expectations. We need to build on that.”
ASU’s head coach has lofty goals for Hill and Daniels, who have stressed that last year’s compressed spring and preseason in addition to game postponements due to the COVID-19 issues led to some of the inconsistencies the offense experienced.
“You want to be in the high 30s,” Edwards said. “If you can get to 40, you have a chance to win a lot of games. I’m not saying that’s the number. But if you look at the teams that score in that low 40s range… I look at teams in college football that have “great” players on defense and they’re in games [where] it’s 50-35. And I’m like ‘Oh, okay.’”
While ASU’s defense could be a group talented enough to support an offense thanks to multiple starters from last year returning, Edwards doesn’t want that to be the case.
“There’s high expectations on our end and on Jayden’s [Daniels] end too,” Hill said. “That’s what we want.”
Hill is confident in and excited for his offense. Daniels has gotten bigger and stronger by pushing his weight to 190 pounds and lifting weights. At wide receiver, significant contributors from last year such as freshman LV-Bunkley Shelton return, as does freshman Johnny Wilson. Edwards also mentioned freshman wide receivers Chad Johnson Jr. and Elijhah Badger as guys who are “different.”
Jalin Conyers, a redshirt freshman tight-end from Oklahoma, transferred to ASU and could be the impact performer Hill sought last year at the position. White also figures to maintain his role in the team’s passing game – the former JUCO-back led ASU in receiving last season with 151 yards.
“We’ve got some weapons on offense that we’re excited about,” Hill said. “Obviously our goal is to score points. We’re not going to put a number on it. We want to score as many points as we can during a game.”
Johnson Jr. and Badger are perhaps the biggest unknowns. With Johnson Jr. redshirting and Badger ruled academically ineligible before the year, neither contributed after coming in with four-star monikers from 24/7 Sports.
“I feel like those guys are just motivated – especially Elijhah,” Daniels said. “Dealing with what he had to deal with, he had to prove a lot of people wrong and himself right.
“I feel like they’re both out there with a chip on their shoulder each and every day. When it comes to workouts, the throwing sessions we have, and now practice, you can see it.”
In addition to getting bigger, the coaching staff has seen Daniels take another important step: leading.
“It’s taken time,” Edwards said of Daniels’ leadership. “You guys know Jayden, he’s not one of those guys that says a whole lot. But he’s starting to lead the right way. I’m proud of him. You can just tell he’s the guy. He’s the quarterback, and everyone gets it. He’s going to say something and everyone is going to listen.”
Daniels added: “This is my team. I mean that in the most humble way. I’m a veteran guy now, which is crazy to say. But everyone is going to look up to me and listen to me. If I’m doing the wrong thing, they’re gonna feel [that] it’s okay to do the wrong thing so I need to lead by example.”
Edwards said that with Daniels stronger and now a leader, the first step for the offense getting to the next level lies in how it manages the chains.
“When you look at us play, the thing I stress to the offense is that you have to have positive plays on first down,” he said. “Because if you can stay ahead of the chains, you have the ability to have more plays. And the more you have plays, the more you can get into your offense.
“Can you get to 2nd and 5 or less? If you do that, you get 10-12 plays, and hopefully you get explosive plays and now you’ve got a chance to score points.”
Hill thinks the added experience for everyone up and down the roster will be key to navigating the offense to where Edwards wants it.
“There’s not as much thinking,” Hill said. “Last spring, guys were like ‘What’s going on?’ with signals and stuff. It’s nice having that year under our belt. Now we can really dive into the ins and outs of what we’re doing on each play and make adjustments.”
Daniels agrees, and said it’s just about the execution.
“I feel like we’re picking up on a lot of things that, this time last year, we didn’t pick up on,” he said.
“We know what we’re capable of doing. We know what we have.”
