(Photo: Brendan Belfield/WCSN)
With all of the turnover and turmoil Arizona State Football has faced this offseason, the Sun Devils have needed a strong group of leaders to help guide them through it.
And while it’s hard for many to see a path toward success for the team thanks to the numerous starters lost to the transfer portal, recruiting struggles and blowback from an NCAA investigation, team leaders Kyle Soelle and Jordan Clark insisted otherwise after offseason workouts on Wednesday.
“All the noise and the surrounding controversies surrounding the program, we haven’t really let that infiltrate this building,” the redshirt junior defensive back in Clark said. “It’s always been about the people that are in the building, not the people who have left.”
Soelle, the redshirt fifth year senior linebacker, added: “Everyone is doubting us. ‘3-win team,’ we’ve seen. We’re at ‘rock bottom.’ We’ve seen it all and we just can’t wait to get on the field. …Inside the building, we have a championship standard. We have a chip on our shoulder and just can’t wait to prove everyone wrong.”
Leading this ASU team is no strange task for Soelle. As a 6th-year player fit to be named a team captain for the third-straight season, Soelle knows the importance of his role.
Especially with many new transfer players flooding in from programs all around the country, it’s more important than ever for the Sun Devils to have someone like Soelle who can rise to the occasion of leading the team.
“I think the most important thing is just be there for [the team], anything they need,” Soelle said. “…I think we welcome everyone into the Sun Devil family with open arms, and everyone’s here for the same reason that we are: to win a championship, get your work, and then do the best that you can to get to the next level.
But while Soelle is used to being a go-to guy for the Sun Devils, Clark is still making the adjustment as his role increases off-the-field.
“The great part about the secondary group in years past was that we had leaders, but we all held each other accountable,” Clark said. “There was no alpha. There was no guy that was above everyone else. It was equal opportunity and equal accountability for everyone in the group from the beginning.”
As he makes the transition to a leadership role, Clark expects his teammates to continue holding him to the same standard as in years past. Additionally, Clark is looking to use lessons taught to him by former teammates in the secondary like Chase Lucas and Jack Jones, who were recently drafted into the NFL.
“From Jack, I would just say [it’s having] supreme confidence all the time,” Clark said. “Always feel like you’re the best football player in the room no matter where you are or what room you’re in. And [from] Chase, I would just say passion and love for the game. Chase was so passionate. He really just loved Arizona State and he loved playing football and he approached working and he approached every game with that intent and with that in mind.”
Despite his short time as a leader, Clark has already built the relationships necessary for a positive team environment. This was displayed by the run-on way Clark talked about how much members of the team have improved this offseason.
“I could sit here and talk about my teammates all day…,” he said. “[Redshirt sophomore defensive back] Ed [Woods] grows and matures every single day in every aspect of being a football player …He’s been working super hard, been super locked in, so I think Ed has made incredible strides. Every day [redshirt sophomore defensive back Macen Williams] surprises me. He’s such a talented guy, but he’s also such a great football mind, so getting to chop it up with him and play with him has been dope.”
Clark even had encouraging words to say about the newcomers in the secondary – Chris Edmonds and Khoury Bethley – who came by way of the transfer portal from Samford and Hawaii respectively. Clark says the two “fit in like puzzle pieces,” indicating they were just what the Sun Devils needed with the departures of defensive backs Evan Fields and DeAndre Pierce.
“You got Chris who came from Samford,” Clark said. “He was an All-American there. You watch his film from Samford, [and] it speaks for itself. Same thing with [Bethley] coming from Hawaii. [Bethley] is a top-25 safety projected on some boards.”
Similarly, Soelle made sure to highlight some of his teammates, old and new, asserting that expectations surrounding the program were no different than they had been, and there would be no exceptions for anyone.
“That continuity is still there,” Soelle said. “The same standard is still there. We want to be the best. We want to win that championship. We hold ourselves to our own standard and if someone’s lacking that, we have enough leaders in the room that they’re going to get called out and everyone’s held to the same standard.”
All things considered, the Sun Devils are excited to be out on the field and seemingly can’t wait for the opportunity to prove themselves.
“We’ve been working really hard, building that team chemistry,” Soelle said. “The guys we’ve lost, [we] wish them the best, but the guys we’ve got that came in, they’re ready to play and they’re excited to prove themselves to Sun Devil Nation, and I can’t wait for you guys to see them.”
Clark added: “I’m not really here to feed off of negativity or anything like that, but all the people who have been super positive and have stuck with us through this really controversial and tough time, [we] just [want to] give them a really fun game to watch on Saturday[s], send them home with a smile on their face every week.”
