(Photo: Reece Andrews/WCSN)
Surrounding every major athletic program – both collegiate and professional – are always swirling clouds full of critics and doubters. Before the season even gets underway, there are dozens of projections and predictions, player outlooks and team evaluations filled with what could be seen as sneers.
But how does a team with an ongoing recruiting investigation, name, image and likeness/transfer portal drama and a bevy of outgoing and incoming faces respond and overcome? Those aren’t just any stormy clouds, but a violent tempest.
That is the very ordeal that Arizona State Football has been wedged in since the conclusion of the 2021 season.
The headlines have long been present, with 18 scholarship players having transferred and five assistant coaches having left since the Sun Devils bookended their 8-5 campaign with a 20-13 loss to Wisconsin in the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl last December.
However, there doesn’t seem to be nearly as much chatter about the new faces joining the team than the ones exiting. Senior offensive lineman LaDarius Henderson had one thing on his mind when talking to the media last week.
“The consistent word that you see or hear is ‘lost, lost, lost, lost,’” Henderson said. “And you hardly ever really hear ‘gain, gain, gain.’ So it’s almost as if we’ve just lost a bunch of players and haven’t gotten any. And if that’s the case, we don’t have enough people to play a game at all.
“I’m focused a lot on the people that want to be here, the people that are here now, and the people that we’ve gained. …We believe in each other. I feel like that’s a dangerous team – a team that believes in themselves.”
The Sun Devils have combated the 18 losses with 13 gains in the transfer portal. Four of the transfers will be in the trenches with Henderson, as ASU brought in redshirt senior left tackle Emmit Bohle from Northern State, senior right tackle Des Holmes from Penn State, senior right guard Chris Martinez from San Diego State and junior tackle Joey Ramos from Iowa State.
“With the guys that we gained, I think offensive line is all about mentality,” Henderson said. “That’s really what it is, like, do you want to obliterate the guy in front of you or do you not?”
He added: “We have five guys – older guys – that really just want to do that and be physical and dominate people. [I] feel like we’re going to be pretty good. And if we weren’t, trust me, I’d tell you.”
Henderson is used to having to rebuild a new team each year, as future NFL draftees like current Arizona Cardinals running back Eno Benjamin, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and most recently Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Rachaad White have left holes ASU needed to fill. But even with the departures and some striking twists and turns within the program, the left guard says the Sun Devils’ “culture here has been on the climb no matter what outside noise we’ve ever had.”
In Henderson’s mind, the differentiator on this team compared to years past is that each positional group has an experienced and respected leader for the others to follow in his footsteps. As a result, “the little things” – like walkthroughs in practice – have had an added level of intensity.
“I feel like a lot of people look at leadership like it’s supposed to be this one alpha Pat Tillman guy barking at everybody,” Henderson said. “But the thing that really changes cultures is the little things. I feel like that’s a big reason why I feel like it could be easier for guys to step into new roles and get acclimated into a new system, because our attention to detail has been different.”
Perhaps even more telling from the offensive lineman’s comments was that he mentioned junior Florida quarterback transfer Emory Jones as one of those established leaders, despite Jones having only had minimal activity with the team.
“I personally feel like if he stepped into a leadership role right now [there] wouldn’t be a bat of an eye from many people on the team,” Henderson said. “I really do like the way he carries himself.”
One could also add the opposing Pac-12 Conference teams to the swirling storm of scrutiny around ASU, as the conference has improved with new head coaching splashes and incoming talent. Six head coaches – including former Oklahoma headman Lincoln Riley – are either entering or coming off their inaugural season in the Pac-12.
Yet, in typical Henderson fashion, his confidence oozes.
“Personally, I don’t know if they want me to say this or what my script is, but I never really feel like the chaser more than I feel like the ‘chasee,’” the lineman said. “The thing is, I feel like [the Pac-12] should be worried about us, but they’re not.”
With all the optimism coming from the offensive lineman, it could very well be that all the “outside noise” is just that: outside.
Now, the key to stay internally focused is to keep things simple.
“I think it’s going to be just buying in and doing your job,” Henderson said. “…As a leader here, I’m going to try to make sure that my teammates are all on the same accord, same page, and we’re going to go in, we’re going to play our game, we’re going to do our job and we’re going to win games.”
