ASU Football: Defensive line growing as a result of leadership

(Photo: Brendan Belfield/WCSN)

Arizona State Football defensive line coach Robert Rodriguez loves a project.

The challenge of training raw football players and turning them into agile freaks of nature has been a successful one for the third-year coach. To help explain, Rodriguez made an apt comparison.

“You ever seen a baby Dobermann?” Rodriguez said. “It’s all toothpick legs, big ol’ paws, stand there gangly, kind of like a baby deer legs all wobbly. Then, after a year, he’s the type of dog that people run to the other side of the street [because of].”

The original Dobermann Rodriguez was referring to was sophomore defensive lineman Gharin Stansbury, who Rodriguez has now seen stand on his hind legs.

“When we first saw [Stansbury] on those sleds, it was, ‘Oh god, is this guy ever going to get in a stance?” Rodriguez said. “The kid has progressed so quickly, and now when you look at him, you go, ‘Hey, wait a minute, we might have something on our hands.’

“He still has steps to take, but trust me, he’s definitely not a baby Dobermann.”

Stansbury has gained a lot since first arriving at ASU – not only the knowledge bestowed to him from the former NFL coach in Rodriguez, but also a visually noticeable difference in his size.

This was the Louisiana-native’s first year in ASU’s weight training program, and he has already made strides by gaining 22 pounds.

“I’m at 242 [pounds] right now,” Stansbury said. “When I came in, I was 220, and I’m not done yet. I feel way better, way more explosive. It’s going to help with my game too, with the run stop and everything.”

Stansbury talked about his new weight training routine, discussing how he can now bench press three sets of 315 pounds, which didn’t seem possible before coming to ASU. The added muscles from the sophomore will look to fill in the mold for the two veteran defensive lineman that left the program at the end of 2021 in D.J. Davidson and Shannon Forman.

However, Rodriguez isn’t worried about the departure of the two pivotal run stoppers for ASU. He hasn’t noticed a drop-off yet in spring practices so far.

“I think you got to dwell less on what you lost,” Rodriguez said. “You take that challenge of bringing that standard, matching that production, and you put it on the shoulders of the guys that are in the room, and one thing that has been the benefit is those guys understood that assignment before we even got here.”

While Forman won’t be on the field, the former Sun Devil will still be making his impact on the field on the sideline as a graduate assistant. Forman has been helping Rodriguez during spring ball coach guys into the player that he cemented himself as during his tenure at ASU.

“Anyone who’s a Sun Devil should be fired up,” Rodriguez said on the addition of Forman as a graduate assistant. “The kid is intelligent, smart, and what I love about him is that he has a passion for this game and passion for his teammates, but he’s not a buddy trying to be a buddy to the guys. He’s really working them trying to be a good coach.”

It has been a “fun” experience for Rodriguez to have someone come in, know how things are run and have knowledge of the program passed down to the young players, one of which is freshman defensive lineman Robby Harrison.

The three star-recruit from South Carolina signed with ASU in December and has already caught coaches’ eyes in the first few spring practices, thanks to his raw potential. While it’s hard to tell from the size of the 6’3, 285-pound lineman, he should still be in high school.

“He should be getting ready for his prom in a couple of weeks,” Rodriguez said. “That dude is one of the strongest young men I have ever had. I slapped him on the shoulder to give him an ‘Atta boy,’ and I almost broke my fingers slapping his shoulders. That dude is made of granite up top.”

Harrison’s impressive frame caught the initial eyes of ASU, but there is still a long way to go with his reaction time. During practice, the freshman struggled through sleds. However, Rodriguez isn’t worried due to Harrison’s inexperience and sees a similar baby Dobermann-archetype that was a part of Stansbury last year.

“Tell me he doesn’t look like Gharin Stansbury did last fall,” Rodriguez said. “The last thing [Harrison] saw was a high school kid. They were probably bigger, stronger, faster than them, and it changes just like that, so Robby is going to be fine, and Robby is that baby Dobermann.”

While Harrison struggled through sleds, he wasn’t alone. Veteran senior defensive linemen Michael Matus and T.J Pesefea stepped up to teach him the ropes of how to attack the drill. The leadership from those two has been a common theme throughout every press conference this spring practice, and it’s something that Harrison has appreciated so far.

“All those guys – T.J, [sophomore defensive lineman] Joe [Moore], [sophomore defensive lineman] Omar [Norman-Lott], everyone in the room, [and] Mike [Matus] is a great guy,” Harrison said. “[They] help me out a lot to get everything down. All the older guys are teaching me the game, and I can go over [it] any time I want, and anytime I need [to], I can call them up. They’re very helpful.”

The comparison between Harrison and Stansbury has caused the two to build a bond, especially with them staying in the same dorm room. Stansbury discussed how he helps the new lineman go over the playbook, which is a big help while still being a young player himself.

Every defensive lineman that has talked to the media discussed bringing the young guys up and how it has made ASU’s depth better than last year. Matus mentioned last week that the “skill gap” between the starters and reserves is virtually non-existent. Leaderships seems to be a big reason why.

“We bring everybody up,” Moore said. “We’re not leaving anyone behind, especially with the freshmen, because it can be hard for them to come in, but coach [Rodriguez} got into our ears [saying] ‘Make sure you bring them up with you. When they mess up, go talk to them, bring them to the side and teach them even outside of football getting into their ear,’ [whether it’s] ‘You need to do this’ or ‘You need to be watching more film’ – just being more collective this year.”