(Photo via Kaiden Fesler/WCSN)
After an offseason that saw Arizona State Football acquire new pieces from all over the country, leadership is one of the most important qualities keeping this team on track. Through spring and fall practices, many different faces emerged and showed the potential to lead this team to where it wanted to be.
However, with team captains having officially been announced Thursday, this mix of new and old leaders is ready for the season to officially kick-off.
“Finally finishing up camp and going into these last couple practices like yesterday and today, it’s awesome. I’m excited for what we have to prove,” said senior fullback and second-year captain Case Hatch. “We’re going to prove a lot of people wrong this year. I believe that. The world’s against us but we’re excited to come out starting with NAU and proving what we got on the field.”
Hatch is one of two returnees at captain along with redshirt fifth-year linebacker Kyle Solle. The two will be joined by fifth-year linebacker Merlin Robertson, redshirt junior quarterback Emory Jones and senior offensive lineman LaDarius Henderson in receiving the ‘captain’ designation. Redshirt senior defensive end Michael Matus was also named an honorary captain after suffering a season-ending ACL injury.
After Friday’s practice, Henderson spoke about the significance of being named a captain for the first time at ASU.
“It actually does mean a lot. It’s something that I kind of wanted to do ever since I got here,” Henderson said. “[It’s] something I did in high school, something I’m very passionate about…It’s just something I just take a lot of pride in and I’m happy to do.”
Both Hatch and Henderson acknowledged the importance of the role they’ve been assigned for this year while also taking the time to recognize this year’s Sun Devil squad as their favorite one to be a part of.
“This is my favorite team, and it’s not close,” Henderson said. “I do miss [former ASU running back] Rachaad White and [former ASU wide reciever] Ricky [Pearsall], but this is definitely my favorite team I’ve been on. Just because I feel like we’re really reliant on each other right now, and we’re really not really concerned with what everybody’s saying about us.”
“Personal opinion, this is my favorite team at ASU,” Hatch said in addition. “It really is. We’ve got a lot of selfless leaders, and we’ve got a lot of accountability. We hold each other to a very high standard here, especially this year.”
Part of what’s allowed this year’s captains to take such a commanding role is the willingness of the rest of the team to get better and push ASU football to a higher level.
“When kids mess up, I’m sure you guys see it on the field, if a kid false starts, he’s taken out, next kid’s up,” said Hatch. “So it’s just things like that. We’re held to a high standard here, and the leaders are holding that too.” Hatch later added, “We can’t go back to what we were last year. We need to change the team. We need to keep moving forward.”
Although the five captains have already been decided, that hasn’t stopped other players from continuing to step up and be prominent leaders on this team. One such player is super senior offensive lineman Des Holmes.
Holmes’s leadership qualities have shown through so vividly that even Henderson stated he wouldn’t have been surprised had Holmes been named a captain for the season.
“The thing about Des is one, there’s no plays off ever. He can be intense,” Henderson said. “When something needs to be said, he can say it. He doesn’t have to wait and sit back for somebody to do something. He’s going to do it. He’s here to have a breakout year, and he’s here to win games, so when he sees that the team isn’t on that same path that he’s on, he doesn’t like that.”
When given the opportunity to return the praise, Holmes mentioned Henderson as one of the first players to welcome him to Tempe, easing his transition and allowing him to settle into the leader he is now.
“I got here in spring. I didn’t really know guys like that yet, LD met me and my mother and my father and he was a great guy,” Holmes said. “LD is a great guy by the way. Off the bat, just a great dude, and just from there I really felt welcomed when I came here, and just met a lot more guys and I just felt even more welcomed…”
Holmes also spoke about what he brings as a leader and how his past experiences have influenced the way he acts around his teammates.
“I just try to take everything in my life, all the lessons I’ve learned from not only my father, from the program I’ve previously been in and all the great men in organizations I’ve been around,” Holmes said. “I just try to lead by example and preach to guys to do the right thing and just come in and work and keep your head down and do your job and work your butt off.”
With just two weeks left until the official start of the Sun Devils’ season, players and captains alike are hoping that all their hard work will show once they hit the field in Sun Devil Stadium.
“To be quite honest, we’ve already heard from every outlet possible, ‘We suck. We’re not going to win any games. We’re horrible,’ said Henderson. “Like we hear it from ex-players…Yeah, we’re done with that…We know who we are.”
