(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
If the 2019-20 season was any indication, “good enough” was not going to get it done in the next year for Arizona State Football.
Sure, freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels established himself as one of the premier quarterbacks in his class. Sure, senior wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk heard his name called in the first round of the NFL Draft while junior running back Eno Benjamin heard his in the seventh. And sure, ASU went 8-5 after a Sun Bowl win over Florida State on New Years Eve.
But ultimately, ninth-place finishes in points scored and total yards and an eighth-place finish in passing yards per-game amongst Pac-12 teams did not meet the expectations ASU had set for itself. Offensive coordinator Rob Likens was fired after the season, and the Sun Devils looked elsewhere for his replacement.
Enter Zak Hill. Hired away from Boise State, Hill has been the head or co-head of powerful offenses in the past. His squads were the ones that put former Oregon quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. on the map at Eastern Washington. It was the starting path for now-Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp, who’s burst onto the NFL’s spotlight in addition to San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Kendrick Bourne becoming a reliable role option and Minnesota Vikings running back Alexander Mattison emerging as a suitable backup for the team’s injured star Dalvin Cook.
Hill’s job at ASU isn’t to focus on players making the NFL though. It’s to focus on winning football games and elevating the Sun Devils to where they think they should be. It’s early, but the Washington-native seems to already be making his presence known.
“Hill is different and he’s special,” junior running back Rachaad White said.
The new offensive coordinator might have more than he’s ever had to work with before at ASU. Four-star recruits litter the skill positions in his offense, and Daniels has made odds charts in Las Vegas for the Heisman Trophy.
Unlocking everything the Sun Devils have to offer is a complicated puzzle, and Hill’s players – specifically the younger ones – have felt the brunt of that.
“The offense is crazy,” freshman running back Daniyel Ngata said. “But once you get it down, it blows your mind.”
White added: “I’ve never seen an offense like this.”
The scheme has been worked to fit Daniels’ strengths and weaknesses, according to head coach Herm Edwards. Daniels appreciates the respect.
“Coach Hill sits down with me and asks what I like and what I want to run,” he said. “He catered the offense around me. It’s very exciting knowing that I’m able to go to somebody and talk to somebody about what I want to do.”
The differences between last season and this are evident. Edwards has mentioned how Hill “wants three running backs” and a fullback. The tight ends are no longer “dummies.” Wide receivers are playing in positions they’ve never lined up at before.
“It’s not easy for a high school guy to come in and just have it be normal,” Hill said. “It takes awhile for them.
“It’s eye-opening.”
Increased usage of sophomore tight-ends like Nolan Matthews and Case Hatch and senior Curtis Hodges are perhaps the biggest change from the past offense to this one. Co-defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce said that Hill’s scheme has benefitted his defenders in practice, giving them experience they previously didn’t have.
“They’re live and they’re getting the ball,” he said of the tight ends. “You better stick to your guy. It’s been good for us. We’re going against good tight ends in our conference. It’s really a challenge to our linebackers in practice. It’s something that we needed for our group to get better.”
Hodges and Matthews each bring something different to the table. Pierce described Matthews as a silky route runner while praising the size Hodges has. The duo also provides Daniels a safety net when throwing the ball.
“There are times where we have a tight end running down the middle of the field or even getting a checkdown,” Daniels said. “So they’re able to flourish and mismatch.”
Hill’s three backs – who represent a shift in thinking after Benjamin’s heavy workload the past two seasons – are currently in the middle of a competition for the starting role. Despite plans to have one take the majority of snaps over the others, all three are expected to contribute in some capacity.
The complexities of Hill’s offense are being felt strongest by the receivers. Aside from senior Frank Darby, the Sun Devils pass catchers are a batch of highly-touted freshman.
“You can talk about [the offense], but once you get on the field it’s a different game,” Hill said of the youngsters. “They’re learning. It’s good to shock them a little bit.”
Hill has receivers playing in spots they haven’t before, on top of constant shifts and motions. Freshman Johnny Wilson – who at 6 foot 7 inches would figure to lineup on the hashes as a vertical and jump-ball threat opposite Darby – has seen time in the slot. Darby has as well, which comes as a surprise as the vibrant Sun Devil’s route-running has been somewhat of a weaknesses since his arrival in Tempe.
“If we are out wide, it’d be easy for the defense for them to switch and pass things off,” Wilson said. “But when we bring our receivers inside and closer to the ball, we have a lot more room and a lot more access to do routes.”
Still, Wilson and Darby’s presence on the outside is welcomed. New lineups won’t take away what guys do well. Instead, it will diversify skill-sets.
“It wasn’t that I didn’t know how to run intermediate routes or that they weren’t good, I just felt like [Likens] wasn’t throwing them to me when we’re in the game,” Darby said. “This year, now it’s everything. Now I’m showing it everyday. Now I’m getting them everyday in practice. I’m getting slants. I’m getting digs. And I’m catching them consistently.”
Darby’s self-proclaimed improvement running routes could make for an imposing presence in Hill’s offense. Him or Wilson on the inside with a more-speed oriented receiver like LV Bunkley-Shelton out wide is the reverse of what a defense would likely expect.
“It’s good to switch it up and keep a defense on their toes,” Wilson said. “We’ve seen a lot of that in practice and I’ve been able to see the defense reacting to me lining up wide one play and then the next play me coming in close. Sometimes it confuses them. You can do anything from the inside. That part of the offense is great. Those guys get more open and get more separation.”
Darby believes that the learning gap between receivers is strictly related to age.
Bunkley-Shelton said Hill’s offense sometimes runs “two plays in one” and that the amount of shifts, checks and motions can be overwhelming. Darby hasn’t experienced the same struggles.
“It’s been really easy,” he said of learning the offense. “I was dialed into it. As soon as I got the book, I sat down with it for hours and hours.”
Still, Darby understands why it has taken time for some to wrap their head around it.
“This is probably one of the best playbooks I’ve ever been a part of because everyone is going to eat,” he said. “If you’re going to cloud me… watch that motion over there or how he is going to get the ball. It’s a lot that we’ve got in this playbook now.
“[The freshman] are going to tell you that because they’re freshman. This is their first time seeing a college playbook. It’s like ‘Oh wow, it’s different.'”
Everyone seems to be confident things will fall into place before Nov. 7 though.
“Overall, there’s been a lot thrown at us with the new system, but with the way everyone is taking it in and making plays in practice, I feel like this group is going to be unstoppable once game time comes around,” Wilson said.
Darby added: “We’ve got a lot to show you all.”
