Competition and depth defines ASU 2024 new-look linebacker group

(Photo: Marina Williams/WCSN)

When Arizona State football’s linebackers finished the last individual period of their final practice before Saturday’s season opener against Wyoming, the group, led by linebackers coach A.J. Cooper, gathered and chanted ‘Werewolves on three’ before breaking the huddle and joining the rest of the defense on the sideline for an 11-on-11 period.

“Werewolves at night, they turn into a different person,” redshirt senior linebacker Caleb McCullough said. “So we just try to use that model on the field. Off the field, we’re a different person. On the field, we’re a whole different person. That beast comes out. That aggressive person comes out.”

With the linebacker room receiving an influx of talent via the transfer portal and the freshman class, McCullough – who is in his fifth year with ASU’s program – has been instrumental in helping the new additions, which head coach Kenny Dillingham said could be the team’s most important this upcoming season, find their way in the desert.

“At first, like anything else, you bring new people in, there’s kind of some uncertainty,” Cooper said. “You don’t know them, they don’t know you, all that stuff. And those guys really, it happened way before Camp T. Those guys really, there was a moment where you can kind of just see the ice completely thaw. And those guys really accept each other not just as teammates, but as brothers.”

While the linebackers’ bonds have strengthened off the field, it’s their competitive spirit between the lines that has established them as key components to ASU’s success this season.

McCullough played in all 12 games for ASU last season alongside redshirt sophomore linebacker Tate Romney. With Romney sidelined with a broken arm to start the season, transfers junior Kesyhaun Elliot from New Mexico State and redshirt junior Zyrus Fiaseu from San Diego State filled the starting backer spots in Wednesday’s practice. McCullough and freshman Martell Hughes primarily rotated in with the second team.

Although the battle for time on the field could have been hostile and created animosity between the players, Cooper believes it has brought out the best in them instead, elevating the play of the whole group.

“They embrace that competition,” Cooper said. “I told somebody earlier, that could have been really dicey. You bring that type of competition and transfers into the room, but those guys really handled it with great maturity. They trusted the process and the vision of, ‘Hey, we’re gonna let iron sharpen iron, and it’s gonna make everybody in the room better.’ And I’d say, so far, at least, it’s beared out. Obviously, the ultimate test of that is on Saturdays.”

With the level of play that the competition has unveiled in the linebacker room, there will likely be opportunities for multiple people to rotate in and out throughout the season. The changes would depend on what is needed situationally at the position.

The spring and fall camps also exhibited how much depth the Sun Devils have at the position. Junior transfer Jordan Crook from Arkansas and freshman Prayer Young-Blackgoat are the other two newcomers filling out the room alongside redshirt freshman K’Vion Thunderbird and redshirt junior Krew Jackson.

“I feel like this is really one of the best groups I’ve been around,” McCullough said. “I’ve been doing that myself, trying to compare, because my freshman [and] sophomore year I had a pretty deep group, and I don’t really know. It’s too hard to say because it’s different time, different scheme, but I like this group. I feel like it’s one of the best I’ve been around.”

When Saturday night rolls around, the werewolves in the Sun Devils’ defense, will attempt to feast on Wyoming’s running back and stop the Cowboys from being able to move the ball in the ground game.

“Obviously, we’re preparing for a lot of different things, which is okay, because we think our guys have a pretty good foundation, and the number one thing is the physicality and the effort that we do it with,” Cooper said. “Anybody can draw a lot of things on the board, but if you’re not physical, if you don’t execute and you don’t play hard, it doesn’t mean something. It’s just letters on a board. So we’re really emphasizing the physicality, the technique and the effort in which we do it.”