(Photo: Sammy Nute/WCSN)
TEMPE — In the sweltering heat of last Saturday’s practice, the strong effort that Arizona State football’s players put forth didn’t go unnoticed by their head coach. When Kenny Dillingham spoke to the media following the team’s scrimmage that morning, he even went as far as to call the practice the best of the entire spring.
While there are still improvements necessary across the board, Dillingham praised the competitiveness and “juice” shown on both sides of the ball in addition to the Sun Devils’ ability to respond to adversity throughout the practice.
As is the case with any scrimmage, however, both a clear winner and loser emerges at the end of such a competition. And on Saturday, it was the offensive that ultimately came out on top. But that doesn’t mean those on defense didn’t play just as well — not even close.
New defensive line coach Diron Reynolds had a similar message to Dillingham’s. Despite being on the wrong side of the scrimmage, he commended the effort, acknowledging that the offense provided a challenge that his group attacked head-on.
“As a defensive guy, you hate to see the offense win,” Reynolds joked. “But you want to see them win a little bit when they’re your teammates. Good stuff, they were throwing good stuff at us, giving us an opportunity to react to it, and I think the guys were stepping up.”
Reynolds’ praise of the Sun Devils’ defensive line was for good reason. While every rep wasn’t perfect, the defensive front repeatedly caused issues for the offense, stifling runs and putting pressure on whoever was under center, forcing them into quick decisions that oftentimes resulted in incompletions or smaller gains.
It wasn’t a picture-perfect performance by the defensive line by any means. Reynolds, who has been a football coach at the college or NFL level for the better part of three decades and won Super Bowl XLI as a defensive quality control coach with the Indianapolis Colts, was the first to admit that. However, he pointed to the group — comprised of 7 newcomers and several returners with limited experience — continuing to build chemistry, a process that takes time.
“I think the big thing is we got some good pieces in the room and the guys are really starting to gel together,” Reynolds said. “They’re pushing each other. We try to say it in our room, but whoever is on the field is the starter. So you keep that kind of mentality when they’re on the field, everybody wants to show up and do the right thing.”
This year’s defensive line looks to build on a solid 2023 campaign for multiple players returning to the Sun Devils. Redshirt senior Prince Dorbah logged a team-leading six sacks along with 9.5 tackles for loss last season while redshirt junior Clayton Smith recorded 4.5 sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss, and both are slated for even bigger roles in 2024.
Like any offseason, ASU was stripped of some of its talent up front, namely graduate Dashaun Mallory to graduation and senior B.J. Green to Big 12 foe Colorado. The Sun Devils experienced another loss this spring when senior Anthonie Cooper tore his ACL during practices, sidelining him for the rest of the year. However, improved depth in the position group softens such a large blow.
Among the promising crop of newcomers are graduate Jeff Clark and junior Jacob Rich Kongaika, both three-star transfers from Louisville and Arizona respectively, per 247Sports. While those two names are exciting incoming linemen, the overall consensus is that there are several other players in the group, such as sophomore C.J. Fite and redshirt sophomore Sam Benjamin, that can make an impact this season.
“The energy in the group, as long as the energy in the group is high and we bring the juice every day, our group is going to bring that energy no matter what,” O’Neal said. “We have a lot of prolific pass rushers in our group and really good run-stoppers. (Rich Kongaika), we’ve got (Clark) that can pass rush and stop the run.
“We just have a really nice group. And I just feel like as long as we bring the juice every single day, we’ll come out here and keep getting pressures, keep getting sacks and keep getting (tackles for loss).”
Even somewhat inexperienced players on last year’s squad, like O’Neal, feel that they can contribute to the group this fall, and a big reason for this is the influence Reynolds has had on their development in only five months on the job.
As experienced of a coach as they come, Reynolds has provided the defensive linemen a new philosophy heading into the 2024 campaign. More focus is being placed on the fundamentals; not basics per sé, but smaller details of the game like footwork and hand placement.
“Reynolds is a great coach,” O’Neal said. “I’m just being honest, from last year to this year, it’s a huge difference. Like last year, I just feel like it was kind of the basics, but coach Reynolds definitely brings some new techniques and some new style to my game that I can add to be a better pass rusher and run stopper.
“He has a lot of experience under his belt, which is definitely in our favor as a group and as a whole. I feel like he’s going to make me the best player that I can be going into the season.”
There is still much progress to be made heading into the spring game, most notably with tackling and creating pressure up the middle. But it’s impossible to ignore the increased depth, size and newfound sense of optimism surrounding ASU’s defensive line.
“I think we’re going to be a deep defensive line group,” Reynolds said. “I don’t have any drawbacks about saying how tough this defensive group is. I like the way this group is, I like the energy, I think everybody is going to like the energy. I like the way they throw their bodies around, they’re smart, tough, we’re just continuing to work on the discipline. I think they’re going to see a smart, tough, disciplined bunch, and it’s going to be exciting.”
