From their high school coaches: What to expect from ASU’s freshmen

When the world came to a halt as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Arizona State had eight spring practices remaining.

That notion is minuscule in light of the current national, let alone global situation, yet before the sports world shut itself down the Sun Devils were just like every football program in the country: trying to access their talent and integrate their newcomers during the offseason.

Since then, circumstances have played out. That plan won’t completely come to fruition.

The Sun Devils' main spring priorities were to clear. Zak Hill was taking over the offense. Antonio Pierce and Marvin Lewis were set to oversee the defense as a tandem. That meant new schemes and new playbooks for the whole roster. Implementing those and having the ASU players grasp their new system was the primary task.

Behind that, head coach Herm Edwards wanted to see how the Sun Devils freshmen and transfers added to the positional competition he’s wanted to breed in his program.

The ASU coaches were intrigued to see what they had in their Top 25 signing class.

Granted less than half of the Arizona State signees were able to participate in spring practices, but those who suited up largely impressed and those who were still with their high schools seemed to loom large and light a fire under various returners who felt a sense of urgency to make a significant spring impression before some highly-touted newcomers arrive on campus in the summer, as well as differentiate themselves from the first-year players who already participated in the spring sessions.

Devils Digest contacted a number of high schools' coaches who coached the Sun Devils’ newcomers, providing us a glimpse at what they may offer ASU.

Chris Claiborne (Former head coach, Calabasas HS // WR Johnny Wilson): “I told him like, ‘Listen. In four months, you’re going to be going up against Jac Jac (ASU cornerback Jack Jones). You’re going to be going up against (ASU safety) Aashari (Crosswell). If you can’t do good against these high school kids, what makes you think you’re going to kill it in college?’

“You know what I like about him, Johnny will block. He will block on the perimeter, on the run game. That, to me, is very impressive because, nowadays, a lot of kids are Hollywood as hell. You don’t get the ball that much as a receiver, I don’t think they realize that.”

Paul Doherty (Head coach, Folsom HS // RB Daniyel Ngata): “Daniyel is so smart, wise beyond his years … He’s great in pass-protection -- I don’t think he gets nearly enough credit there. Probably his best game this year was against Del Oro in Week 10 and I think he had two carries for one yard and a touchdown. But he picked up seven or eight sophisticated, elaborate blitzes for high school football.

“His skill-set out there is just starting and stopping. Pretty unique start, stop, change direction. So thick in the bottom half. Not only was he so elusive and tough to get a hold of, but when you did get there, he’s so freaking strong that he was hard to tackle in the open field.”

Paul Doherty (On WR Elijhah Badger): “The biggest thing that sticks out to me about Elijhah Badger is that he loves to play football. He is a football player. As impressive as he is just running, jumping and (his) athleticism, he is by far more impressive as a football player, if that makes sense. Some kids can just play. (He’s) indifferent to contact in the middle of the field. He looks like he’s playing in a T-shirt and shorts when everyone else is in a helmet and shoulder pads.

“He just catches the ball. Like holy smokes. To be quite frank, I think that’s a skill-set that’s not valued enough in football. His hands are huge -- he has size XXXL gloves. And, especially in the red zone, he’s going to find a way to catch the ball.”

Jeris McIntyre (Head coach, Tampa Catholic HS // DB DeAngelo (DJ) Taylor): “I knew (former ASU defensive coordinator Tony White) was recruiting the area so that was mainly the connection. He was trying to figure out the process and kids (in the area) and then had come to find out that I had played for Herm in Kansas City. And then we just kind of made that connection from there that kind of helped bridge things through the recruitment of D.J.

“(D.J.) is just explosive, man. Great ball skills. Has a knack for the big play. Very dynamic when he catches the ball. Being able to take it to the house. Sure tackler. The dynamic playmaking ability I think kind of separates him.

“To me, when I see him with the ball in his hands, I think he’s just as good or better on offense. And Duke and other schools recruited him on offense ... So that could always be the future, but I know he loves defense so that’s the route he wanted to take.”

Mike Moon (Head coach, Pacifica HS // LB Caleb McCullough): “He is kind of a throwback player in a new-age player. The dude could have played football in 1950, but he’s a 6-2, 210-pound brother that can run around ripped up. He can do everything physically that today’s game requires but he could have played in the 50s when it was three yards and a cloud of dust and he’s coming downhill hitting (something).

“He is not an outside (linebacker). He's an inside. I'm not saying he can’t play in space, he can. But usually you get those tall, athletic, ripped-up brothers running around and they want to put them on the outside. And then the little bit slower, a less-athletic guy will play on the inside. But he's got all the intangibles of athleticism, but he's an inside guy and he wants to come downhill on guards and fullbacks and all that. He wants to play inside the box, which I think is going to help him out down the road here.”

Tim Tyrrell (Head coach, Archbishop Hoban HS // RB DeaMonte Trayanum): “He’s always been a very mature individual for his age. He’s never shown immaturity. Really, for him, he’s learning how to become a leader. He’s not a loud kid. Our running backs coach always yells at him, ‘Lead from the front.’ And he does … He’s been talking about his future since his eighth-grade year. He’s a leader and he’s going to be a great asset to coach (Edwards) out there.

“(During) his freshman year when he just wasn't ready just yet to be a starter, he never batted an eye. He never complained. He never said anything. Even at that young of an age. Yeah, that's when we knew, ‘Okay, this kid's going to be special.’”

Mike Alberghini (Head coach, Grant Union HS // DE Omarr Norman-Lott): “A full-go Omarr was never overmatched by anybody. It’s just, getting the full-go was what we didn’t get sometimes … When he was focused well, he was a beast. He has great quickness, strength, and toughness. He just never got healthy (his senior year) and decided that because his knee was bothering him, he decided he didn’t want to injure it and only played four games for us.

“(When Omarr was effective, it was) because he was strong, quick. He was very disruptive. The thing he has to do -- and he was starting to come along that way and was doing a really good job of lifting this spring with us every day -- is the fact that he’s becoming a better listener.”

Brandon Gregory (Former head coach, Cardinal Ritter HS // DE Joe Moore): “I think Joe can play inside and outside. At first, he was just sold on playing outside but then when he started looking at and paying attention to NFL and college games, Joe is 250 and not eating three meals a day or on anyone’s Division I weight program. You figure that if he can put on more weight, he becomes more versatile because he can go inside and out. I told him he may be able to make his money going inside with his speed later on down the road.

“It’s kind of frustrating because he’s not the rah-rah type you would think because of how big he is. You want him to be a bully and throw people to the ground, but that’s not him. I say frustrating, but it’s a good thing. He’s not the rah-rah type but he’s going to lead by example.”

Andrew Jones (Head coach, Lompoc HS // OL Jacob Nunez): “Jacob is the most dominant lineman I’ve had, that I’ve probably seen from up in San Louis County Down to Ventura is probably the best one that I've seen in my 10 years.”

“He had that refuse to get beat mentality. when we needed, you know, a big yard or something, we ran behind him and he showed up and left tackle spot. I think he's lucky enough to transition into a guard with his wrestling footwork and stuff. He's an athletic body to build play center. But I think what separated him was just the physicality. I mean, he was the Lineman of the Year for three years in our league.”

Andrew Jones (On TE Ryan Morgan): “The potential for Ryan, the sky's the limit. Right now, he does just about every sport on campus … He's an all-league basketball player, he played centerfield on the baseball team and then went and ran track.

“I think it was just when we needed a conversion and we had the matchup we liked, you could kind of throw it anywhere in his vicinity and he would come down with it. Whether it was a deep route or short intermediate route. We brought in a receivers coach that was a (former) assistant at Cal Poly. And once he got with him, he improved dramatically with his route running ability and getting off of the press. And I mean, there were times where he was doubled, but we still, you know, gave him a chance to go up and get it.”

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