No matter where he went last season, Elijah Juarez was in the back of line -- in part, because, well, he didn’t know where he was going on a day-to-day basis.

Juarez was a man without a country, a football player without a position. He roamed around but was too infrequently at one spot to garner any real consideration. Some days, coaches sent him over to practice with the running backs, another body to take some wear-and-tear off of Eno Benjamin.

Other days, he was paired up with his former high school coach, Antonio Pierce. During one drill in the middle of the season, Pierce had all of his linebackers shotgun through the five dummies on the stationary sled. Of course, Juarez was in the back.

With the entire unit waiting on the new guy, Pierce made his former Long Beach Poly athlete hit the sled again … and again … and again. Juarez would attack the sled, but he wouldn’t punch it. In essence, it wouldn’t move.

His prospects of playing looked bleak. But, as most teams do, the Sun Devils started exercising their depth during December’s bowl practices. Juarez finally took meaningful reps. He was deep in the playbook. And he stood out at linebacker.

Fast forward to the first week of spring ball, Juarez is running with the first-team defense. Now, Pierce -- now the co-defensive coordinator -- is quick to note that it’s just a move to give rest to Merlin Robertson, Darien Butler, and Kyle Soelle. Even so, it signifies Juarez is on an even playing field.

Because, as of now, everyone is.

And, no, not because it’s a new season and, thus, a fresh start for everyone -- but rather because the Sun Devils are learning a new scheme. Everyone is learning a new scheme. Collegiate experience is great, but those who can comprehend ASU’s contemporary playbook the fastest will rise to the top early.

“I felt kind of (a sense of) relief because all the other guys were ahead of me at first and I was playing catch up,” Juarez said. “Now, like everyone has a fresh start. I kind of felt that.”

Added Pierce of Juarez: “He’s an athletic freak, to be honest. I think he’s 245 (pounds) and he’s one of the Top 15 fastest guys on the team. He’s powerful. He can strike. When he figures it all out, and I’ve been getting after him a little bit, he can be a really good football player.”

The schematic change didn’t take a Nostradamus to predict. When defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales packed his bags for a head coaching job at New Mexico and the then-hired defensive coordinator Tony White left Tempe for the same gig at Syracuse, the Sun Devil players only had to look around.

There was no one in the building with extensive knowledge of the 3-3-5 defense Gonzales and White implemented.

There was no grand meeting, no rah-rah speech. One day, Pierce and Marvin Lewis were co-defensive coordinators. And, one day, ASU had a new playbook.

“They just said, ‘We’re learning a new defense,’” senior safety Evan Fields said. “We started learning. We got to work. Things happened kind of fast so it was sudden. Next time we went to meetings, we had a new defense.”

Fields -- going into his fourth season -- is one of the few Sun Devils learning their third defense under their third defensive coordinator. He came to Tempe when Todd Graham was at the helm and Phil Bennett headed the defense. Then two years with Edwards and Gonzales. Now, Pierce and Lewis.

When these changes happen, most players are quick to say how excited they are to run a new system, how effective it can be and how they’re still learning it. Fields, in that respect, is no different. Still, his role will change a bit.

Pierce and Lewis are trying to implement a four-man look. Note that’s not a 4-3 defense, the one Lewis had ridiculous success with as a Super-Bowl winning defensive coordinator with the Baltimore Ravens and then, less success, as the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals.

In it, there’s room to switch things up based on the offensive personnel. During the first few spring practices, the Sun Devils have often been in a 4-2-5 formation, which means there’s four defensive linemen, two linebackers, two safeties, and three cornerbacks. At times, depending on how the offense lines up, they’ll flex into a 3-3-5 and have a linebacker rush off the edge.

“We’ll have variations of things but right now we’re just trying to build the structure of coverage,” Lewis said.

ASU’s coverage, especially as it relates to the secondary, has shifted. On most plays in practice, the Sun Devils had a true nickel corner to cover the offense’s slot receiver. In the 3-3-5, which is a zone scheme, a safety would often be in charge of those responsibilities and only cover a portion of the field. That will change.

“It’s more man (coverage). Teams are going to see us line up and we’re in the face of receivers,” cornerback Jack Jones said. “As far as me and the older guys on the defense we have to be accountable and be the voice of the defense.”

Added Butler on the nickel cornerbacks and safeties playing down: “(It impacts us) a lot just knowing that we can have those guys come down and play in the box.

“It helps us with our communication as well -- to understand that we have to talk more now. When the offense does something and the safety has to come down, he’s part of the linebackers and the front seven and now we have to talk a lot more.”

But, for now, everyone is still learning.

“That’s the other things (our coaches) tell us: ‘If you aspire to play at the next level, you have to learn on the fly,’’ Fields said.

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