Saturday marked the 21st annual Pat’s Run, a 4.2-mile run completed by nearly 30 thousand people, mostly probably Sun Devil fans on the campus of Arizona State University, in commemoration of Sun Devil football legend and U.S. Army veteran Pat Tillman.
Participants gathered at Mountain America Stadium before 7 a.m. this morning to begin their run. ASU football head coach Kenny Dillingham served as the honorary race starter and rang the horn that began the day’s festivities.
“This is a public university,” Dillingham said. “It's about the city. It's about getting people excited about ASU football, getting people to come to the games on Saturdays and enjoy it—coming out to the practices.”
It wasn’t just Dillingham who took the reins to be in attendance. Every single one of the players put on their jerseys and attended the event—many even taking part in the Kids Run, a 0.42-mile course for children 11 and under to jog alongside their favorite Sun Devil players.
“Our players loved it,” Dillingham said. “I asked them in the team meeting, ‘Did you guys like that? Do you want to do that again? Did that seem like a chore?’ They’re like, ‘No, we loved it.’ They’re like, ‘That was so much fun.’ They want to do that again.”
“The entire team was out there this morning—everybody. That was a Pat Tillman Leadership Council decision. They wanted everybody to be there, so everybody got their jersey on and was out there together.”
Later on Saturday night, the team held its third consecutive open practice, and like the others, the session mostly consisted of 11-on-11 scrimmaging between the offense and defense. After an impressive Thursday session, Dillingham saw tonight as an opportunity to give younger players a bigger platform to showcase their spring progression three weeks in.
“Our vets are having a good camp,” Dillingham explained. “As you could tell, we held all of our vets out. I feel like we know what we’ve got in our vets. I feel like they had a really good day on Thursday. They've had a really good spring ball so far, so today was all about the young guys. We wanted to make that an emphasis.”
One transfer who stood out Saturday night was redshirt freshman wide receiver Jaren Hamilton. The Alabama transfer used every ounce of his 6-foot, 200-pound frame to dominate—making deep catches from redshirt sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt and scoring two touchdowns in the process, the most of anyone on the day.
“(I’m glad) to see him catch the football, get open and make explosive plays,” Dillingham said. “His speed is an X-factor for us. I was happy to see him kind of show what he can do. That’s a kid that fits this place—we needed him, and he needed us.”
Multiple true freshmen on both sides of the ball—wide receiver Cory Butler Jr. and cornerback Joseph Smith also earned approval from their head coach following the scrimmage. Both players exhibited a burst of desire during the full-field scrimmages, making plays and popping up unexpectedly time and again. The 6-foot-1 Smith played an aggressive role from the secondary, shutting down outside action on his side of the field.
“He flashed and flashed and flashed and flashed all day today,” Dillingham said of Smith. “Whether it was in coverage, coming up and tackling somebody—the collision—even though he didn’t make the stop, even though he didn’t prevent the out route from happening, he was right there. So I mean, I was very pleased with him tonight.”
Butler has gotten off to a hot start this spring. He’s utilized his speed and explosiveness to generate offense. At one point, he was hit midair while going up for a catch and landed awkwardly. Fans across the facility held their breath as the 5-foot-9 speedster nearly landed on his head. However, the freshman bounced back up right away and continued to make himself a problem.
“That last drive right there was a huge ball to Cory,” Dillingham said. “Like I said, Cory was another guy who flashed tonight. He got completely somersaulted and hopped right back up. Tough kid.”
The position groups saw growth as well. The offensive line has gone through growing pains, getting hit with false start penalties during most 11-on-11 portions. Dillingham, however, is not worried about his offensive front, as the circumstances have been designed to test them.
“We're doing something completely different this year defensively—we're shifting in and out of different fronts,” Dillingham said. “So hearing terms like ‘move,’ ‘shift,’ all that stuff, and you're young … that’s not fun at all. It's just a product of us getting reps on defense, and the movement is causing our offense to a false start.
“The best part about that is these young guys are getting used to the hardest thing you can see, and that is a defense giving cadence and shifting. They always say they’re going to call it on the defense, but they never do. It’s always an emphasis, and every year the real rulebook says ‘disconcerting signals,’ but it’s never called on the defense. So it’s good for us to see that toughest look all practice long.”
Saturday was a productive day on the practice field for ASU football, but perhaps more importantly, those same players supported the community at one of Tempe’s largest annual events, making memories for fans of all ages and potentially shaping futures through their impact.
“Javan Robinson was telling one of our young guys, ‘This is the day these kids will remember for the rest of their lives,’” Dillingham said. “They’re going to remember when Xavion Alford ran out with them, or when (Jordyn) Tyson ran out with them—whoever was jogging next to them. They’re going to remember those moments forever. You never know if somebody chooses to come to Arizona State or chooses to go to college just because of that one moment.”
.
Join your fellow Sun Devil fans on our premium message board, the Devils’ Huddle, run by the longest-tenured Sun Devil sports beat writer, to discuss this article and other ASU football, basketball, and recruiting topics. Not a member yet? Sign up today and get your daily fix of Sun Devil news!
