The last few months have been a period of change in Tempe. Aside from another robust wave of additions of over 20 players through the transfer portal, the Sun Devils also hired former Michigan State defensive line coach Diron Reynolds, as well as former UNLV head coach Marcus Arroyo, to fulfill the offensive coordinator vacancy. All pivotal additions when prepping for ASU’s first year as a member of the Big 12 conference, one that, according to head coach Kenny Dillingham, brings some novelty concepts that differ from the Pac-12.
“I would say just tendencies, personnel groupings, defensive systems,” Dillingham said. “There wasn’t one team in the Pac-12 that ran, the 3-3-5. I call it the ‘monster defense’ with the split backers in the one monster at 10 yards.
“It is a completely different system, that kind of Iowa State brought into the Big 12. And it kind of spread, and now there’s four teams in that league that run it.”
On the other side of the ball, Dillingham detailed what will generally await defensive coordinator Brian Ward, who will head a unit that will likely see fewer four-wide sets and teams with highly explosive offenses as they did in the Pac-12.
“Defensively. It’s 12 personnel (one running back and two tight ends) open sets,” Dillingham specified. “This league will be filled with 12 personnel, open sets. We’ve got to find a way how do we want to play 12 personnel? How do we want to play those sets? What’s our plan? We need to practice that more leading up to it. So I’d say not just the recruiting but a little bit of how you structure practice and plan practice. We have to; that has to be our base now because we’re going to see it more.”
***
Significant change is also taking place off the field regarding NIL funding at ASU. While ASU’s head coach admitted that when he assumed the job some 14 months ago, the funds were at an extremely low level, the fund level available for the school has dramatically improved. With his ‘Activate the Valley’ mantra, Dillingham’s effort to boost the NIL coffers has been productive.
“The progress we’ve seen is unbelievable,” Dillingham stated. “To be honest, from the last game (in 2023) to today is, and I can’t even put in words how much growth we’ve had. And I think that you’ll see that this year is that growth. Now the difference is everybody’s growing,” Dillingham said. “That’s the challenge. And so right when you catch up, right, you’re still behind? Because you caught up. So we have to we have to move at a faster pace than everybody else because we started right behind the race.
“So yes, are we catching up. Are we probably trending faster than most people? Yes. But as we’re going and hitting these numbers and hitting goals, other people are still inching further and further ahead of us because, to be honest, we started way further behind. But we are definitely in the right direction.”
When addressing the media, Dillingham highlighted a second set of responsibilities to fans that may keep their wallets closed. These are the individuals who, in Dillingham’s eyes, can make or break matters on the recruiting trail, which is strongly tied to NIL in terms of program ascendancy.
“If you’re complaining on Twitter, it’s part of the problem, beautiful; I don’t really care, right?” Dillingham asked. “If you’re finding a way to help part of the solution, if you post something negative on Twitter, we may not get a kid because of you. And you posting something positive about a kid, we may get them. So, are you part of the problem or part of the solution?
“Everybody has an effect…we got to get everybody pointing in the same direction. So when people look on social media about us, when they look at NIL about us, everything is trending forward, everything is trending up. And if we can get to that point, you’re gonna see local kids start to be like, Man, why not? Why not ASU?”
***
ASU will be missing three players on offense when spring practice begins this coming Tuesday. Junior offensive lineman Bram Walden and senior wide receiver Xavier Guillory, who are both still recovering from a foot surgery that occurred last season, will be held out. In more significant news though, redshirt freshman quarterback Jaden Rashada will also miss spring ball due to a thumb injury that was sustained a couple of months ago in an off-field activity.
“He’ll be out until we think he’s in a good space to get back,” Dillingham said. “Hopefully, by the end of spring ball, he’s taking some seven-on-seven reps and some non-team reps.”
The Rashada news will only heighten the competition between senior quarterback Trenton Bourguet and Michigan State transfer quarterback Sam Leavitt. Freshman walk-on newcomer and Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year recipient Navi Bruzon will, by default, see his number of reps grow to a higher level than anticipated prior to the Rashada injury.
“I think we’re gonna have a good competition in spring,” Dillingham commented. “I think adding Sam to the room, having Navi in the room, is pretty good depth there. And I think putting in a new system, and we’ve been able to get a bunch of walk-throughs in, leading up to spring ball.”
***
As a first year staff in 2023, the recurring theme in the football program was laying down the foundation. The second year for Dillingham and company is now concentrated on building upon that foundation, which will be key in showcasing improvement over a 3-9 campaign. The program values DIllingham has instituted are ones he hopes will pay dividends and reflect his vision for the program.
“I would say this year, the minimum standard that we can reach is much higher than the minimum standard that we could reach last year,” Dillingham explained. “So that’s the bar we set. And everybody knows we want to go out there and compete every day. That’s just who we are.”
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!
