Cross-training defensive backs has been a staple of ASU’s spring practice

Now that ASU’s coaching staff has been in place for a full year, they have higher expectations for the familiarity returning players should have with the system.

One of the ways this has been evident throughout Spring practice is the cross-training of its defensive backs, empowering them with the ability to play any position they’re needed.

“The next best athlete can come in for any of the positions versus having one person going for each position,” defensive backs coach Tony White said. “When everybody knows what everybody’s doing, they can play faster.”

The concept is nothing new to junior defensive back Evan Fields, who played where he was needed most in any given week or season at Midwest City High School in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

“I played corner and safety, so I played all of the secondary in high school,” Fields said. “It’s knowledge, so you know what your teammate is supposed to be doing, so everybody’s on the same page. I like it.”

However, sophomore safety Aashari Crosswell noted that it doesn’t compare to anything he’s done playing at previous levels of football.

“It’s not really the same thing as when I was in high school,” Crosswell said. “I feel like a ‘Tillman’ is like another nickel back, so I did play that at (Long Beach Poly High School) but not as much, I was always a safety.”

A higher expectation of familiarity with the system is one reason this method was implemented this year instead of last. But it also had to do with the youth of the position combined with a completely different defensive system from seasons prior.

According to coach White, cross-training would not have been feasible in 2018 for these reasons.

“It’s one thing if you’re going from a ‘4-3’ to a ‘3-4,’ well secondary-wise it’s still quarters, it’s still cover-two,” White said. “When you go to a ‘3-3-5’ it’s totally different now.”

“We knew we were going to play a lot of freshmen and you didn’t want to overload them, so the best thing to do last year was make it really position-specific. ‘Hey, you’re only the boundary ranger, only the boundary corner,’ so that way those guys could memorize quick enough what they had to do.”

With four defensive back’s in the incoming freshman class, White believes the system of cross-training that’s being established will ease their transition to the college level.

“What it does is it helps us now with the freshmen coming in,” White said, “because when they come in this is the system they’ll know. So, they’re naturally going to start learning it as left and right like I got to know everything, whereas we couldn’t do that last year.”

As for the experienced players that’ve been practicing this Spring, White says they’ve been quick to catch on. Guys like Crosswell have been able to appreciate the value cross-training has to their game.

“I feel like it helps me a lot because I know all of what the ranger’s doing,” Crosswell said. “I feel like playing ‘Tillman’ helps me learn more of the ranger’s, you know learn what this ranger has to do or what the left side or right side has to do.”

Although the team’s 2018 leader in pass breakups has at least two more college seasons to play, he knows this method of training only helps his prospects at the professional level.

“That’s what I was trying to do this year, I’m trying to play multiple positions so I can have that look on me for the next level,” Crosswell said, “So they can just see ‘nah, he just can’t play ranger, he can also come down as a nickel back, come down and tackle.’”

Coach White concurs, noting the level of detail and understanding of the game it takes to make it to any level of professional football.

White played in the Canadian Football League for four seasons and was teammates at UCLA with a handful of players that made it to the NFL, including 1998 first round pick Shaun Williams, who went on to have a respectable career for the New York Giants.

“Anytime you get a chance to teach a football player a different skill set- expand his skillset- you’re only putting him in a better position to play at the next level,” White said. “You’re talking about professional football; those guys are tremendously detailed. Those guys know every single assignment from every single player otherwise they’re not there, and doing this gets the guys thinking a little bit more.”

In introducing different positions to new players, White has shown them film from the collegiate and NFL ranks to help them see the right way of doing things.

“We can go back and look at guys who have played the position before, the Nat Berhe’s,” White said. “Coach shows Urlacher film, just on his aggressiveness in the box.”

“Then last year we look at, when Aashari and (senior defensive back Tyler Whiley) are watching film, they’re watching Jalen Harvey and (Dasmond Tautalatasi) and those guys.”

Berhe was a safety who White coached at San Diego State in the early 2010s, and went on to be a fifth-round pick by the Giants in 2014. Urlacher is the Chicago Bears franchise leader in tackles, not a bad player to watch for pointers.

Of course, the cross-training should help ASU get better this season as an entire defensive back unit. One way that Fields has seen this in Spring ball is an increased ability to anticipate what the offense will do.

“It just all works together, knowing what your teammate is doing helps a lot so everybody’s on the same page,” Fields said. “It’s a bunch of preset reads, so you know in different coverages- if you know that the ‘Tillman’ has something certain you know you can already start predicting what you have to do.”

The versatility which is now ingrained in the Sun Devils’ defensive backs will allow ASU to maximize its depth in the secondary. The strong foundation established last year last season on defense, along with a vigorous cross-training process could be a major step for a unit that should improve in 2019, and one that may be asked to share even a bigger load in the upcoming season.

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