With less than two weeks remaining before Arizona State takes to the gridiron for the first time in 2020 to face USC on Nov. 7, junior safety Aashari Crosswell and the ASU defense still have many things to figure out.
Nonetheless, when Crosswell discusses the season opener, the third-year player couldn’t contain his emotions as he bubbled with excitement and energy while reporters during his media session.
You see, for Crosswell, ASU’s first contest of 2020 is hardly just a usual week one contest. While the safety’s enthusiasm could partially be attributed to an urge to get out and play football after a long, unprecedented off-season in quarantine-like conditions, the junior’s attitude stems from much more than just that. In order to play USC, the Long Beach Poly alumnus returns to Southern California, and for Crosswell, that means going home.
“I’m so excited man, I’ve been waiting for this for a minute,” Crosswell exclaimed, bouncing in his chair. “I can’t express how much I’ve been waiting for this moment…. I’m ready to play USC, I’m going back home. I’m from out there, I’m from Cali, so why not get a pick-six or something for me and for the whole squad.”
Crosswell falls under the myriad of Southern California Sun Devils on the roster. The safety is also one of seven players at ASU to hail from Long Beach Poly and who played under current co-defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce.
Pierce and his co-coordinator, Marvin Lewis scrapped former defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales’ 3-3-5, in favor of a 4-3 base scheme for 2020, a system which further reflects the implementation of the “Pro Model” culture head coach Herm Edwards set out to create when he was first hired ahead of the 2018 season. Crosswell, who is one of the cornerstones of the Sun Devil defense and has been since he arrived in Tempe, spoke to the process his group has gone through to integrate with the new system.
“Overall, me just being that guy that’s been here since freshman year, I just had to learn this whole defense. Honestly, I love the defense. I feel like it’s more of an NFL type of scheme,” Crosswell said earlier in the preseason. “I feel like (ASU co-defensive coordinators) [Lewis] and [Pierce], all the coaches; they’re getting us ready for the next level. We’re going to make plays in this defense. I feel like we’ve got a lot of playmakers. Just be ready for that, us making plays.”
As one of three returning starters at the safety position for the Sun Devils, Crosswell represents a position group that appears to be one of the deepest on the roster. Senior Evan Fields and redshirt sophomore Cam Phillips are the other two returning pieces in the position group alongside Crosswell.
Fields, who played the now-obsolete “Tillman” position in 2019’s 3-3-5 will fill one starting safety slot in the new scheme implemented by Pierce and Lewis. Phillips will look to add depth to the group, backing up Crosswell, Fields, and sharing the two-deep with a new addition to the safety room.
The newest member of this Sun Devil unit is one whom Crosswell is very familiar with, and is the son of Antonio Pierce. DeAndre Pierce was reunited with his father - his former high school coach, and former Poly teammates after graduating from Boise State in May and subsequently transferring to Tempe.
“That’s my guy. That’s my boy. [Pierce] is one of the smartest dudes on the defense. I give him his credit; he knows everything,” Crosswell said of his friend and teammate earlier in the preseason. “I just love the fact that he came here and is enjoying himself. He just fits right along. We treat him as our brother.”
ASU’s secondary is easily the most experienced position group on the Sun Devil roster, with redshirt seniors Chase Lucas and Jack Jones (another former Poly Jackrabbit) anchoring the sidelines at cornerback and the deep, accomplished group of safeties commanding the middle. With over two weeks of practice in the books, Crosswell spoke to the vitality of the safeties’ role in monitoring this side of the ball for ASU.
“(As a) safety, you have to communicate; you have to be vocal, you have to echo the call,” Croswell explained of his role. “One little mistake can cost us a ton, so we all try to be on the same page, we all try to be locked in… It’s in our hands to make calls and to adjust the corner or the middle linebacker, or anybody because we know everything, and we are the last (line of defense).
The junior safety is one of the Sun Devils’ best NFL prospects, with a recent weight gain adding to his draft stock and lure at his position.
As a 190-pound freshman, Crosswell made an immediate impact in Tempe for the Sun Devils, leading the team in interceptions with four, along with 127 interception return yards, good enough to lead all freshmen throughout the country. Croswell’s stellar freshman season earned him a Pac-12 All-Conference Honorable Mention.
As a sophomore, Crosswell continued to expand his accolades, entering the elite ranks of Pac-12 defenders. In his second year at ASU, the safety graded out as the 16th highest-ranked player in the conference on the defensive side of the ball, regardless of position. Crosswell forced three fumbles, recovered one, and racked up a singular interception in his second year in Tempe.
Now weighing 205 pounds on an agile six-foot-tall frame, Crosswell knows what it takes to succeed on the collegiate level, something he’s attempted to reflect onto the younger players within the ASU secondary, who have turned heads in their own right throughout the preseason.
“They remind me of me. I’m just proud to know how far they came and how mature they became,” Crosswell said of the younger players. “I can’t wait for them to suit up against [USC] because I know they’re going to do their thing.”
Despite this, Crosswell stressed the importance of remaining focused on his own tasks in order to get the most out of the defense.
“One thing with me that I’ve got to stop doing is being a coach; I’ve been trying to coach (the younger players) up while the coaches are doing what they’re doing, but I’m trying to have everybody tuned and locked in for USC because I know what they’re capable of.”
Nevertheless, Crosswell is extremely confident in the abilities of the Arizona State defense in 2020. In 2019, ASU forced 2.2 turnovers per game, good enough for fourth in the country. The Sun Devils return most of the key pieces on defense ahead of their seven-game 2020 slate.
With a duo of veteran corners and a stable of experienced safeties, ASU should expect to have one of the best secondaries in the conference. In front of the safeties, the Sun Devils placed another experienced, game-proven trio of linebackers to call the shots and control an ever-improving defensive line.
ASU’s offense, run by new offensive coordinator Zak Hill has been reported to be notoriously complicated and diverse, and many ASU defenders have gone on record stating that their hands were full during the preseason trying to slow down their teammates.
Despite the challenge, and with the defensive group Crosswell has seen develop and mesh together over the last few months has not only improved their own worth, but the worth of the offense as well, so much so that Crosswell has supreme confidence in Arizona State’s approach on defense.
“We have to stay focused, and we have to have the mindset where we try to win all of our games. I feel like with the offense going against us every day; it’s getting them (better) prepared for USC,” Crosswell described. “I feel like the schemes we are doing and (by the defense) picking the offense off and making plays against the offense is getting them better (prepared) for USC.
“I feel like we have the best defense in the Pac-12.”
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