Damontae Kazee offers a unique perspective on Jayden Daniels, ASU coaches
Since coming over from San Diego State in 2018, Arizona State defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales and cornerbacks coach Tony White have consistently brought up Damontae Kazee -- kind of odd considering they coached him three years ago at a different school. Nonetheless, that is the significance of his impact.
Kazee, who played at San Diego State for four years under Gonzales and White, as well as SDSU head coach Rocky Long, was perhaps the best example of what a skilled, athletic defensive back can accomplish in the 3-3-5 scheme.
He won Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year during his junior and senior years, in large part because he picked off a total of 15 passes in his last two collegiate seasons.
“I love that guy, man,” White said of Kazee. “He made coaching really fun. When you get good, those guys start to challenge wide receivers. They say, ‘Throw the ball over here.’ Instead of playing over the top, they’re playing hip-to-hip. You see this defense doing the same thing (Damontae did).”
A few weeks ago, Gonzales stated that he thinks ASU’s defense should have between 20 to 27 interceptions this season. Some scoffed at that notion considering the fact that the Sun Devils just collected 12 interceptions in 2018. However, when one player can tally more than a half dozen interceptions on their own, as Gonzales saw Kazee do twice, 20 seems like a far less daunting figure.
Kazee also attended Cajon High School, the same San Bernardino program where Jayden Daniels later came in and broke all sorts of school and state records. During the summer, Daniels attended Kazee’s camp at Cajon and had the chance to chat with the NFL defensive back, whom he’s grown close with.
Now a defensive back with the Atlanta Falcons, Kazee who in 2018 tied the league lead with seven interceptions with Kyle Fuller and Xavien Howard, took a few minutes following a Falcons’ preseason practice to chat about Daniels and his former coaches currently flourishing in the desert.
DevilsDigest: When you think back to your time with Danny Gonzales at San Diego State, what sticks out?
Damontae Kazee: “A lot of things stick out with Coach G because, you know, he recruited me so I’ve known Coach G since high school. He came over there, recruited me -- ate all my spaghetti at the house.”
DevilsDigest: Wait, he ate all of your spaghetti?
DK: “I didn’t know who Coach G was when I went back to school after my recruiting trip because he started running every day. Surprisingly, he just dropped all this weight. I’m like, ‘That’s not the guy who was eating all that spaghetti.”
DevilsDigest: I know Jayden helped out at your camp this summer at Cajon, did you talk about Coach G to Jayden or talk to Coach G about Jayden?
DK: “Nah, that’s not me personally. When I see (Jayden) I ask him how he’s doing because I know how that college life is, it’s a grind in college. I just asked him how he was doing and stuff.”
DevilsDigest: A lot of people were curious as to how Gonzales’ 3-3-5 defense was going to fare in the Pac-12, but you having so much success in it, what’s the key to making that scheme work?
DK: “My college coaches used to always preach to us, ‘Run full speed.’ (San Diego State) coach (Rocky) Long told us in that defense, he’s sending blitzes so you better have good coverage and when you’re faking blitzes and shots, you have to go full speed every time. I think that’s what helped me.”
DevilsDigest: At ASU, whenever the ball hits the ground in practice, Danny Gonzales yells for his defenders to run, pick up the ball and take it into the end zone. Did he do the same thing at SDSU?
DK: “Yeah. And, first of all, Coach G used to coach the safeties, so I used to see Coach G kick balls at them and they used to have to roll on the ground and get them.”
DevilsDigest: Danny Gonzales was saying that ASU should have 20-27 interceptions this season. At San Diego State, you guys did that, and led the nation in interceptions over a three-year period, what does it take to rack up picks in that system?
DK: “It’s just competing. Tony White, he used to tell us, all the DB's, we used to compete every week. So, we just used to go out there every week and have fun, and that’s basically what we’re trying to do, trying to get interceptions. That’s what we do, we’re ball guys. We fly, have fun. If you would have gone to one of our practices at San Diego State, you would have loved it because all we did was have fun. But we also worked, too.”
DevilsDigest: Were Danny Gonzales and Tony White always close to the point where you weren’t surprised when they both came to ASU at the same time?
DK: “Yeah, it definitely wasn’t a surprise because those were our two DB coaches at San Diego State.”
DevilsDigest: Is there anything that sticks out from your time playing under Tony White?
DK: “Ask Coach White about the Dougie Thursdays. This is what it was: All the DBs come in the room but you have to line up outside the door -- this is how we had fun with it, see Coach White let us have fun. He plays the music and one-by-one, you go in there and do a dance move. And if your dance move was whack, he was going to boo you.”
Added White: “Listen, man, Dougie Thursday was something special. I don’t know if these guys (at ASU) are ready for Dougie Thursday, yet. I might break that out but not yet. Every Thursday, it was like a soul-train line. I would hold them outside the meeting room and then I’d blast music, but the thing was, they didn’t know what kind of music. So, it would be country music, so they would have to dance country. Sometimes it was salsa. Sometimes it was rap. It put them on the spot. We’re showmen.”
DevilsDigest: When you heard that Jayden Daniels was named ASU’s starting quarterback, was that something you anticipated?
DK: “Yes, most definitely. When I see people growing up and see people on the team that pushes themselves to work very hard, don’t take any days off, I knew he was going to go there and people were going to see. Basically, he just has to keep competing. He has that No. 1 spot but you still always have to compete. Compete like you’re the No. 4.”
DevilsDigest: When did you first meet him?
DK: “I met him when he just got to Cajon. They were telling me there’s a guy over there who can throw. So, I was like, ‘I’ve got to peep him out.’ I saw his highlight on Twitter and I was like, ‘Oh, hold on. Who is this?’ And then they end up winning the championship and I’m like, ‘Hold on, something ain’t right. He out there killing it.’ I saw his passing yards and stuff and it was just like, it really blew me away.”
DevilsDigest: How did that transition into a friendship?
DK: “Just kept talking to him and stuff. I go up there and talk to the high school about my experiences in high school and what it took to get to college. I always saw him around. I always talked to his mom, always talked to him. They went to my house on draft day. We’re very close.”
DevilsDigest: When you talked Jayden at the camp, was he able to relate to some of your college experiences?
DK: “No, I couldn’t tell him what to expect during his freshman. I can’t tell him what to do as a freshman. All I could tell him is, ‘Go your way and have fun with it.’”
DevilsDigest: What’s Jayden’s personality like when he’s off the field?
DK: “He’s very smart. He will always have a smile on his face, a very happy guy. As you can see, it’ll always pay off for him. Good things happen to him. And now he’s starting as a true freshman and I’m like, ‘People are going to talk, you just have to prove it now.”
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