Danny Gonzales is rarely satisfied. Even last year, as the media tried to praise the defensive turnaround orchestrated by the Sun Devils’ first-year defensive coordinator, he seemed to always throw back his signature phrase.

We’re still not very good.

Perhaps. But in year two under Gonzales and head coach Herm Edwards, the Sun Devils are improving. How much? We’ll learn that in time. For now, all we know is ASU’s defensive unit something it dearly lacked a year ago: Experience.

A little more than last year, Gonzales knows what he has. He knows the potential. Now he and ASU’s coaches have to hone it.

On Tuesday, nine days before the Sun Devils kick-off their season against Kent State, the ASU defensive coordinator discussed his unit.

Defensive Line:

Contrary to the rest of ASU’s defense, change struck the Devils’ D-line. Jamar Cain replaced Shaun Nua as the group’s coach. ASU lost Darius Slade and Jalen Bates to the transfer portal. And nose tackle Renell Wren is in Cincinnati after the Bengals took the senior in the fourth round.

So where does that leave ASU’s defensive line?

Well, for starters, it’s probably the defense’s biggest question mark. The group, though, also has a lot of options.

Gonzales said the defensive line will have a seven-man rotation with the starters garnering about 38 to 40 snaps per game. For now, it seems that rotation will be between D.J. Davidson, Shannon Forman and T.J. Pesefea at nose tackle and Jermayne Lole, George Lea, Michael Matus, Roe Wilkins at defensive end.

“It’s all about staying healthy so we can keep a seven-man rotation,” Gonzales said.

Wilkins, a transfer from Rice, and Matus, a redshirt freshman who gained almost 30 pounds over the summer, have really impressed Gonzales. In practice, the pair are both second-string ends behind Lole and Lea, a redshirt senior.

“I think Jermayne Lole is an elite D-lineman in the league, in our Pac-12,” Gonzales said. “George, his knee has been a little banged up, but we can monitor that. We can get him 30-35 snaps in a game easily.”

In the middle, the Devils have more questions -- well mostly injury concerns.

Davidson, a sophomore, suffered an ankle injury last season at USC that kept him out until the fall. So far in his return, Davidson has been incredibly quick and strong. Forman, on the other hand, is just coming back from back surgery.

“Now he’s got some fresh legs because he didn’t practice early on getting banged into –– so he looks really good on tape. He probably looks better than you think he does because he’s gotten a lot faster than those guys,” Gonzales said, adding about Davidson, “D.J., he’s been really, really good through camp.”

Linebackers:

Five linebackers lined up against the five stationary sleds on Sunday morning. They were supposed to hit the sled and explode past it. So they did -- or at least they thought they did.

Linebackers coach Antonio Pierce made them do it again, and again, and again. The second-year coach kept yelling at his group, agitated by their lackadaisical effort. After about four tries and four yells of, “Do it again” from Pierce, Darien Butler slammed his helmet and let out a yell.

Everyone perked up. They looked around and proceeded to perform their best rep. Pierce finally let them rest.

Gonzales wasn’t around for that. It doesn’t matter -- he’s seen Butler’s leadership on plenty of occasions.

“(The defense) made me mad today but, I went to (Butler). I went to him and I said ‘Look, don’t allow this,’” Gonzales said. “When the leadership comes from the coaches you can be average. I think it started probably way back in January when we came back for the winter conditioning. You could see him and Merlin realize that they were probably going to be the leaders.”

After incredible freshmen campaigns, Gonzales can trust Butler and Robertson -- both on the field and off. But in 2019, he has more trust in the depth at linebacker, and for that, the group has improved. Gonzales thinks he has five elite linebackers: Butler, Robertson, Khaylan Kearse-Thomas, Kyle Soelle, and Tyler Johnson.

Kearse-Thomas emerged at the end of last year, spurning momentum from a Las Vegas Bowl start into a spring that led to Pierce, at one point, calling Kearse-Thomas the only penciled-in starter at linebacker.

Johnson and Soelle, both sophomores, haven’t seen extensive playing time. Johnson is most notable for recovering a fourth-quarter fumble to help complete the 19-point comeback against Arizona last season. Soelle, though, is still seeking his signature moment.

“I think he’s an outstanding linebacker and so they’ll probably complete some passes over his head that will frustrate us but he’s done a really good job and I’m excited to see him play this summer,” Gonzales said of Soelle. “I mean, just with the structure of his body and everything is awesome.”

Secondary:

Heading into the fall, there are few question marks regarding the personnel in ASU’s secondary.

For the third straight year, Kobe Williams and Chase Lucas were going to start at corner. After coming on strong at the end of their freshman year, Aashari Corsswell and Cam Phillips were the Devils’ starting safeties.

And it seemed graduate Tyler Whiley was going to take the starting Tillman spot after a freak injury ended his senior year before it started. When the Devils went to Camp Tontozona, Whiley was the first-team Tillman.

Then an illness sidelined him for a few days, allowing Evan Fields, a speedy, athletic junior, to overtake Whiley at first-team Tillman by the time ASU came down the hill. As of now, the two are neck-and-neck for the starting job come next Thursday.

“It’s still a battle,” Gonzales said. “Evan is taking most of the reps with the first group … Tyler too. They have different strengths. I think right now Tyler might be a little bit better against the run, Evan has improved dramatically.”

Gonzales has been adamant that the Sun Devils should pick off 20 to 27 passes this season. His defense did it at San Diego State, they should be able to do it at Arizona State. That quest, though, starts with Lucas and Williams.

If they’re great, Gonzales argued, ASU can play man coverage and disintegrate opponent’s rushing attack. So if it’s third down and teams can’t run the ball or throw the ball to the outside, Gonzales’ calls just became a whole lot easier -- especially in two-minute situations.

“If those guys can lock ‘em down on the outside you can do a lot more with nine guys,” Gonzales said. “If we can get some pressure upfront and we can cover them on the outside we get 20 interceptions.”

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