After his first Camp Tontozona experience, graduate defensive lineman Jeff Clark's anticipation for the upcoming season is elevated that much more after he strengthened his chemistry with his teammates. Clark, who recorded a safety in Saturday’s scrimmage, has been asserting himself more and more in the defensive tackle rotation.
“It was a great experience,” Clark said. “We got a chance to bond with each other, and I bonded with people on the team that I don’t normally hang out with, like some offensive guys, so Camp T was an overall good thing for us as a team. When I got the safety, I was trying to do the best for the team, and the more plays I can make, the better it is for the team.”
While Camp T was a memorable event for the team overall, there were still a couple of moments that Clark could have lived without. Defensive end Clayton Smith is a big reptile fan and even has an NIL deal with a place that allowed him to handle snakes, his favorite reptile. Among Smith, other players showed no fear of animals, but Clark wasn’t in that group.
“Clayton tried to convince me,” Clark mentioned. “I’m from the city, and we don’t have any snakes, so I told Clayton he’s by himself. We have a wild guy named Tristan Monday (ASU defensive tackle), who was walking around with crawdads in the cabins and the bunk beds. There was a huge tarantula right outside our cabin, which I’m pretty sure one of those guys brought around. I have never seen a tarantula that big before, and it’s something I’ll watch from a distance.”
The defensive line was already beginning to bond before Camp T, but the four days up north brought them even closer. Defensive coordinator Brian Ward stated he wanted to see progress, not perfection, last week, and his defense responded in kind. Each day, they seem to move more as a unit than singular players, and their play has manifested that.
“I feel like this defense was made for me,” Clark remarked. “My skill set perfectly fits this defense. Coach Ward sets up plays to just mess up the whole offense line, and that’s what I feel like I’m great at doing. I feel like I’m just an all-around playmaker, I don’t just specify myself as a run-stopper or a pass rusher, I feel like I make plays all around. Coach Ward’s style allows us to do that, too.”
Clark nearly transferred to Arizona State last year, but the Georgia State player decided to call Louisville his home in 2023. In 13 games for the Cardinals, he appeared as a reserve and recorded 14 tackles and two tackles for losses. For his last year of eligibility, Clark decided to make the eventual move to Tempe a year later.
“I didn’t come here last year, but Coach Dilly (ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham) didn’t hold it against me,” Clark explained. “He still recruited me the same as he did last year, and he still wanted me here. He just kept pursuing me, and everybody wants to be at a place where they’re appreciated and where they’re wanted. I just felt like this was the place for me, and I knew I was meant to be here, and I’m glad I chose here.”
Dillingham consistently presses his players on the cultural aspect of the team, promoting the often overlooked and seemingly small details that will bring the players close to each other. Sometimes, they might not realize they’re enhancing personal relationships, yet the byproducts of those activities are evident on the field.
“The way they force us to bond is pretty cool,” Clark recognized. “Sometimes we don’t want to stay at the stadium all day; we want to go home, but that instills the work ethic in us. We have teams on the team itself that aren’t position-based, so you’ll have all these different positions working together and bonding. We have something called the Sun Devil Olympics, and we just do little creative things with each other.”
Defensive line coach Diron Reynolds is unlike any position coach he’s had in his college career. Reynolds has coached in the NFL on various teams, most notably for the Indianapolis Colts with newly inducted Hall of Famer Dwight Freeney. Clark absorbs his position coach’s wisdom in each practice and has seen the benefits of his tutelage and advice play out during fall camp.
“Coach Reynolds has taught me a lot even though I’ve had a lot of d-line coaches,” Clark admitted. “He’s still developing me, and one thing I like about Coach Reynolds is he’s patient, and he takes his time with you. He’ll pull you aside personally and try to develop you rather than everybody as a group. He’s taught me a lot from a pass rush perspective, he’s a very wise guy and I’m just thankful he’s my coach.”
The full pad practices in fall camp, which began less than a week ago, have clearly intensified the battles in the trenches between the offense and defense. The competition level between both front lines has unsurprisingly benefited both sides of the ball.
“We have a pretty solid offensive line if you ask me,” Clark mentioned. “I feel like each day iron sharpens iron, and going against those guys every day is going to make us better players. I don’t feel that other teams in the Big 12 have an O-line like ours, and we make it hard and practice so it’ll be easier in the games for our guys.”
The defense’s progression throughout fall camp has been impossible to ignore, and this unit’s unity and trust in each other have been just as significant an element of their high level of play as the pure skillset of its key players. Clark is content to see the entire process come together.
“Coach Ward is big on communication,” Clark said. “We learned how to communicate and work off of each other. On the D-line it’s me and three other guys, so we’ve learned how to communicate with all four guys. We’ve learned how to pass rush and read off each other, and I can tell the guy next to me what block to give. So, in the past couple of weeks, it’s all starting to correlate.”
Coming from Louisville, the ACC's play style has similarities and differences with the smashmouth style of play that defines the Big 12. Clark's strengths in defending the run have him eager to be a key part of the defensive tackle rotation in a conference with challenging ground attacks.
“I love it,” Clark stated. “I’m ready for them to run the ball, pass the ball; I don’t think they can out-physical this team. I think we want it too much and we got a lot of grit, and I’m ready for whatever the Big 12 has, and I hope they’re ready for us. We’re ready for anything.”
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