On the difference between recruiting the transfer portal last year and this year
“Last year, we were just filling a roster. We had 40 spots; we had brand new staff from all over the country, some from the NFL, some from not, some from high school, and not all those people recruit the same kid. So, you don't have the relationships necessary and you may have not known who those kids were in the portal. Part of being productive in the portal is you would have maybe recruited that kid out of high school and had a relationship with that kid. So, you already knew everything about him.
“Last year, it was like, ‘Who are all these guys?’ I was in the South for so long, and most of the kids hitting the portal I didn't recruit. And my staff is a lot of small ball guys by design - I want ball coaches. So, I think this year, now that we've been here, we now aren't just filling a roster; we're filling needs; we know what we need. We needed size. That was number one. We needed speed. And we need a depth. I think we assess those needs. Last year was just like, put food on the table. This year is, we have starch and we need a vegetable. That's how I'd say the differences.”
On the state of ASU's NIL
“Night and day. The progress that we've made is absolutely incredible. And it's only getting better. It's not stopping, and we have to continue to push that. It sounds bad to say, but everybody's constantly getting better. So, to say, ‘Oh, okay, we've caught up with at least the back half of a league…we're almost average in a league.’ Well, all of them got better. So, we're still behind. But we're at least playing the game. We just got to continue to grow. But I couldn't be happier with the valley, with the fans, with the support with you guys (media) support of trying to educate the fans. It all matters. Everybody's working together to get it to where we wanted to go.
On what the new offensive coordinator, Marcus Arroyo, will bring to the team
“He’s been a playcaller in the NFL. I wanted somebody with some NFL experience. He's a quarterback guy. I like having coordinators who had been head coaches. He built a program (UNLV), built a roster that won nine, ten games this last year. And then when you call his references, guys like Todd Monken, Dirk Koetter, which people know here, and they all give you the same name of the same guy…I didn't even give them those names (of candidates). You just call some people that you respect in the profession, and they all give you the same person. You're like, ‘wow.’ And this person is four hours away.
“He wants to be here. He has family who's from here, which most people don't know, he has relatives that live here. He has people who own restaurants in the Valley. So, there were a lot of things that went into it. But I wanted a quarterback-driven guy. A guy who's very, very detailed in terms of route depths, who has a lot more structure, which I'm a little bit more comfortable with. And a guy who is willing to get on somebody if the standards are not met. And I think he does all those things. And with his experience in the NFL and coaching quarterbacks and calling plays at that level, I think is a really good fit.”
On how he has prepared for the transition into the Big 12
“To be honest, that was the plan last year when I took the job. I had a clue where the sport was going and where the league was going. Did I know that we were going to join this league? No. But did I read the tea leaves to a point where I already had that plan with the recruiting, the structure of our recruiting, style of play…the Big 12 the biggest difference between that league is there's obviously more people in the Air Raid (offense) family in that league. And because of that, there are more people with the 3-3 stack monster defense similar to what Oklahoma State went through last year. So, I had a plan for that, and that was why I put together the staff we did to begin with, was to transition to this league.
“Because we're not a 3-3 stack team, we're gonna have to do a little bit more work in the offseason and fall camp, working versus odd five defenses with an extra safety, so our quarterbacks get visuals of it. And then, on the contrary, we're going to have to give our defense more 10-personnel looks in open sets because they're going to see that. Those are the two differences of what we're going to game plan for. And last year, we did none of that because we're just worried about us. This year, we will do more prepared game planning when we get to fall camp because we already have our defense and our offense. The verbiage isn't really changing. So they don't have to relearn a language. They're just learning ball.”
On how his offense blends with Arroyo’s offense and his philosophy
“When people say the words, ‘my offense’ that means anything. It really does. It means we're gonna run the swinging gate if we have to. Do I want to? No. But what that really means is we're going to adapt to our players. That's what I believe in. And I've been blessed to learn so many different ways to get it done, and that you got to be willing to adapt to not be scared to adapt.
“So, what I would like to be is a run play-action Football team that plays fast, with pro-style rules. That's what I want to be. That's where I think the most productive offenses are in college football right now. You have to have the personnel to get there. That's what Coach Arroyo believes in - the exact same thing. Route depths, discipline in your route depths, quarterback MIKE-pointing protections, MIKE-pointing runs, but finding a way to do that quickly, and then being able to vary tempos and get into good calls at times. We couldn't do that last year because we weren't there yet as a program for a variety of reasons. We faced some obstacles that prevented us from doing that. So yes, Me and Coach Arroyo see things very, very similar.”
On his thoughts about his 2024 roster
“I feel very, very confident. Last year, we struggled in the back end of games because of a lack of depth. And at the end of the year, we struggled because of a lack of depth. I think we've solved those issues. So, when people say, ‘Oh, why aren't you good?’ in the second half, you have a defensive tackle playing 57 snaps. No good defensive tackle can play 57 snaps at the same rate. You have to play 45 at your peak. So that's why we struggle at the end. Why do you get blown out in three games at the end of the year? Well, one, you don't have the depth. But two, you're tired. You're worn on by the end of the year, and we practiced way harder than they practiced in years past. So, part of it's my fault, but you either eventually got to change and take the lumps early, or you've got to adapt over a slower period of time. I'd rather get hit on the chin in year one than have it linger longer.
“And that's what I told you guys (media) this year is the challenge. And the standard is going to be even higher. The same step we took this last year in terms of the standard and the effort is the exact same distance of a step. It's just a different level of what it looks like. And they're feeling it right now because we're struggling to get through stretch lines because of the standard that we're setting.”
On what does the vision for year two look like
“Year one, we were trying to get something on the plate. That's We got to sign 40-something kids in a month, which is not easy to accomplish by any means, especially with a new staff. This year, it is over a period of time, we decided what needs we had, what problems, and what issues, and we went and tried to solve the problems. So, we were filling in the cracks rather than laying the cement. This is round two of painting a wall. Anybody can go paint the wall once, and it ain't gonna be good. You better go painting the second time and get all the lines cleaned up. And then paint it the third time. That's how recruiting works. You're not always going to hit on a guy; you're gonna miss on some because you’re human, right? And when you paint, and you miss, you gotta go back and paint over it.
“But if you look at what we're trying to do, I don't know the exact number, but I think we have nine (transfer) guys total graduating after this year, maybe ten total on our roster, because the goal is year two to make a big jump, and then you retain your roster for year three. And that was the whole goal and design of this, to create a culture necessary to create a team in years two and three, you have a lot of consistency throughout those years. And I think we've been able to do that by just understanding what we need and sending guys home.
“There was a kid we had, I'm not going to name names or anything… but his number one goal was, ‘I just want to go to league.’ We asked him, ‘Do you care about winning?’ and his answer was ‘No.’ Not a fit. Go home. Freak show wasn't a fit for us. Because it's about winning. And the sooner young men in our team realize you need other people to be successful…if I'm a star corner, and I get no pass rush when I'm playing man, eventually you will be exposed and doesn't look good for you. So, you better push your brother in practice to be the best he can be. Because if that guy gets to the quarterback, you look like a better cover guy. And vice versa. It is the ultimate team sport. If you are selfish, you will eventually be exposed. Because you're not going to be playing around people good enough to help you.
“And that's the vision for this year. That's the people we brought in to people who want to be here. People who want to win. And if you win, you'll be Washington and send 11 guys to the NFL this year, you'll be TCU and send nine guys like they did last year. It’s not an accident. If you win, people get drafted. If you lose, people don't get drafted. Pretty simple.
On how he was able to retain players and not lose that many quality players even with NIL challenges
“I've never lied to them. So, I think that matters. I think in this process, there are so many lies, there are so many false promises. There's so much BS that goes into it. The brutal truth, the brutal honesty, I think helps. I think the guys trust me when I say things are going to change, and things are gonna get better. And then, to be honest, who wants to leave Tempe, Arizona? In the summertime, if you want to leave, I would agree. But other than that, okay, who really wants to leave here? People move here to retire. So, when a kid from somewhere in the country moves here, he trusts his coaching staff. He knows he's getting better. He knows the growth is gonna be there. It's like, ‘Man, who has it better than me?’ And I think that's really what we can create here is that environment of, ‘Man, why would I want to leave?’”
On how building that trust with the players helps recruiting
“I think it was easier because our guys on our roster could recruit for us. So, the guys on our team knew us. So, if I said something to a prospect, I'd say, ‘Go ask anybody on our team. Find one person on our team where I've said something that hasn't happened. Find one.’ If you do, don't come here – go for it. And that was really what makes it easier is when you treat your players the way they're supposed to be treated. You treat them with respect. You set a high standard; You don't let them get comfortable. But they know you care about them. And you're honest with them. This place recruits itself, and I think that's been what's made it easier. And I think next year, it'll be easier because we'll 70 something guys returning, so go find one of those guys, find somebody who we've lied to. So, if I tell you something in this room, it's going to happen. And I don't make promises in recruiting. It's just the natural way as your guys help you recruit because you build trust with your own players.”
On how complete the roster is now
“It's complete. So, there are two sides to signing kids. There are the mid-year enrollees. And with mid-year enrollees, there are certain rules on when kids actually leave your roster count towards the 85 (scholarship limit). So, we have some roster spots being held by kids who aren't currently on the team. So, you can't replace those numbers right now. You have to replace those numbers in the spring portal.
“We are pretty much full for this winter cycle in terms of enrollees that we can take right now. We can add maybe one to two, but in spring we'll be able to bring in our high school kids. And we'll probably be able to add three, four, or five more guys if needed. Hopefully, it's not needed. Right now, it's pretty full, but we're not at the 85 number for the next year because we still have people that are carrying over based off the rules that I can't replace right now in the winter session.
“I don't want to live in the spring portal. That's not what I want. We had to do that last year when we added 40 guys. Hate that model. How do you build a culture? You bring guys into the winter; you build a team, you learn everybody's names, and you come back in 33% of the guys are new. Holy cow. That's rough. I don't want to be the team that lives in the spring portal signing 25 guys. I want to be the team that the portal is real; you're going to have more roster transition than ever. You can't hide from that. But I want to bring those guys in in the winter. So, our guys can feel each other, meet each other, and get to know each other throughout all winter and all spring. And then we add a few sprinkles in there, and the team gets to know ten, twelve, fifteen guys like it used to be in that post-spring/summer cycle.
On the hire of Diron Reynolds as the new defensive line coach
“He runs a pass rush clinic (Von Miller pass rush summit) with two of the best pass rushers in the history of the NFL every year for NFL players. The hardest thing to sign out of high school is good D-linemen. The hardest thing on the West Coast to sign really, really elite D-linemen. That's always been a challenge. So, you may have to go to the portal to get some more D-linemen. And what do those guys want? Those guys are over the BS of recruiting and the salesmanship; they want the facts. And the fact is professionals go to this dude in the offseason to get better in the National Football League. Why would you not come here and learn from him for free?
“And he's an unbelievable football coach. He's a great person, and his son goes to school out here (GCU), so he wants to be here. So it was, check, check, check, home run. And I think that was why we brought him here; I can sell him. I can go through the list of names he has coached, go through what he does every offseason, and be like, ‘Yeah, come get coached here.”
On how he addressed the needs on the roster through the portal
“D-line needed depth. Badly. It wore on us later in the year when teams ran the football teams, they would run midzone, and that absolutely wore us down physically. We needed depth, and we needed some size. I think we addressed both those things inside. It gives us the ability to move guys like Coop (Anthonie Cooper) to play a little bit of EDGE and get a lighter body, not playing 3-technique every snap. Put them on the edge and get some more weight on the field. Over signing the D-tackle spots, we could bump some of our edges, or inside guys out, Keep (Gharin) Stansbury on the edge with his size.
“At the linebacker position, we took a guy who played in the SEC (Jordan Crook), and we took the MVP of a football team at San Diego State (Zyrus Fiaseu). And we took a sophomore team captain from New Mexico State (Keyshaun Elliott). So, we took productive football players. And I think that was really the key of those two positions where we needed to get more depth and get bigger up front. We signed three guys to really replace Tra Brown. So, when the game wears on us, we can rotate guys and not get tired. We can also practice. So that's how you get better. You practice hitting; you run inside run hitting each other, and tackle. And you can't do that if you're not deep. So, in the spring will be able to hit and tackle a lot. And we're going to hit and tackle a lot because that's how you win games. It’s that simple.”
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