When “Maroon Monsoon” debuted on 98.7 FM last week, there was cautious optimism about a fall football season in Tim Healy’s interview with Herm Edwards. On this week’s show, the conversation centered around the exciting news Thursday of the Pac-12 CEO group’s unanimous vote to move forward with fall football.
Healy spoke with a joyful group of Sun Devils, which included Arizona State quarterback Jayden Daniels, new offensive coordinator Zak Hill and Edwards, who were all pumped to begin play in early November.
“I think there’s a lot of excitement,” Edwards told Healy. “Especially for coaches and players, and fans as well. Imagine players coming in … every day, working out, and really not having a start date. And that’s been the mode around here for about three months. And now that those clouds have seemed to dissipate and now we have an opportunity to play football. And we’ll be excited.”
ASU will begin play on Nov. 6 or Nov. 7, which gives the Sun Devils about six weeks to practice before games begin. Edwards has stated in numerous interviews throughout this uncertain period that six weeks is the adequate amount of time needed to get a football team ramped up for games. He said he felt as though the start date was the right one for preparation purposes as well as unity purposes. He commented that he liked how the conference is starting as one collective group since they have been unified throughout this whole process.
“We all stuck together,” Edwards said. “We were one voice. And I like that. There are 12 teams in this conference, and we did it in a way where we all just listened to the people that were directing us, and we stayed the course, and now it’s working out for us, and I think we’re all excited about playing.”
The Pac-12 announced there would be no fans at sporting events until at least January of 2021. Edwards said with no fans, “there’s no more home-field advantage,” and players on the sidelines will have to create the noise in the stadium.
Daniels followed his coach on the show and said he is “very excited to play,” and having football back is “a big relief off the shoulders.”
The sophomore signal-caller discussed how having expectations for a Pac-12 championship, and then having the season postponed was tough on his teammates. He said players, including himself, were “down” but now are just “excited” to get back out on the field.
Daniels said he has stayed ready for play to start by working out with strength coach Joe Connolly and learning the advanced new offense Hill is installing a system designed to take full advantage of the quarterback’s skills.
“This offense is a lot of shifts and motions,” Daniels described. “Just going out there, and you never know what’s up our sleeve. We might pull out a trick play the first play of the game. I feel like this year’s offensive is going to be a lot of entertainment and a lot of points being scored.”
Daniels discussed the weapons he will have on offense and said the losses of running back Eno Benjamin and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk to the NFL meant that returning wideouts Ricky Pearsall and Geordon Porter will have to step up. He said, newcomer running backs Deamonte Trayanum, Daniel Ngata, and Rachaad White have been “working hard” to learn the offense and are always asking him questions in their quest to improve.
Hill was delighted to have football back sooner rather than later and detailed his pro-style offense.
“Everybody’s excited,” Hill said. “And you can feel the juice in the facility.”
Hill explained his offense, which he said will be focused around Daniels, a quarterback he praised for all of his different skills he brings to the table.
“I would say there’s are a lot of intricacies to it,” Hill stated. “It’s a pro-style with spread elements, but we’re going to use a lot of personnel groups and shifts and motions and formations. And ultimately, we’re going to try to make it as difficult as possible for the defensive coordinator to do some things and make it hard for the defense to have to communicate and make adjustments.
“And we’ve got a lot of great talent here. Jayden and I have had a lot of conversations, watched a lot of film, had some spring ball practices, but now it’s okay; what is he really good at? And then tailoring the offense to that and emphasizing the skills that he’s got.”
A point of emphasis for the Sun Devils, it seems every year is its offensive line, a group lacking consistency over the past few years but with the additions of graduate transfers Kellen Diesch and Henry Hattis, Hill said he is happy with where the offensive line is.
“We’re very happy where our O-Line is, and adding those two guys helps us,” Hill said. “Some young guys with LaDarius (Henderson) and then with Dohnovan (West). I mean some really good guys that are developing and getting better. So we feel like that O-Line is coming around. It’s going to be a strength for us.”
Last year, the media was told about ASU’s plans to use the tight ends more with talks of 13 personnel (one running back, three tight ends). However, it was the same old same old, and this position group was relatively non-existent in the offense. Hill, however, is known to use tight ends and said we should see a shift in philosophy with the Sun Devils.
“Yeah, the tight ends will definitely have a role,” Hill said. “Ultimately, we’re going to play the best guys. I mean our personnel is going to be driven by our playmakers. So, if that is the tight ends, then that is the tight ends. But the tight end piece will be used and utilized in this offense.”
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