In the 2019 season, Arizona State was introduced to a new defensive back in their secondary. Yet, Jack Jones was no stranger to the Pac-12. Jones spent his first two years in college football playing for ASU’s 2020 opening opponent, USC.

Jones played for current ASU co-defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce’s at Long Beach Poly High School, becoming one of the country’s most sought-after prospects before committing his talents to the Trojans. Jones, who was a five-star prospect appeared in all 13 games his freshman year and started all 14 games at corner in his sophomore year.

After an off the field incident following his sophomore campaign, Jones transferred to Moorpark (Calif.) College, and in turn, found his way back to his high school coach, Pierce, by transferring to ASU ahead of the 2019 season.

“The 2019 season, I was coming from a bad situation,” Jones admitted. “Coming into this season, I feel way better.”

Jones got a feel for Tempe in 2019, making an instant impact for the Sun Devils, contributing in all 13 games and collecting 45 tackles, 13 pass breakups, three interceptions, and a forced fumble. Two of those picks came in ASU’s victory in the Territorial Cup against Arizona. However beyond the stats sheet, for Jones, it was the integration of being reunited with Pierce that made the year so special.

“The impact AP had on me was life-changing,” Jones explained. “Two years ago, I was in a situation where I didn’t know if I was going to play football again, and you know, he kind of put me back on my feet, and I got to take it and run with it.”

Another coach on the Sun Devil coaching staff who has had a significant impact on Jones’ life is defensive backs coach Chris Hawkins.

Hawkins, who was a four-year letterman corner and safety at USC from 2014-2017, played with Jones during the young corner’s first two years in Southern California. Hawkins was a graduate assistant for USC in 2019 before joining the ASU coaching staff ahead of the 2020 season.

“Coach Hawkins he's always been an older guy and been a guy I looked up to, even when I was at SC, and we played on the same field together,” Jones explained. “He's always been that coach, you know, and always been that mentor, even if it was on or off the field.”

With his mentors, Pierce and Hawkins, both instrumental members in Jones’ football life, the redshirt senior is now extremely comfortable in Tempe. So comfortable in fact, that Jones has let out his competitive, chirpy nature on the field more than ever, not only to hold himself accountable but also the entire defense.

“I'm a chirpy guy; I'm going to talk. That's just type of game style I play,” Jones described. “But I really try to do it for our own purposes because if I can get our own defense fired up, I feel like we can be unbeatable. I feel like nobody can beat us if everybody's playing on their A-game.”

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Senior defensive end Shannon Forman, who is the most experienced member defensive line, has returned to Tempe, only to integrate with and play for a fourth defensive line coach in four years.

Since Forman’s arrival in Tempe in 2017, the Baton Rouge-native has played for a revolving door of defensive line coaches. Forman played for Michael Slater in 2017, Shaun Nua, in 2018, Jamar Cain, in 2019, before finally linking up with Rodriguez for this season. On Saturday, Forman spoke about how a new coach's process each year has affected him and how 2020 is different with Rodriguez in charge.

“I’m grateful to be a part of this d-line with Coach Rodriguez,” Forman said. “He’s teaching us a lot of things about the techniques he’s coming from. It’s called the Gumby steps, and it’s kind of effective; it works very well for us. We’ve improved every day (after learning the steps), and we do a lot of movement with that, and it’s wonderful.”

Behind the defensive line, Arizona State’s back seven bring a lot of experience to ASU’s new look defense under Pierce and Marvin Lewis. The trio of linebackers in Kyle Soelle, Darien Butler, and Merlin Robertson are all well-seasoned and at the ready. The secondary, which includes names like Jones, Chase Lucas, Evan Fields, Jordan Clark, and Aashari Crosswell, all have game-time experience and are poised for a stellar 2020.

The defensive line has been another story for the Sun Devils. In 2019, the pass rush did not perform to expectations. Now a redshirt junior, Tyler Johnson was ASU’s only legitimate pass rushing threat from the defensive line in 2019. ASU’s 3-3-5 defense from last season also didn’t prove to be much help for pressuring quarterbacks.

Now in 2020, Forman, who has seen an array of systems and schemes over his time in maroon and gold, feels more optimistic with Rodriguez at the wheel of the defensive line.

“Honestly, we’ve been hearing ‘D-line just needs to get a pass rush and all this stuff’ and that just (motivated us) going into this year,” Forman explained. “Going from. A 3-3-5 to a 4-3 has helped us out in lots of ways. Honestly, Coach Rob puts is in situations to make plays and make sacks and get pressure on the quarterback as well.”

For Forman and the rest of the d-line unit, 2020 is a proving ground, an opportunity to play in a new system and demonstrate that the Sun Devils can put together a solid pass rush that causes offensive chaos.

“We put in our heads that we got to go, we have to make plays. No more read and react; it’s ‘Pick it up and let’s go.’ Just hearing a lot of people saying we were dead last in this scenario, pressures, and all this stuff, we probably had 12 sacks, that just put a chip on our whole room’s shoulders. (The d-line) is trying (to use the negativity) to make us get better.”

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