Just three practices into an abbreviated and odd season co-defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis is already knocking on wood. Taking over the fifth-ranked defense in the Pac-12 during the 2019 season, both Lewis and co-defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce know there remains work to be done to find the correct formula for success this year.

Arizona State’s defensive unit begins preseason practices with some of the same challenges as the ASU offense. Both are in the opening stages of a new scheme fit, with new coordinators on both sides of the ball. However, there’s a level of familiarity and continuity with returning contributors on the defensive side of the ball – one that allowed 22.4 points per game last season – unlike their counterparts on offense.

“All the work Zoom and everything that we’ve been through, and now the opportunity to really practice football has been exciting,” Lewis told reporters Monday afternoon. “Now, we’ve just gotta keep building one day to the next.”

Talent across the roster allowed former defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales to talk up his expectations for the unit frequently over the course of the 2019 season. In some areas, the ASU defense thrived last year, ranking fourth in the nation in turnover forced per game with 2.2. But with Gonzales’ departure from Tempe for the head coaching job at New Mexico goes the patented 3-3-5 scheme along with him, making the summer work all the more important for Lewis and Pierce.

“It was a lot of help,” Lewis said of the hands-on coaching the ASU staff was able to provide during the summer. “It was a good opportunity on our part to slow things down to try to really teach the guys why this is the way it is and so forth. When you put the pieces back together, they understand why it’s supposed to fit together.

“If they can go ahead and make corrections on their own; we’re going to be that much better.”

Ultimately, with so much change being presented to the players, Lewis said the complexities of the defense, and depth of the playbook will be dependent on how easily the group picks up on things.

“It’s really not what I know. It’s going to come down to what they know and what they can take into a football game each week through the plan,” Lewis explained. “I think we will be fine that way and that’s the exciting part. We’ve exposed them to a lot.”

Throughout much of the previous season, Arizona State’s defensive line struggled to pressure the opposing quarterback. Against Colorado last September, the Sun Devils produced no pass rush, allowing the Buffaloes quarterback Steven Montez to leave Tempe with a clean jersey and 34-31 win. Yet even with those struggles, the defense ranked 35th in the country in points allowed per game.

In the Sun Devils’ decision to abandon a scheme which favored having three down linemen instead of four now facilitates added pressure for a group some feel may be the Achilles heel on this side of the ball.

“I think the maturation up front will be key,” said Lewis of a defense that tallied 26 sacks in 2019, including a season-high of four in its bowl win over the Seminoles. “Where we are right now with the football, that’s what we are working on. To develop not only the groups and how to play, but also develop some depth there.

“Knock on wood, but let’s just keep working and playing hard, and I think we’re gonna have some guys who had very limited roles here who show they deserve to have a larger role.”

In December, following ASU’s 20-14 win over Florida State in the Sun Bowl, linebacker Tyler Johnson announced his intentions to medically retire from football, before later returning to the program. Johnson, who recovered a fumble in the final minutes of the Devils’ first bowl win under Herm Edwards could bring added pressure for the ASU defensive line as the Gilbert native makes the transition from outside linebacker.

“He’s one of those guys who’s now getting an opportunity to really do something he’s more suited to do,” Lewis revealed. “He’s kind of taken the opportunity and run with it, which is great. And I’ve really been pleased with Tyler. I would say that the last year in the role I was in Tyler spent a lot of time soul-searching with me all the time about different things.

“Now he’s back out here and playing football, and you see a big smile on his face, and he’s having fun. He’s kind of got a new life, and that’s really cool when you get an opportunity like that.”

After a sophomore season which left plenty to be desired from himself and the coaching staff, Lewis praised junior Merlin Robertson for the developments he’s made ahead of this year.

“The transformation in [Robertson]’s body physically is one thing,” Lewis mentioned as one thing that stands out for the junior linebacker. “And then his maturity of understanding the defense and what we’re asking him to do in his position inside now, and then the overall scope of the offense. Being able to have the eyes to differentiate what the offense is doing and help communicate with the rest of the linebacker group.

“They have to be our locomotion everything we do… and I’m really pleased with his that he’s shown a lot of maturity throughout this period.”

Some of the greatest levels of playing experience on the ASU defense remains in its secondary, headlined by cornerbacks Chase Lucas and Jack Jones, who Lewis said have stood out early in the preseason.

“You’ve gotta be pleased with both of them overall. They have the ability to play in the secondary but their ability to become leaders on this defensive football team I think that to me is the most pleasing part, because they have experience playing,” commented Lewis. “Obviously, Chase has been here throughout his playing career. Jack comes in in a different way, but really the maturity from them to really be demanding of their teammates and get things right, and that’s great.”

Whether it be a lack of live-practice tackling, or the continued innovation of college offenses, the early trends across the country have seen offenses dictating the terms of many contests in the Big 12, ACC and even SEC. That trend is something Lewis said he and the coaching staff are taking note of, presenting an added challenge for them this fall.

“It really has been a shocking, scary trend,” Lewis commented. “The thing about it is you’ve got so much movement now in offenses. And I think that’s the thing defensively that you’ve gotta be able to match them. The movement, the speed, the tempo. Are they huddling? Are they not huddling?

“That’s what you’re trying to do is match that on a play-in and play-out basis. And then stay sound in what you do, and everybody be on the same page.”

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