When you look at the affinity level that some of the new staff members have for the Sun Devils, suffice it to say that no one can go back some four decades as Charlie Ragle does. We caught up with ASU’s new special teams coordinator just a few days on the job to discuss his journey to Tempe and why being part of the Arizona State staff is truly so special for him.
DevilsDigest: You mentioned coming home when you talked about your decision to leave Idaho State after one year in your first ever stint as a head coach. How hard was that decision to come to ASU as you look back at it?
Charlie Ragle: “I’ve said this in a couple of different interviews today; it was an easy decision, but also extremely tough to make if that makes sense. Knowing that when I put everything together, this was the best decision for my family. But going to Idaho State University, and making the commitment and trying to get the program going, building the relationships with the young men, that’s all tough. I agonized over it (the decision to come to ASU) for a week.
“People are going to have their opinions about my decision, and that’s fine. They’re certainly entitled to that. But at the end of the day, you know what? I owe it to my family to make the best decision; that’s who I owe it to. In four or five years, when a coach gets let go, nobody feels sorry for him…they can’t get him out of town fast enough. So again, I had to make a decision that I thought was best, and it was tough. No doubt about it.”
DevilsDigest: Charlie, what do you take away from that head coaching experience that you think has made you a better coach now than you were right before he took that job at Idaho State?
Charlie Ragle: “Well, I think you see things from a different light. Obviously, I was a high school head coach, and when you get to sit in the captain’s chair, so to speak, you’re dealing with so many other things non-football related. (Former ASU head coach) Dirk Koetter said to me once, ‘Charlie, I’m a much better assistant coach now that I’ve been a head coach.’ And I think that’s very, very true. When you’ve sat in the captain’s chair, you know all the responsibilities that come with that. So, when you come back to being an assistant, you’re going to try and do even more to make the head coach’s life easier. Just being able to give Kenny some advice here and there to help, those are maybe some things that I wouldn’t have had in my back pocket a year ago had I not taken that head coaching job.”
DevilsDigest: Even though you were an assistant for one year at Arizona State, your connection is just as strong as Kenny Dillingham, an alumnus who spent multiple years on staff. Would it be fair to say that aside from loving the Valley of the Sun, even that one year with ASU just really rooted that Sun Devil pride you have?
Charlie Ragle: “You have to go back with me a while. My mom’s from here, and I have family on both sides out here. I grew up in New Mexico and coming out here since the 70s. I was coming out here when there were more orange trees than there were roads. I’ve seen the valley grow. I went to my first U of A-ASU game when I was seven years old, and I was mesmerized by the maroon and gold and Sparky. My brothers and I, we loved ASU, and I wanted to come here and play. I grew up right on the border of New Mexico and Arizona and was able to see a decent amount of Arizona State games.
“So, it was all of those things. And then, coming out here, I’ve watched a gazillion Fiesta bowls in Sun Devils Stadium before they moved it. In my adolescent psychology class, when I was a freshman in college, I wrote a paper on how I would I coach at Arizona State one day. That’s why I say it was an easy decision, but it was tough to make because, for me, this is my dream too. We sat around at dinner that first night me, Shaun (Aguano), Vince (Amey), and Kenny; we looked at each other, like, ‘we’ve been talking about this for a long time.’ This is the place that we don’t want to go anywhere. This is it, man. This is home, and let’s get this thing to the level we think we can get it to. Let’s make a hell of a run here for a long time to come. As we say, ‘activate the valley.’ And I think the people, the players, parents can all feel that from us when it’s authentic. It’s easy to sell because it’s what you are.”
DevilsDigest: As you said, it’s impossible these days not to feel the emotion and the Sun Devil pride that you and others on staff have. On that note, was it hard for someone like yourself to see what this program has gone through on and off the field these last couple of years?
Charlie Ragle: “As I’ve watched this program from afar very closely for a long time, I knew in my heart, at some point, I was going to come back here and coach. And I was saying, ‘Man, I want to be there. I know we can take that thing to that special place.’ And so, watching it and seeing some of the ups and downs certainly left me with a lot of questions. I don’t want to get into talking about other coaches and stuff like that, but yeah, it was something that you just thought, ‘man, if we can get our opportunity, I like what we can do.’ And now here we are, we got it, and we got to live up to it.”
DevilsDigest: You and Kenny Dillingham have an extensive history. What’s one thing that maybe is not already out there that Sun Devils fans should know about Kenny, demonstrating why he’s the right man for this head coaching job?
Charlie Ragle: “Well, I think the thing that sets Kenny apart from everybody else is he’s wise beyond his years. He’s very process-driven and goal-oriented. When he sets his mind up for something, he attacks it. That’s why he’s the head coach here at 32 years old. In your early 30s, you could very easily lose sight of what you’re trying to get accomplished. Yet, he’s laser-focused, and that’s something that people have to understand about him. That’s what he’s about, and I think that’s what separates him from everybody else.”
DevilsDigest: One of your titles at Arizona State is Special Teams Coordinator. I don’t know if you had time to delve into watching film from last year, seeing punter how well Eddie Czaplicki and placekicker Carter Brown performed. But from a macro view, what do you think about this Arizona state’s special teams unit and their potential moving forward?
Charlie Ragle: “To be honest, and I will always shoot you straight, I haven’t taken a deep dive yet into really assessing them. I’ve watched them, and I know they’re talented, but we’re in the process of trying to recruit. So, I haven’t sat down yet and started breaking down games. But I know that there’s some talent in the room, and just like anything else, every single day, every single year, you’re trying to enhance your talent and, and that’s what we’re gonna do, enhance the talent and continue to develop it. I’m really looking forward to getting these guys to play at a high level.”
DevilsDigest: When it comes to your role as a defensive assistant, I saw another interview where you said that you’re going to working with the linebackers. Is your defensive role open ended right now, just because things haven’t settled yet in terms of rounding out the staff?
Charlie Ragle: “Yeah, I think that’s fair. We’ll get the defensive coordinator here and see how the staff comes together. And then whatever they need me to do, obviously, I’m going to do.”
(Note this interview was recorded on November 30th)
DevilsDigest: It looks like it’s a virtual no-brainer that this Arizona State staff should do very well in recruiting Maricopa County. Yet, recruiting your backyard is never an easy task, no matter how many local connections you have. What are some of the opportunities, as well as some of the challenges you think await you and the other ASU coaches as you try to clean up as much as you can here in the valley?
Charlie Ragle: “Well, I think first, Hod, you got to talk about the NIL. You can’t talk about recruiting without that anymore. That’s where the game is going. And if we’re going to attract elite level players, regardless of whether it’s in-state or out-of-state, we have to be competitive in that realm. So that’s where it starts, and then from there, if we are competitive in that piece, I think it’s the relationships that we have here that have been developed over the last multiple decades that give us a distinct advantage over any other staff that they’ve had here. Whether it’s my relationships, whether it’s Shaun’s (Aguano’s), whether it’s Vince’s (Amey’s), or Kenny’s, that is the icing on the cake.
“We’re not magicians, but we have a passion for this place. We’re gonna recruit the heck out of it, and we have extensive relationships with guys. And based on all of those things, and then you had the NIL, if we can get that thing going, I think that we can have a ton of success here locally in Maricopa County and statewide.”
DevilsDigest: And for you personally, you were able to establish, I’m assuming, ties in Northern California, and maybe in Southern California as well as in the Northwest during your years at Cal. Therefore, that’s something you’re also looking to capitalize on and maybe balance that with recruiting the state of Arizona.
Charlie Ragle: “One thing people have to realize, if you really go look at my career, is that when I was at the University of Arizona in 2014, they gave me the state of Hawaii (to recruit), and we took out a kid out of there that Arizona State was on too in Michael Eletise. He had about 40 offers, and he was the number one recruit in Hawaii. I’ve recruited the state of Utah, have been like, as you mentioned, I’ve recruited California, but with Cal, you’re looking for a different type of kid in terms of academic prowess. I recruited Austin, Dallas, and Houston. I recruited in quite a bit of states aide from Arizona, especially out here in the Southwest and West Coast. Good recruiters can recruit. You just put them in where they need to be, and you go to work. So, wherever they need me to help them enhance the program and get this team going to where we want it to go, I’m a team guy; I’m all in to whatever we need to do.”
(Note this interview was recorded on November 30th prior to the recruiting contact period)
DevilsDigest: From the outside looking in, it just looks like the amount of energy in the building and maybe in the entire city of Tempe has just amped up overnight once Kenny Dillingham was announced as the head coach. Can you give ASU fans just a little taste of what the last few days have been like for you? It looks like someone like yourself is running on adrenaline. And maybe on just five hours of sleep. Would that be an accurate description?
Charlie Ragle: “Oh, that’s a real accurate description, and five hours (of sleep) might be generous. But I will tell you that tonight I’m gonna go get some dinner after I hang up this phone with you, and I’m gonna go sleep for about ten hours. I gotta recharge the batteries man.
“But it’s an exciting time. We believe in what we’re going to do. But when it comes to authenticity and being passionate, I tell people that passion is undefeated. Being authentic, it’s hard to fake that. And I think when anybody who talks to us, they feel the passion that we have for this university and this great city. When people see that, they’re able to connect, and that’s what is going to make this place special. I say this too, and you know this, we’ve been out here a long time. There are two teams that when they win at a high level, the valley loses its mind. It’s the Suns, and it’s the Sun Devils.
“Now, we can sit here and say the Phoenix has shifted towards more of a pro town, but I sit here, and I know that there’s a core base of Sun Devils and a core base of Suns fans, and when they win, it becomes electric. This is a special place and a special town when that happens. We haven’t done that here with Sun Devil football in a while, at a high level, and I think that that’s obviously what we’re going to get done, and I think when we do that, it’s just going to enhance this place to it to another level.”
Join your fellow Sun Devil fans on our premium message board, the Devils’ Huddle, run by the longest-tenured Sun Devil sports beat writer, to discuss this article and other ASU football, basketball, and recruiting topics. Not a member yet? Sign up today and get your daily fix of Sun Devil news!
