Q&A with Tony White
ASU’s new cornerbacks coach sees an ample amount of talent on this Sun Devil squad but is seeking a more consistent contribution from this unit starting with the performance in next month’s spring practice. We sat down with Tony White to discuss the spring additions to the cornerbacks group, how this unit will be impacted by the 3-3-5 scheme and his personal transition from San Diego State to Arizona State.
Devils Digest: Compared to most other staff members, you are in a unique position where the newcomers in your group were already in place prior to hire and are actually already enrolled in school. Can you speak to their skill set starting with Terin Adams?
White: “Terin we knew a little bit more just because we had recruited him at my previous school (San Diego State) as well. He was a guy who, number one has really good size for a corner. You are talking about legit 5-11, 6-0, can be a 190 – 195 (pound) guy. Quick twitch athlete. Used to being put in situations where he is by himself on an island. The mentality is right. Really excited about him at my previous school and when we got here and he signed here, it was pretty cool we get a chance to work together.
Devils Digest: And obviously has great football genes from his dad (former NFL defensive lineman Sam Adams), even though he played a totally different position...
White: “Totally different position (laughs) but the genes are there. He’s good.”
Devils Digest: What does Dom Harrison bring to the table?
White: “Dom was a guy who we didn’t recruit at my previous school and then when we got here they said they had recruited him so I got a chance to watch his highlights and the first thing I noticed about him is he’s able to find the ball. You think that most DBs would be able to naturally do that but it seems like it’s a harder thing to do than to talk about because there’s not very many DBs who can put themselves in position to find and play the ball. That’s the first thing I noticed with Dom.
“Both those guys have been here working out. They like that they are adjusted from the JUCO to Division I level but both of them have good skill sets, both of them have good size so it will be interesting to see how they develop and how they acclimate to the way we do things.”
Devils Digest: Every NFL team, let alone college programs, seek out that 6-feet or taller cornerback. What is your philosophy on how tall a cornerback should be?
White:” The crazy thing is, whenever you are talking about size and length and all that stuff, that is a given. Every football coach in America is trying to find the tallest, fastest football player they can get. In reality, some of the best guys I’ve ever coached were those (current ASU player) Kobe Williams-type guys, the 5-10-ish, really quick twitch, really smart, really technical guys.
“My deal with the defensive backs and all is we should be the best athletes on the field. When I put on a tape and watch a guy, you talk about playing corner, you talk about guys like Deion Sanders, Darrell Revis, Chris Harris. You are talking about some of the elite defensive backs in the NFL and the first thing you’ve got to understand is you are going up against other elite athletes. In high school especially, you should be the best athlete on the field.
“You should be the best wide receiver on offense when we watch your offensive tape, but when you are the best defensive back…you should almost have no defensive film because the other team doesn’t throw your way. If you’re a defensive back with a whole bunch of film in high school, I’m not recruiting him. But he should also be the return guy so usually, I really do keep an eye on those guys that are legit 5-10-ish, 5-11-ish, quick twitch and if they are the best athlete on the field they will make up for the one or two inches in height or weight.”
Devils Digest: Is newcomer Brandon Aiyuk who arrives in the summer, and who played wide receiver in junior college a true cornerback?
White: “He’s an athlete. We are going to figure out after spring ball how that goes depending on depth and all that stuff. Again, first thing you do when you watch the film, he is the best athlete on the field. You put him at slot receiver and he’s taking hitch screens and he’s making dudes miss and he’s exploding by them and then you watch him on his return game and he is a guy who catches the ball and he diagnoses the field well and makes quick decisions. Those are all traits of a good defensive back/good slot. So we are going to wait and see and let the guys play it out and go through spring ball and find out where he is going to help the team the most.”
Devils Digest: Based on last year’s film, what is your overall impression of ASU defensive backfield?
White: “Lots of talent. I think that is just on the roster, in general, there is a lot of talent here and for whatever reason, it didn’t just come together on a consistent basis. You were able to see when we watched film as a staff you see games like Oregon and Washington, the guys are playing hard and they seem motivated and they are able to execute and they go and win. Other games, it just seems like they’re not motivated or for some reason, they’re just not firing on all cylinders and losing to teams they should beat.
“First thing we notice is there is a lot of potential here and then the second thing is the guys want to be good. You can tell by when they’re coaching each other and policing each other you are seeing guys like Manny Wilkins and those guys taking charge and really saying, ‘Hey man, let’s go.’ They know and they feel it. It’s cool to see because I had no idea what to expect but the pieces are there.”
Devils Digest: Chase Lucas was the only underclassman last year to make the All-Pac 12 team and did so in his first year ever playing cornerback. How impressed have you been with his skills?
White: “He’s one of those guys where again, same thing, in high school, just the best athlete on the field and his first year playing corner and all of a sudden now he has the skill set and the makings of being an elite corner. One, he is going to come to me making sure I help him also, put him in position to make those plays. He’s new to the position, so the little nuances of the game, cleaning up technique issues, little things like that can really help him. But you are talking about a guy who transitions over and just because he was the best athlete on the field he was able to go out there and do what he did being a youngster. That’s pretty impressive.”
Devils Digest: What advantage did you gain from being able to coach against ASU last September?
White: “It’s definitely an advantage because you are seeing both sides. With anything you do in an evaluation, the more perspective you can get the better judgment you can make. So seeing it from one side where you are coming in and you are having these thoughts of what you’re lining up against and then having seen the outcome, now being here and looking back.
“One thing as a staff when we came in here, we were watching some of the old practices, some of the things they were allowed to do and we get a better understanding of why they were able to go out there and beat Oregon and Washington yet go out and lose to teams they shouldn’t have lost to. We see that and we don’t hold that against the young men because it all starts with the coaching and with us doing our part first so it’s a unique perspective we’ve come in and seen.”
Devils Digest: What in your opinion must be addressed first with the cornerbacks?
White: “I’m a firm believer that you play the game the way you practice. The couple practices I watched (from last season) were not indicative of the way you want those guys to go out there and play. Coach (Herm) Edwards has already made it known that he is a firm believer in that too. You are going to go out there and the things you do naturally in practice are the things you are going to do in a game so he wants us to be on the guys and it’s not about degrading or screaming and stuff like that. It’s more making sure they understand this is their brand and there is a certain expectation they are going to live up to.”
Devils Digest: That effort Herm Edwards demands must really resonate even more with your group since he was a defensive back himself?
White: “Oh yeah, he is looking at the defensive backs real close. Everything, he’s looking. Now when he was sitting in everybody’s meeting room, he was analyzing the defensive backs right away.”
Devils Digest: What impact does the 3-3-5 scheme have on the cornerbacks?
White: “A lot of the game nowadays, you are playing sub (substitution schemes) anyway. Us being in a 3-3-5 gives us the versatility up front to do whatever we want but not lose coverage, meaning you should never be mismatched on coverage. You should always have speed guys on speed guys, big guys on big guys.
“Also, when you run the 3-3-5, when you have limited time with them, you are thinking about practice, you are thinking about reps, you’re thinking about all those things. It makes no sense to be in sub the majority of the game and run five DBs, but when you go in practice you’re in a base 3-4 or 4-3 and you are practicing a guy who naturally is not going to play the majority of the game most of the time. By us doing this, we think it gives us the best chance in terms of making guys practice exactly what they are going to see, the best guy being on the field.
“In terms of the corners, it’s no different. We never have to sub, we are never going to have a guy in there doing one thing and then sub in a guy to do something else. The best guy is going to play and they are going to practice that throughout the entire week. It gives them a chance to practice what they are going to see that way we can correct the stuff in practice so that way in a game hopefully they go out there and perform.”
Devils Digest: Does this scheme put cornerbacks on more often or less on an island?
White: “Really, it all depends. I just got done telling the guys this. In every defense in the country, a corner is essentially doing three things only. He’s either playing cover-2, playing cover-3 or he’s in man-to-man. Essentially that is every corner in the country. I don’t think we do anything outrageous or put them out on an island more so.
“I just think it’s more a nature of if you want to be aggressive or not. Naturally, coach Edwards, his personality, coach (Gonzalez), his personality and where we’ve been from, naturally we have been an aggressive defense. We want to dictate to the offense what is going on. Obviously, with all the great defenses that have been here with coach Kush and others, they have been very aggressive. So we are going to come in with the mindset. Obviously, great coaches are going to be able to adjust and see. I remember a couple games where we were blitzing them and it wasn’t working so we ended up playing coverage and they couldn’t throw the ball and we are getting more sacks playing coverage than blitzing. You have to give the offense some kind of credit, but we don’t do anything no other defense doesn’t. The game will dictate whether we are more aggressive or whether we don’t have to be.”
Devils Digest: Why in your opinion we don’t see more teams play more often with five defensive backs in such a pass-heavy league such as the Pac-12?
White: “I think we have, I just think that when people say 3-3-5 – that’s a personnel that we start off with, a base package that we start off with. We were watching film today and you look at Oregon and stuff, a lot of those guys play sub packages anyway. They say ‘nickel’, whether their nickel is a 4-2-5 or a 3-3-5, a lot of teams are doing the same things.
“Our base is just naturally, personnel-wise, body type-wise, a 3-3-5. But a lot of the defenses are exactly the same. We are running overs, we are running unders, we are running overloads, we are running boundary blitzes, a lot of the same stuff everybody else is. I think you get a team like Oregon, where their base is 3-4 and you say ‘nickel’ well, they have nickel packages where they are 4-2-5 or 3-3-5. I think we are all pretty much the same.”
Devils Digest: Is cornerback a more thankless job in the Pac-12 than in other conferences?
White: “I think with the amount you throw the ball around, the athletes and the speed of it…I wouldn’t say thankless but that they notice when you mess up. They’ll notice when you mess up real quick. I told the guys earlier, a defensive end going the wrong way a casual fan doesn’t know. A linebacker filling the wrong gap, a casual fan wouldn’t know. 1.2 million people watching the game will know in a heartbeat if you gave up a touchdown play, whether you did or not, they’ll blame you. That goes back to being consistently really good and just the mindset of being out there.”
Devils Digest: How do the cornerbacks’ responsibilities change depending on the opponent?
White: “This is a personal thing because my natural feel is in the front, I played in the front, I played linebacker and then my first years I coached in the front. When I moved back to defensive back, I always kind of kept that with me and one thing I pride myself and my position group is being physical and being active in the run game.
“That’s one thing that I think separates good defenses from great defenses is that the defensive backs are active in the run game. We’re going to be aggressive and we’re going to be physical and we’re going to be much more active where the expectation is they are going to be much more active because we are supposed to be the best athletes on the field so therefore that expectation is to be there in the pass game and the run game.”
Devils Digest: How has your transition been from SDSU to ASU?
White: “I got recruited out of El Paso, Texas. So it’s funny because this region is a mix. It’s like being in SoCal, not quite as fast but you still got all the luxuries: the city life, downtown, all the NFL, NBA, all those kind of things, Scottsdale. So it’s really cool but there’s not as much traffic – I say that I’m finding that out – and it’s not as expensive as SoCal.
“The transition has been really cool. The thing that has made it really cool too is this place (ASU) has a feel and very professional, very accommodating from Ray Anderson to coach Edwards to everyone in the office. There is a professional feel around here. Coach says it’s the model and the NFL; it really is like that. People expect you to come in here and get stuff done. They also give you the resources to get stuff done so it was eye-opening to see.”
Devils Digest: How do you feel the New Leadership Model impacts your day-to-day job?
White: “No. 1: there are a lot more people in the office than in my previous spot. You’re not bogged down with the little nuances of coaching, so to speak. You can really focus No. 1 on the X’s and O’s: what is going to put the guys in the best position to make plays. No. 2, which is the lifeblood: recruiting. We can really – between Donnie (Yantis), between Al Luginbill and obviously with coach Edwards’ backing and directives, the way we are looking at recruiting around here is different than where I’ve been, all the places I’ve been.
“It’s really allowing us to focus and hone in on, you’re not spending 20 minutes doing something, you are spending 10 minutes doing something and you are getting done more efficiently in that shorter time. It’s very cool to see and I think with that you are going to be able to see the results pretty quick.”
Devils Digest: How quickly is this new staff meshing together?
White: “I’m a firm believer that everything starts with the head man. The way the head man comes across is the way that trickles down and everyone here has been very professional. Everyone here is not about egos, they are more about production. That all starts with coach Edwards. His whole background has been in the NFL and those guys are, ‘I’m going to trust you to do your job. So do your job. Period. Whatever resources you need, we’ll get you, but in the end, that means you do your job.’
“So everyone has that mindset and everyone has been pretty cool and it’s cool when everyone is seeing things the same way. That directive comes from the head coach, everyone sees it, he has his message. Our job as assistants is to implement his message and directives. Everyone has been on the same page and that’s been cool to see.”
Devils Digest: What is on your spring practice to-do list?
White: “No. 1: You have to set an expectation. By that meaning, it is easy to talk but players know if you are holding them accountable. Some of the things I saw on film, maybe it was talked to about in meeting but it was not implemented on the field. The expectation was not met, it might have been set but it was not met. That’s number one, make sure that what we say, how we say it and hear it, is implemented on the practice field.
“No. 2: We have to teach these guys the right way, in the sense of number one, schematic-wise, how to be in a position to make plays – I’m going to always say that, you are going to hear me say that. But two also to be confident in what they do. There are some pretty damn good athletes here, some really good football players. They got to walk around like that, they’ve got to know they are good football players. They have got to know they know what is going on. They have got to know how to do it and then you have to cut them loose. That’s a process in itself as well, that is probably the second thing, that these guys know they are some good football players and they got to act like it, they got to be about it.
“No. 3: Be consistent. Football, you are going to have ups and downs but usually my guys I want them to be consistently good. I don’t want to see flashes from guys being able to make plays and be elite and then all of a sudden they are giving up 3 and 4 touchdown passes. That is not it. You need to set a level of consistency for the guys to follow.”
Note: Jack Harris contributed to this article
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