ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham brought in defensive line coach Diron Reynolds this year, an individual with an extensive resume in both the NFL and college levels. His vast experience has benefited the Sun Devil defensive line, spearheading a vastly improved Arizona State defense. And it’s not only the skills and technique that Reynolds has been impressed with during August practices.
“I’m seeing guys starting to take ownership of what we’re trying to do,” Reynolds said. “They’re communicating better on the field and holding each other accountable. That’s what it’s going to take to be the team that we want to be. Everybody’s got to trust the man next to them and the next man coming in. Everybody’s got to be at a high level.”
Throughout fall camp, the offensive and defensive lines have naturally gone back and forth during the trenches’ battles, and at times, whichever group wins the day watches on as the other group culminate practice with up-downs. While the opposing groups poke fun at each other while keeping the intensity and competition at a high level, Reynolds believes it brings out the best in everyone involved.
“We know we challenge each other,” Reynolds recognized. “Each group will be on each other’s head when they mess up, but they’re just calling each other up, not out. They want everybody to hold each other to a high standard.”
With Wyoming's playing style this Saturday and the Big 12 foes later in the schedule, the front four, especially in the run-stop department, will be greatly tested every weekend. Reynolds and his players are confident in their capabilities and believe his group’s play shouldn't reflect their desire to prove critics wrong but rather just perform up to their potential and exhibit the level of play they have been displaying for weeks now.
“We match up well versus Wyoming,” Reynolds noted. “It’s going to be a challenge against the run, and they do a good job up front. Those guys are well-coached, and they’re tied on a string up front. We have nothing to prove to anybody but ourselves. We need to get on the field, do what we do, and the outcome will be what it needs to be.”
Prior to his stop in Tempe, Reynolds coached at Michigan State for a brief year in 2023, where ASU's starting quarterback, Sam Leavitt, played four games for the Spartans. Reynolds saw the signal caller’s play up close and personal all last year in practices and is confident in his quarterback’s aptitude to be a leader for the Sun Devils. His quickness provides a challenge for the defense, especially for the line that rushes him every snap.
“I was excited to have Sam here,” Reynolds admitted. “He has a heck of an arm and good escapability, and I can’t wait to see how he leads us. The defensive line hates an elusive quarterback, but that’s the day and age of quarterback we see today. Everybody is looking to have a mobile quarterback on their team.”
From the start of fall camp, the defensive linemen have preached how much of a mentor Reynolds is to them on and off the field. Having a coach who truly wants the best for their players in every aspect of their lives is incredibly beneficial and enhances their maturity and disposition. For Reynolds, that’s just one more task that comes with his job description.
“This is more than a game for me,” Reynolds expressed. “It can’t just be a game for them; you want them to have some life experiences that they can take into the workplace and take to their homes later on in life. We put them in a lot of situations to challenge them as people and players to be able to step up and do the things they need to do. We’re going to continue to do that just to get them where they need to be in life after all of this.”
For the first time in college football, the coaches will be able to communicate with the players on the field with built-in speakers in quarterbacks' and middle linebackers' helmets. This has been a staple of the NFL for some time, a little after Reynolds’ tenure at the professional level. Additionally, coaches will have Microsoft Surfaces devices on the sideline to view previous plays during a game, something that Reynolds is excited to use.
“It’s going to be interesting,” Reynolds commented. “You have video on the sideline now, and you can see what happens and correct it faster. I think that’s going to be an advantage for both sides, and I’m looking forward to having that. It wasn't there when I was in the NFL, and we just had to use pictures and flip pages. Using video this year is going to be outstanding.”
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With a position room deep in largely young and unproven talent, cornerbacks’ coach Bryan Carrington is anxious to see the results of their preparedness following fall camp. The progression Carrington has seen through fall camp is something he hopes to establish as a foundation rock for the 2024 season.
“We’re a scrappy unit,” Carrington remarked. “We’ve had a really good fall camp, and we’re excited to play against another opponent. Being coaches in college football, some of the joy we have is being a fly on the wall and just seeing these relationships cultivate. You see guys become best friends and be tied at the hip, and that’s great to see.”
Carrington certainly has some history in the Big 12 conference. He coached at TCU two seasons ago and at Texas from 2017-2020, and he began his career in his hometown of Houston in 2015. His familiarity with the schemes teams run in the conference is something he can use to his advantage to help the group settle into games and game plans faster.
“I’m excited not only to play familiar teams in the future but for the experience of our players to go into that league,” Carrington proclaimed. “It’s a great league with a lot of great atmospheres we’re going to walk into on the road, and I'm looking forward to it. Some teams have certain identities of what they stay true to, but it’s going to be a league with a lot of parity.”
Carrington has been a highly successful recruiter for Arizona State when it comes to prospects out of Texas. ASU's cornerbacks’ coach, in turn, praised Dillingham's abilities as a recruiter, highlighting his boss’ ability to put the finishing touches in the recruitment process.
“He’s a head coach that can close,” Carrington stated. “He has a lot of enthusiasm and likes to take the baton. He's super zealous and passionate about recruiting and has created a lot of initiative for me and a lot of zeal when advocating for the program so that when you come to campus, you know you can reach out to him. He’s someone that you can get to know as more than just a football coach.”
As individuals who have coached in their hometowns, Dillingham and Carrington share that bond. Ever since his first day on the job, Dillingham has advocated for the culture he wants to build in Tempe, and Carrington has noticed Dillingham’s dedication to his alma mater and the community.
“This is home for him, and it’s his dream job,” Carrington said. “He got his first start coaching football at this school, so to come full circle and be here is amazing for him. You see that on a day-to-day basis, that this is his baby and pride and joy. Every day, you see a guy that comes to work, excited for the position he’s in, and we love that as coaches, and the players gravitate toward that as well.”
The different archetypes of the ASU receivers have provided a healthy challenge for Carrington’s unit, as they could face up against a speedy deep-route receiver one play and a technician the next. The various matchups allow Carrington to cover nearly every base priming for the competition they’ll face this year.
“It’s great to go against those guys,” Carrington remarked. “Coach (Hines) Ward, in so little time, has developed our wide receivers tremendously where we see it on film with so many different receivers to go against. He’s got a lot of variety in that room, and it helps us when we go through one-on-one, we get to compete against these guys because we’ve had a little while to scout and evaluate them.”
Claiming that the ASU cornerbacks are the biggest question mark on the defense is partially rooted in the fact that every other position group on this side of the ball has performed at a very high level in camp, as well as being a testament to the rawness of the cornerbacks as a whole. Carrington would like his group to be greatly driven to showcase that they can complement their highly talented teammates.
“On paper, we’re a young team,” Carrington admitted. “We have a few experienced players in our secondary, but not a lot. We have to go into Saturdays with a chip on our shoulder like we have something to prove. We’ve got to put a product on the field that resembles who we want to be as players. And I always tell those guys, at the end of the day, it's all about Saturdays, it's all about production in between the lines, and what will the film say about you come Saturday.”
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