Safeties relishing freedom in a 'dangerous' scheme

A regular observer at spring practices would never guess Arizona State safety Montana Warren is a freshman when the defensive back group stands together on the sideline.

Warren signed with the Sun Devils in the early period, giving him the earliest possible chance to start practicing with the team. The newcomer from Marshall, TX, integrated quickly into the offseason strength and conditioning program and saw instant results. He is listed as a promising 6-foot-3 and 180 pounds and is on track to add even more weight to his frame over the summer.

“I gained like 10 to 12 pounds just in the winter offseason, just working out,” Warren said in an interview after Thursday’s practice. “Lifting every day. Eating. Getting the right nutrition. Sleeping right. I just started growing.”

Despite only having 11 college practices under his belt, Warren has gotten comfortable in defensive coordinator Brian Ward’s scheme while training his weaknesses. He has steadily risen on the depth chart and seen meaningful snaps in the 11-on-11 segments. Warren even recorded a pass breakup in the team’s last scrimmage while matched up one-on-one in the slot with no help over the top.

However, Warren said he expected to be solid in man coverage and is working to improve other disciplines of the position.

“In high school, because I was our best (defensive back), they would be like ‘Hey, just make sure he doesn’t catch the ball. See that receiver over there; make sure he doesn’t catch the ball,’” Warren said. “So when I came up here, they wanted to play more zone, and my zone coverage has improved a lot, like keeping my eyes in the right spot. My coaches tell me, ‘Eyes tell lies.’”

When Arizona State recruited Warren, his independent study of how the defensive backs played in Ward’s scheme at Washington State was an important factor in his decision.

“When I committed here after de-committing from TCU, I watched a lot of film on him last year — the defensive coordinator — because I wanted to know what type of defense we were running,” Warren said. “And when I saw it was Cover-3 (scheme), I felt like it was a good fit for me. I was like, ‘Okay, we can work something with that.’”

Warren said he does not plan on redshirting in his first year. The statement reflects Kenny Dillingham’s evaluation that the defensive back group is one of the strongest units on the roster. There is plenty of experience on the roster, including several transfers already pushing for credibility in the starting lineup. And with Warren’s impressive play, there aims to be a minimal dropoff in talent at each coverage position.

The freshman is also excited to explore a new place like Arizona and has already found a new favorite lunch spot in Ike’s Sandwiches.

“To be honest, I didn’t really feel like staying in Texas,” Warren said. “I’ve been in Texas my whole life. Everybody knows you can’t really go anywhere, mind your business, and just chill. I go to the movie theatres; somebody calls my grandma ‘Ay, Montana at the movie theatre!’ C’mon on, bro. So getting out here, seeing somewhere new, this is actually the only state I haven’t been to before. I went to every other state in America growing up, just traveling with my grandparents.”

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Xavion Alford and Shamari Simmons are two peas in a pod when the defense trots out on the field.

Alford transferred from USC after a lost season due to injury. Simmons was looking for an opportunity to showcase his skills at a higher level of football after leaving Austin Peay. Together, they are a fierce collective of intensity manning the back end of the defense. With only a quarter of the spring left on the agenda, both safeties are relishing the freedom and limitless responsibilities they enjoy playing football in Tempe.

“That’s the word, exotic,” Alford gushed. “Guys have to do everything. Us as safeties, have to blitz, play man, play zone, and get in the run fits. It’s really versatile, and it really shows a lot of different looks the offense is kinda confused by.

“I like the defense because it’s also aggressive. We’re playing very aggressive. We’re not sitting back and letting the offense do what they want. We’re kind of forcing them to do what we want them to do, really, so I feel like that scheme is dangerous to me. Especially with the players that we have, everybody bonding to the culture, the little things that he wants us to do… man, crazy.”

Simmons appreciates that the safeties are true generals of the defense at Arizona State, tasked with calling the shots and making life difficult for whoever is taking snaps from under center.

“Since I’ve learned it, I’m loving this defense because I feel like I’m involved in everything,” Simmons said. “Everything is based off me. The quarterback got to read me and stuff like that. I just feel very excited about this.”

On Thursday, the defense endured a new practice wrinkle put in place by Dillingham. They were forced to run 50 yards downfield and get lined up for the next snap in a reenactment of a big play scenario. Alford was a fan of the drill and sees the value of its translation to games this fall.

“The (practice) structure is like game structure,” Alford said. “Even though we at practice, it’s a game structure. In a game, there might be a big play like that where you gotta go get lined up. The offense does tempo off of big plays like that, especially in this league in the Pac-12.

“I thought that was a great drill just simulating what a big play is in a game. However many fans, you can’t really hear (them); just know it’s a big play, get lined up, play the next down, lock in, get your eyes to the sideline, and just execute on the next play. It’s really a next-play mentality. I feel like it’s big when it translates to those games.”

Simmons said he is playing faster now that he has a firmer understanding of the language of the defense, especially since his knowledge of the system at his previous school is not impeding his progress as much.

“The previous defense I came from was basically a Cover-4 scheme. Our terminology is the complete opposite. The first two-three days, really now, I still have some mistakes (thinking it’s Cover 4). I’m loving this scheme right now; I just know we’re going to have fun this year.”

Senior defensive back Willie Harts mentioned Ward would use interesting phrases like “playing in a phone booth” to convey technique. Alford has also picked up on the unique dialect and finds it easy to remember when playing in live-action stretches.

“I feel like it’s kind of in little riddles, so that’s easier to remember when you’re going full speed on the field,” Alford said. “Little coaching points that you can kind of hear like that voice in the back of your head. Just applying the meeting room to when you’re on the field and kind of doing it how he wants it, the little things right. Ultimately, that’s been able to help everybody in the defense play faster.”

The production speaks for itself. Simmons had an interception wiped away by a penalty in Tuesday’s practice. However, he snatched one right back from the offense in the 7-on-7 period with a fast cut across the back of the end zone.

“The quarterback be talking to us like ‘man, y’all disguise be really messing us up,’” Simmons said. “I was like yeah, because we’re starting to click in our chemistry and starting to learn what the defense is doing and what the weaknesses are.”

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