Communication between a prospect and a coach is key in a recruiting process, but seeing how a coach candidly communicates with his players is also significant for a recruit trying to gain as much information as possible for a school he is visiting. This is one of many features that resonated quite a bit with Perris, Calif. ATH Sire Gains during his time in Tempe.
“What stood out to me was how real the culture was,” Gains said of his Arizona State official visit. “There's nothing I don't like about Arizona State. I loved everything about it. Coach Dillingham is a player’s coach. When I first got there, he didn’t see me, and he was playing shadowbox with his players. It’s not a team where the players will be by themselves, and then the coaches are by themselves. No, he’s gonna be with his players because he loves being with his players. Everything he does is surrounding his players, because at the end of the day, to have a good team, the players have to feel that they have trust with their head coach and they can go to him if they need anything."
The good vibes that Gains, who is being recruited as a linebacker, has towards the Sun Devils are also due to his relationship with ASU’s linebackers coach, AJ Cooper, and how he presented himself as a potential future position coach.
“All coaches there keep it real, especially Coach Cooper,” Gains remarked. “He showed me that I can possibly become, if God blessed me, an NFL linebacker. He pulled up film, and he showed me the details of the defense that they were playing. If I went there, I’d be doing the same things without even noticing that I’m doing now in my high school defense. It’s just now I will be better at it because I’m practicing it 200 times. They showed me that I will be running the same plays like Fred Warner from the 49ers, and he’s the No. 1 linebacker in the NFL.
“Coach Cooper thinks I have a good size for a linebacker and said that I have the speed to play linebacker in their system. He wants smart, fast, and physical linebackers, and that’s what he sees me as, coming in and doing some damage. Obviously, I have to develop in weight and strength and stuff. He doesn’t want a 240 or 250-pound linebacker. He wants a linebacker that can move, and he saw that I ran a 10.9 in the 100 meters last season. He has high hopes for sure.”
In his junior year, Gains recorded averaged 9.6 yards on 884 yards rushing, scoring 16 touchdowns, as well as hauling in 49 receptions for 820 yards and nine scores. On defense, he tallied 27 tackles, five tackles-for-loss three sacks, and an interception.
It wasn’t only important for the Orange Vista High School standout to have strong and positive interaction with the ASU coaches, but he wanted the same level of communication with the players he met with during the visit. According to Gains, that experience did certainly deliver.
“(ASU linebacker) Tra Brown, that’s my guy there,” Gains said of his host player. “We both come from the same area in California, the IE (Inland Empire). He told me that he followed the defensive coordinator (Brian Ward) and Coach Cooper to Arizona State from Washington State; he had the option to go to USC, which is a big time school, and really the hometown school for us. He could have gone to Texas A&M. But he chose Arizona State over all those schools because of the relationship that he had with the coaches.
“He told me Coach Cooper treats him like a son like Coach Cooper. Coach Cooper is a player’s coach, and he’s a development coach. He’s not just worried about football, football, football. He had a presentation on the visit about being a great husband, being a great man, and getting a degree. It was talking about all of these things first, and the NFL was last. Everybody wants to go to the NFL, but how are you gonna get there? He talked about all of those steps to get there. That’s his mindset. It’s talking about the discipline, the accountability, all the steps to get there to the NFL.”
Gains said he learned both from his host and the Sun Devils staff how the day is structured for an ASU football player, with the overlying goal of being as effective as possible in utilizing your time with the various activities that constitute your daily routine.
“I loved the academic presentation,” Gains noted. “Especially learning about the Kinesiology program. That’s the program I really want to major in, and they have a good Kinesiology program. And then they got a lot of academic coaches who will help you out. You can go to anybody for help and guidance with your schoolwork. But at the same time, it’s up to you to take care of your business.
“Coach Dillingham talked about how your schedule gives you enough time for your football and also having time for your schoolwork and having time for yourself. So you have a busy schedule, but you also have time to be a regular college student. And that’s not just what the coaches nor other people told us; that’s what the players told us. I hung out with the quarterback Jaden Rashada, and he told me how Coach Dillingham looks out for his players, and he looked out for him like no other coach would. He said that’s the only reason why he came there because of the culture, and Coach Dillingham giving him the vision that he had for the program. Now, all Jaden wants to do is help build the program by bringing in the right people. This was my first time talking to him, and he was talking to me like I was part of the team. He was talking to me like I was his little brother, and that’s real stuff. Some coaches might act fake because they’re recruiting you, but at the end of the day, players aren’t gonna be fake and will act the same, no matter what.”
San Diego State, Washington, and Washington State were the schools Gains visited before Arizona State, and he will end his official visit schedule with trips to Boise State and San Jose State ahead of an anticipated July 29th decision date.
“I’m working on working right now to graduate early to come in the Spring,” Gains stated. “Getting to college early would be my advantage. When I choose my school, it’s going to be about the head coach. It’s not even about the head coach telling me how good I can be. It’s about how great I get along with the head coaches and what players say about the head coach behind their backs. That’s what it’s all about.”
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