The image of a large screw in the bone of a foot isn’t one many would want to imagine. For graduate transfer Cade Cote, it’s considered bulletin-board material, and the x-ray is his Twitter header picture.
Worth mentioning: the foot is his.
At the start of the 2019 season, Cote was the expected starting center, after playing in six games the previous year as a redshirt junior; and two combined games in the two years prior. The graduate of Williams Field High School in Gilbert had finally caught his big break with a starting role.
Then, four days before the season opener against Kent State, Cote broke his foot in practice and would not see action until the final three games of the season.
When asked about his Twitter header, Cote said that “It’s something I see every day that reminds me of how fragile football can be and how quickly it can be taken away from you.”
Cade Cote is but one name that some Sun Devil fans may not recognize from last year. Graduate transfers Kellen Diesch and Henry Hattis have spent their college careers at Texas A&M and Stanford, respectively, until now. The two will join Cote on the offensive line, meaning that three of the five spots on the line are players who have not seen starting action for the Sun Devils in the past.
The other two men in the trench will likely be sophomores LaDarius Henderson and Dohnovan West. Both were introduced to college football in a “trial by fire” method, whether intentional or not. The two rose to the challenge: West was one of 20 true freshmen offensive linemen in the FBS system to start each game of the 2019 season. Henderson, who was 17 at the start of the year, claimed the starting left tackle role for the Michigan State rematch in East Lansing. From there, he guarded Jayden Daniels’ blindside at left tackle for nine-straight games.
“That’s one of the advantages I have over some of the other linemen in our conference: quick feet,” West said Monday. “In the zone schemes, I can get to my spots before they’re there; and the additional weight helps with my bullrush,” West said he played most of last year in the 270-280lbs. range and is now weighing between 295 and 300lbs. “I have more of a presence out there,” he added.
Henderson and West are now considered veterans, even by an offensive line room now influenced by fifth and sixth-year graduate students.
“I’ve definitely had challenges [during the COVID-19 pandemic], but I think everyone else has had challenges too,” Hattis said. “There’s no room to complain or look for excuses.”
Hattis transferred from Stanford to Arizona State this offseason and could not join the team for the limited number of spring practices. He started the first six games of the season for Stanford last fall before an injury would cut the rest of his season short. The previous year, as a junior, Hattis played in all 13 games as a backup lineman and on special teams.
The offensive line room already has college degrees from two of its players, Diesch and Hattis. But in a tightly knit room full of veterans, there’s still one clear leader: Cade Cote.
“[They call me] ‘Old man’… I’m in the leadership group, so Dohnovan West likes to call me ‘Captain Cade Cote,’ ‘Metal Foot,’” Cote said of the nicknames he’s been given. As a sixth-year senior with the possibility of being granted a seventh year by the NCAA after this season, Cote knows that this could be his last hurrah and is treating it as such. The leader was critical of the team’s line last year but hopeful for this year:
“Last year, we had a chance to be a great offensive line. We still were a good line, but we struggled a little bit because guys got hurt and had to move around,” Cote said. “I think this year, we have a good shot at coming into the season with a steady set of five.”
Offensive line coach Dave Christensen said that Kellen Diesch (LT), Dohnovan West (LG), Cade Cote (C), and Henry Hattis (RG) have all solidified their starting spot. “We’re still looking for a fifth guy, and there’s plenty of names in the competition,” Christensen said.
The competition seems to be between LaDarius Henderson and redshirt freshman Ben Scott, with room for redshirt sophomore Spencer Lovell to compete when he is back, “in the next week or so,” Christensen told media on Monday.
“We’re really waiting for one to play at a higher level than the other on a consistent basis,” he added. “Until one establishes that, we’ll keep the competition open.”
There is no clear, outlined path to success in football or in life. Each of ASU’s four named starting offensive linemen have had their own trials and tribulations, with challenges taking on different forms. Last year, the offensive line was plagued with injuries, and the team still surpassed expectations.
To quote Kellen Diesch: “We’ll have to wait and see.”
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