Here is what Arizona State head coach Herm Edwards said Wednesday after the Sun Devils’ first of 15 spring ball practices. Edwards discussed the general emotion of returning to practice, expectations for his team, ASU’s offensive line situation and the growth of sophomore quarterback Jayden Daniels on and off the field.
Opening statement:
“It was one of those practices I think is similar to the first day of school. Everyone is excited about being there. Some of the media folks that were invited were excited as well. We were all excited about participating in football again. This month is kind of interesting. I believe on the seventh of March (2020), we shut [spring football] down (due to the COVID-19 pandemic). It was fun to go and just go to practice football. I thought for the most part kids were excited about it, us coaches were excited about it. There’s a lot of work to do as you know. Forty-four new participants in spring ball for us. Six of those are coaches and the rest of them are players that were not here or that came late in the summer, they didn’t participate in spring football. That was kind of interesting to watch. I thought it was a good first day with a lot of energy and the competition is good. That’s a good thing.”
On the expectations for ASU’s run game after it was one of the most productive in the nation in 2020:
“We always have to have balance in our offense. We had no idea last year how the young running back crew was going to perform and it was beyond anyone’s expectations for a bunch of guys that had never played in the Pac-12 to do what they accomplished in four games. We need to build on that, obviously. I think we have a good group of runners. It’s kind of fun to watch them compete, very competitive group.”
On his thoughts on where the world is at with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic and how it affected Pac-12 football in the last year:
“Well it’s the uncertainty of it all and obviously our conference had a lot of that. Trying to navigate when we were going to start, then we decided to start two or three times, the schedules changed it seemed like every other week. Then we finally got started and we were all excited then we got postponed, our football team along with some others in our conference. We ended up with four football games. That was something to deal with. For the most part, I think we’re at a place now that we’re familiar with what it takes to try to keep each other safe. Is the virus still here? Yeah. But I look at us right now, not only in Arizona but just as a country, and I watch people, it’s kind of interesting. It’s kind of interesting how a year has kind of set in and some people have just said, ‘Man, I can’t do it anymore.’ I think we’re all excited for the most part with the vaccine. I’ve gotten both of my shots. I’m excited about that.
“Going forward we still have to be careful. We still have to respect each other.”
On which players were particularly excited about getting back out to practice:
“I think some of the guys that have been here for three or four years. I think they see some potential in this football team. They’re excited. I’m excited as well. You think about this class of guys that came back, they played a lot of football. They’ve got a lot of experience. Now what we got to do is we got to make sure we put them in a position to make sure they can play well. They have experience. I think that helps. They’ve taken a lead on really helping the young guys which is fun to watch. The older guys are helping the young guys. That’s been fun for me to see.”
On ASU’s receiver competition:
“It’s going to be fun. For the guys that were able to play last year, I think they gained a lot fo experience. We got a couple other ones too now that are kind of interesting. It’s amazing that a calendar year goes by and some of the guys that weren’t able to play last year, just how they walk on the field now and how they compete. I look at (freshman wide receiver Elijhah) Badger, I look at (freshman wide receiver) Chad Johnson jr. They’re different. They just have a different mindset. They walk on the field with more confidence. They got some talent, there’s no doubt about that. It just pops out on the screen when you watch them.”
On whether or not junior defensive end Tyler Johnson (knee) and redshirt freshman defensive tackle Stephon Wright (shoulder) are the only players out for spring ball and the overall health of the team:
“You mentioned the two guys that are out (Johnson and Wright) but the rest of the guys are pretty much healthy and ready to go. That’s a good thing. I think there’s 106 total players right now on the roster. That’s a lot of guys and that’s counting walk-ons and things of that nature. For the most part, everybody’s participating which is a good thing. I’ve never been in a situation where we actually have three-deep here. We got three-deep now. We got a third team that can go in there. Like a whole team on both sides of the ball. That’s interesting because that had never taken place since I’ve been here.”
On what it says about the program that so many players have elected to return:
“Well, it says a lot about the coaches who are coaching, really. And that they trust the men that are in their lives. And there's a lot of conversations with some of them that thought about maybe entering the draft. I mean, potentially, you look at this football team — if some guys do what they anticipate doing, there's some guys here that will have an opportunity to get a chance to play at the next level and we preach that. I think this can be one of the bigger classes since I've been here that have a chance to move on. I'm not gonna mention who they are and put pressure on players. I think you guys know who they are. But it's a handful of guys. It's more than two or three, you know. So that's kind of — it makes it exciting.”
On how the defense has performed and whether it can take the burden off of the offense to consistently score 30 points:
“Yeah, that would be great. But I already told Zak, 'Hey, you gotta score.' College football, you have to score. I lived my whole life, whether I was playing in Philadelphia, and holding people to 10 points, 12 points, and in Tampa, and in New York, and in Kansas City. You gotta score. You just do. I think college football allows you to do that. Now, you have to have people in place that will help you do that. Quarterback can't do it alone. It's the skill people. It starts up front. When you have an offensive line that can protect the quarterback, but also run the ball, you have a chance to score points. And we gotta score. You want to be in the high — obviously, you wanna be in the high 30's. If you can get the 40, you've got a chance to win a lot of games. Now, I'm not saying that's the number. But if you look at the teams that score in that range, low 40's, right in there — I would never say that. It's hard for me even to convince myself to say it. But I look at some of those teams now in college football, that, quote, have these 'great players' on defense, and they're in games, and it's 50 to 35. And I'm like, 'oh, okay.' So I just think you gotta be able to score the ball.”
On what he’s emphasizing to prepare the passing game for a more successful season:
“Well, development of the young guys — again, if you look at our games, our first two games, we kind of passed it a little bit. Didn't do a good enough job of explosive plays. But then the last two games, we got a lead and we ran the ball. So that's kind of how — you know, you want to win the football game, you want to do it any way you can. But I do believe this: when you look at us play, I think the thing I stress always to offense is you have to have positive yards on first down. Because if you can stay ahead of the chains, you'll have the ability to have plays. And the more you have plays, the more you can get into your offense. And we've got people that can score the ball when they get it in their hand, whether it's the runners, or whether it's the receivers. So the key is, what do you do on first down? Can you move the ball? Can you get into second and five or less? And if you can do that, you're gonna get, you know, 10, 12 plays, and hopefully in between that you get an explosive play. And now you’ve got a chance to score points.”
On what Larry Fitzgerald means to Arizona as he considers whether or not to return for another season:
“Oh, he's part of the community, and his ability to really reach all members of this community — I mean, he's a beloved player. He's a Hall of Famer; there's no doubt about that. But I think what he does in the offseason — he's touched a lot of people in this community. He has made this his home. I can remember Larry when he was the ball boy with the Vikings, right? I go that far back. So, it's just fun to watch him. He's in an offense that — he can still play, if he elects to come back. I mean, he's not gonna play as much as he played before, but he's in a position where he can catch the ball in big moments, and he was able to do that again this year. So, you know, that's up to Larry. The hardest thing for those guys, when you get to where Larry's at right now, is to get yourself ready to play. It's not playing, but it's preparing to play. You know, and when you get older, that's tougher. And he's a professional, you know, one thing I know about Larry — if he's gonna play, he wants to play at a certain level. He doesn't want to watch yourself on tape being just a guy hanging around. I mean, he's not built that way. So it'll be interesting what decision he makes.”
On Dohnovan West starting out at center and expectations for Jayden Daniels this season:
“Well, we think (West’s) career – that he has a chance to play after this, and that's probably the position he's gonna play. He came in here as a freshman and started all since he's been here. Just felt like we needed his presence there. So he's starting there, and I think he'll do a fine job. Jayden — obviously, he's gotten bigger. Everybody always asks about that — he has. But more than that, he's become really a leader. It's taken time. You guys know Jayden, and he's not one of those guys that says a whole lot. But he's starting to lead. He's starting to lead the right way. It's funny, because I see him all the time. He's in my office every day. It's just the conversations we're having. I'm proud of him. What he's done in the offseason with the players, and now, first day of practice, you can just tell he's the guy. He's the quarterback, and everybody gets it. He's gonna say something to players when he has to say it, and they go on his lead. So that's fun to watch.”
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