Arizona State Sun Devils College Football Pregame Quote, 11/08/2021

Practice as normal this week, we are actually practicing tomorrow not tonight. I thought last week was a good change up due to the voting and players really embraced it but, we’re going back to our regular format. We will practice tomorrow, Wednesday, Thursday, and then leave Friday so that’s where we’re at. Hopefully we get some guys back, we had some guys get nicked up last week and there might be a few other guys on the mend so we will see where that’s at with Gerry (Garcia) tomorrow. We’re playing Washington, very good defense, they’re very strong. Offensively, they have some potential at the wide receiver positions and the tight end position. The quarterback is a big strong-armed guy, and they like running the football as well. They played Oregon really well, I thought they did a nice job, it came down to a couple possessions. They’re coached well and they play physical. They have a nice fan base up there, it’s very loud. I think I remember the first year we went up there it was very loud. It’s a nice stadium to play in, the crowd is on top of you, so we anticipate it to be a very physical game on both sides of the ball.

On what can be corrected in the passing game:

‚ÄúIt’s really just the connection between the receiver and the quarterback. There have been a lot of guys in and out of the lineup and that’s a little bit of the problem as well. There have been a few that have dropped, that you can clean up. There have been some that Jayden probably wishes he can take back as far as putting it in the window a little tighter. It’s a work in progress there’s no doubt about that but, we’ve seen what it could look like. I think UCLA was a good game where it all came together with our running game and our passing game. We still have an opportunity the next three weeks to clean that up before we go to a bowl which is kind of important as well. I think they know that on offense and that will be kind of interesting how it progresses the next couple of weeks.

On how hard it is to make adjustments when teams have interim coaches:

‚ÄúI think that the coaches decide what type of plan you want to present to the players but you still have the same players. Regardless, if you’ve called it or you haven’t called it, you’re always going to miss those guys because they’re familiar with the routine of how to call the game. I think whoever sits in the seat of having to do that, you have to realize that the players don’t change and you want to put them in the best position they can be in to be successful. I think that’s how I’ve always looked at it and how you have to look at it. One coach might do a couple things a little bit different but the systems in, you’re not going to change the system in a week, it’s too hard to do that. So, whoever is going to take over obviously will go about his business. I think the thing is that it’s all about the players, making sure the players can perform well.

On Jayden Daniels’ mechanics and getting him in a good rhythm:

‚ÄúI think rhythm but I also think using his legs and setting his feet better. Some of that has to do with the rush and being rushed in the pocket and he can’t step up, that has something to do with it. They’re all factors and I think any quarterback will tell you that the accuracy is having your legs and your arms attached together as one. Sometimes, when that’s not the case, you have to fall back and try to make a throw in a little window and you can be a little off. If you get in a rush and you can’t step up because the rush is about to hit you, that has something to do with it too. I think that you have to be quiet, your feet have to be quiet, where you can step into the throw and I think that’s probably the most important thing. Jayden’s played and Zak (Hill) has played quarterback so those are fixable things. That’s just technique and fundamentals and trusting it and not being in a hurry and getting your feet in rhythm with your arm and coming over the top and not so much dropping your elbow. If you drop your elbow you’re not as accurate. I’m not a quarterback coach but I’ve seen enough good ones and I’ve been around them to watch them. I know a little bit about them to be dangerous in that sense but I’m not trying to coach the quarterback. Obviously, I’ll have some suggestions on how it works.

On the importance of ASU’s legacy of honoring service members:

‚ÄúI think that’s part of the legacy of this place, obviously Pat Tillman brought a big image when it comes to that. I think it’s wonderful, I watched the NFL as well, and the NFL did the same thing. I understand it, I think it’s important, and as you guys know my father served two wars and anytime that occasion comes up in football, it’s always one that kind of reminds me of what I was taught from my dad and how important our freedoms are and that they’re not free. Anytime you can serve those folks and say hello…anytime I see them carrying the flags or whatever I b-line it at them and shake their hand and tell them thank you for coming. When I see service people at games that’s the first thing I do, I stop and make sure I shake their hand and tell them thank you for what you do. I think it’s important.

On Jayden Daniels chasing expectations:

‚ÄúThat’s part of it though and he’s a quarterback and he realizes it. I think the good thing is that he’s in a place where we realize what he’s dealing with. When expectations are put on you, that’s part of it. Every year it seems like expectations grow no matter who puts them on you. Sometimes, other people put expectations on people … that’s the part of being a quarterback and that’s the part of being a team. He can’t do it by himself and that’s the conversation I have to have with him, that he can’t do it alone. He understands, he’s a quarterback. He’ll get through it, he’ll be fine. We got some work to do and I think the thing is just getting familiar with the receivers. There have been so many guys in and out of the lineup, he’s just been missing guys and some guys can’t practice all week and then they play in the game. I’m not making excuses, it’s just a fact. I think we have to get it cleaned up, because it can help us. When we’re clicking and our passing game is going, it’s fun to watch because explosive plays are a part of football. It’s hard to methodically move down the field. Now, we have an explosive runner that has made some explosive plays for us and has helped us. But, that’s not always the case. It’s easier to fly to California than to drive. Throwing the ball is important, you have to get it in the air and you have to hit some of those things. I’ve done both and it’s actually easier to fly. The drive, especially when you have a puppy, you have to make more stops. When you’re on the plane it’s easier.

On Jayden’s leadership, and leadership from quarterbacks he’s been around:

‚ÄúThere’s certain moments where I think you have to speak up as a quarterback but they all are different … Vinny Testaverde was different than Chad Pennington, Joe Montana was a little bit different than Steve Young when Joe came to Kansas City. I’ve been around a few guys that I’ve watched. Trent Green was a little bit different than Damon Huard, one of the Huard guys, his son’s up at Washington. It’s kind of interesting, I’m that old, I used to watch the kids and now one of the Huard kids is up there and I’m like ‚Äòyou’ve got to be kidding me.’ So, they’re all different but they all have to have some leadership skills and they’re all different on how they go about doing it.

On the ups and downs of being a head coach:

‚ÄúTo feel the temperature of your team and the coaching staff, because you have to touch everybody and I find my way of trying to do that, it’s harder here because there’s so many players. In the NFL, there are not as many, now there’s more coaches in the NFL but you have to find a way to understand the temperature, how to read it correctly because you see it everyday, you feel it in the locker room, you feel it in the meetings, you feel it at practice. I have gotten a sense of the temperature and last week was a week of really trying to make sure we got it to where it was going to be, this is the temperature we need to have going on this field this week and it was felt. I think the coaches helped it and I think going forward we have to keep it that way and it is just some little things you got to say and do whether you change practice, how you go about meetings, how you present things to a team, there was a lot of presenting different ways to this team this week, there’s way to say ‚ÄòI have do this now’, so you get a feel for it and I think when you understand your players, it helps and that’s why I was saying, ‚Äòyour house is your house’ and you have to understand what it looks like, what it feels like and no one else knows that because they’re not here everyday and they’re not in the meeting room with the coaches and with the players. When you know what it is because you have a sense of it, you have to go about working your way through all of that.

On the defense’s performance against USC:

‚ÄúThey have played some decent games, I think the thing I liked the most about it was that it was a tight football game for both sides of the ball and we reacted pretty good defensively when some things that were presented to us due to the turnover, we put the flames out … put the fire out, don’t let that momentum all of a sudden that the team has right now don’t let it start fueling them, just put it out as fast as you can and I think they rose to the occasion for that, tackled pretty well, didn’t allow a bunch of big explosive plays which was good, they took the ball away a couple times but stopped the run and that was going into the game, that was what it was about, stop them from running the ball and it was fun to watch the whole team react. That was a 17-16 game for a long time, and any kind of play either way you knew it was going to shift but scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter and shutting them out that kind of told the story of the game.

On Jack Jones injury:

“He is going to play this week, he will be ready to roll.

On if he thinks Rachaad White has received proper recognition:

‚ÄúI don’t know that, I think people that watch him, the people at the next level if you’re trying to defend him in college football, you realize what type of runner he is and that’s probably the most important thing but obviously on a stage like that against USC, people notice that. That’s pretty good, yeah, he’s pretty good, and when we run the ball for 200 plus yards we’re 12-1 since we’ve been there and that’s a stat that’s pretty good.

On seeing joy on players faces after the win:

‚ÄúThey had a lot of fun and it was fun to watch the coaches and the players just the joy of winning the game again. When you play USC … it’s a local school, you know everyone knows the logo and we have been fortunate, we have played them four times here and we split twice, we’re 2-2. I’m not saying that’s good enough, you’d like to be 4-0 but I think these guys realize that we’ve played them four times and this is probably been the biggest margin of victory for either one of us and that alone was kind of interesting because I told them during the week I said guys, ‚Äòthe history just keeps repeating itself like it does when we play these guys, it’s going to the fourth quarter and it is gonna be close, it is gonna be a one score game because that is what its been’ and lucky for us we pulled away and got it to be a two score but even when we got that … I’ve seen this story before, can we not allow that stuff to happen because with 3:58 on the clock, it reminded me of 3:58 prior to what happened … and we ended up closing it out which was good.

On the defense’s front seven:

‚ÄúWe put it on D.J., we put it on our D-Line, he was one that we said ‚Äòyou have to win at the point because if we are gonna stop them from running, you have to be the focal point.’ Linebackers obviously have to play the run but also play the pass because they throw so much and I think those guys played well. I can’t say enough about our offensive line, the way they played, they played well too and they had to wear the hat this week. I told them, ‚Äòoffense, you have to play well for us to win. We have to run the ball.’ The scary thing about playing those guys was their rush. We don’t want to get into a game where we have to drop back and throw the football because then that presents a problem because they have good athletes they got some guys up there that can rush the quarterback, we want to make it a muddy game even though it’s not raining, we want to make it a muddy game. Our line needed to play well on both sides and they did, they’re going to need to do that the next three or four games, they have to play well, it really boils down to that. When you play well as an offensive line and when you can run the ball…I mean you watched the Cardinals game, they ran the ball, and Eno scored a touchdown. It was hard for me to watch because Eno scored a touchdown and Brandon caught a ball … I am watching our players and at the end, the Cardinals ran the ball, and they did a nice job running the football.

On DJ Davidson’s draft stock:

‚ÄúWe talked about it earlier in the season that he needed just to step up his game and he needed to dominate and he has been very consistent. This is his best season since we’ve been here there’s no doubt. He’s a mature guy … he’s a good player, he’s a physical player. There is not a lot of room where he plays in the box, and they double him a lot and do things to him but I think the more he can play like that, it helps him but it helps us too, especially.

On Rachaad White’s impact:

‚ÄúHe is a spark to our offense when you get him the ball. You never know what is going to happen and you are right, he can catch the ball very well. He reminds me more of Marcus Allen, he has the same stature that Marcus and the same ability to cut. Marcus was a good vision guy, could cut and catch the ball really well but he is the guy when he gets the ball in his hand, you don’t know a three yard run could all of a sudden be a 25 yard run if you don’t tackle him. When he gets in the backend of the defense, I think he is a lot faster than the defenders anticipate because he is a long strider it looks like, but all of a sudden he puts his foot in the ground and he makes a cut and sees daylight he can run. USC has some fast guys on that defense, and when he got in the back end of that thing, nobody caught him. Generally those guys will run and catch him. He had to make a cut to slow them down a bit, but he is a complete football player, no doubt about that.