Mornin Mates...

Today's Topic = 2017 Challenges

Can Graham and his staff come up with a defensive philosophy and scheme that won't be as easily exploited by opponents as it has been the past couple of years..??

Can Graham and his staff add enough defensive talent this recruiting cycle to bolster the DL so they can put enough pressure on opposing QBs by themselves without us having to throw the kitchen blitzing sink at them in games..??

Can Graham and his staff build enough LB depth so that if they sustain an injury like they did this year to Christian Sam that we don't move backwards several steps there..??

Can the head honcho and his staff rebuild the secondary so that it isn't made up of WRs masquerading as DBs and other suspicious suspects drawn from the hybrid hopefuls who can't seem to find a home at any position much less the secondary..??

Can Graham find a wonderful replacement for Jay Norvell who is a proven winner or will he roll the dice on someone he knows from days past, in his old network of friends, like his present DC..??

Can the Devils get a better recruiting presence going in the all important So-Cal recruiting grounds than they have shown since Erickson was fired..??

Can the Devils sell enough season tickets next year to put any sort of happy face on our slide back into football mediocrity ..??

Can the Devils finish the SDS renovation sometime before we break the 100,000 student level at the school..??

Can Ray Anderson get any of those 100,000 students to attend both football and basketball games so our stadiums and arenas don't look deserted a good portion of the time..??

Can anybody get the PAC 12 to start fall football games in Oct and November before midnight eastern time..??

Will hockey surpass men's basketball in importance at the school..??

Does anybody care about any of this..??

There are lots of questions for the upcoming new year but not a lot of answers as far as I can tell..

What say all of you..??

G'day Mates and Go Devils!!!

At #15 Kentucky 73-71. Great win for the Sun Devils.

I'm hearing that he got Kiffin'd on the tarmac in Kansas today. I've often publicly said that CTG should get him to be our defensive coordinator. The guy had some incredible defenses while he was at Louisville and even some of his Texas ones weren't too bad. The guy also has some inroads with some recruiting gold mines in Texas.

Do you think Ray Anderson will insist CTG go after him? I'd be a huge fan of this honestly.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.philly.com/philly/blogs/sports/college/Savon-Goodman-.html?amphtml=y

I was watching my co-favorite team, Villanova, play La Salle and noticed that there was no Savon Goodman with La Salle. Evidently he never made it to La Salle, dropped out for "personal reasons". Hope he is ok, but looks like he might not be playing for us even if he'd stayed.

Just like last year we created a one-stop shop concerning ASU's recruiting class where will post all the updates concerning the 2017 group.

I just published the 2017 Pitchfork Prospects Page with a list of all commits and the viable prospects at each position.

I will pin this thread in a few days after folks had a have to review it. As always please post any questions you have about this class on this thread.

Updated 2017 Pitchfork Prospects Page

Malzahn is two if these

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Tip-off at 5 pm MT. Game airs on CBS Sports channel 221 on DirecTV, 158 on DISH and 312 on COX.

Bankroll Kills‏@killsgettem
Finally releasing my TOP 2 schools(s/o to @Hayesfawcett3 for the edit) #mississippistateor #Arizonastate

Does anyone know why he was selected Coach of the Year over the ONLY undefeated coaches in Saban & Fleck? Or over Chris Peterson??

The award isn't for nicest guy or lenient dad of the year (playing his son despite all the drops).

Peterson absolutely destroyed him. It was way worse than the 41-10 score. Peterson went 12-1

MacIntyre went 10-3. (Alamo Bowl vs #12 Ok State)

Fleck went undefeated. He didn't play anybody but he got Western Michigan!!! ranked 15th in FBS ahead of West Virginia, Florida, Stanford, Utah, LSU, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Pitt, Temple & Navy. (Cotton Bowl vs. #8 Wisconsin)

It has been the Mark MacIntyre love fest all season and I am sick of it. Go Cowboys stomp Ralphie

Merchant blocked 12 kicks this fall...that is just a ridiculous number. He just posted his SR highlights so they are at the bottom of my story.

https://n.rivals.com/news/merchant-says-two-teams-are-showing-the-most-interest

I would think that with the extra point being moved back in the NFL, and his ability to hit 50 + that he has a shot.

I admittedly don't know much about the history of kickers being drafted though.

I have to think there is a place on an NFL team for him.

I was at practice today, and here's what HC Bobby Hurley and guard Kodi Justice had to say about Hurley's Monday comments:


Hurley


“Coaches use different tools, different techniques to motivate. You hope that you don’t have to go to some tough words, and you make a point not to single anyone out. It certainly was a team thing, not one individual. It was multiple individuals, it was coaches, it was everyone. I said what I felt after the game, and I’m not going to change that or how I feel. There’s just different tactics coaches use. He might take away the locker room from guys after a week like we had in the Bahamas and in New York. He might take away the guys’ practice gear. Just different things that I [as a player] had to go through and didn’t feel great about. I think it was a pretty mild way of expressing how I feel and my guys responded.”


“A lot of it is effort, but some of it is just shot-making and stretches early in the game. Early against Pudue, we were right in the middle of the game and we missed some shots. We took some quick shots, which, for a stretch of three minutes in the first half we lost track of the game a little bit.”


“The guys practiced a little harder, but it can’t just be because something bad happened. We have to come out here every day. You want to build a culture that’s based on how hard you play, your work ethic and that has to be consistent every game.”


Justice


“The things he said, we kind of took to heart. We just had to look at ourselves and ask what we were doing wrong for the games to end up like that and for him to say what he did.”

"Coach Norvell definitely had a big part in my commitment. I might look around a little bit. But at the end of the day ASU still has a lot to offer."

He's not the biggest fan of interviews, or talking about recruiting in general. He'll happily talk about other things, like his North Canyon teammates, or basketball, or track, but as far as his recruitment, he plays it pretty close to the vest.

I talked with him in person at the ASU/Washington game a bit. He has a relationship with QB Daniel Bridge-Gadd, and knows Byron Murphy a little. He managed to take an official up there without anyone really noticing. I only noticed because I literally ran into him on the sideline.

As far as his official to Arizona State, he said his favorite part was hanging out with the team at Demario Richard's house with the other recruits, or as he put it-

"I loved getting to know the players. (There's) a lot of young talent around there and they are on the same page in terms of what they want to accomplish."

I talked to him about the pre-law stuff he brought up in his AIA radio show interview and he said "Academically ASU has a very broad range of things I could study in terms of law," and he also noted the resources available to him. "guys like Jean Boyd are truly dedicated to making the best (experience) for their athletes."

I asked him if anything is currently setting Arizona State apart and he laughed and said "persistence." He followed that up by elaborating a little- "they recruit me more than any other school, and Coach Thomsen has done a great job (answering) any questions, and building relationships with my family."

There you have it. Wasn't able to get more out of him- apologies.

My personal take is this- he'll figure out where he wants to go apart from the coaching staffs and recruiters. That may very well be USC, but it could absolutely be ASU. Ultimately when counting the cost, he'll factor in the coaching situation, but he's smart enough to know coaches come and go. North Canyon is on their second in two years, and will probably be on their third if their current head coach fills the open Desert Edge vacancy (where he came from).

Arizona is still pushing him to commit to visiting their campus, and in the past he's been open to it. This is shaping up to be a whole lot like Connor Murphy's recruitment. Big attention from Michigan, pressure to stay home, a last minute push from the Wildcats and USC serving as the favorite.

Lou Graza award rightfully goes to Zane

...per Dan Wolken of USA Today.

Our Savior

Per reports, Mickey Mitchell will transfer to ASU basketball and be eligible next December. Mitchell was a 4 star out of Texas from the class of 2014 who was downgraded due to injury. He played sparingly at Ohio State before announcing a transfer to UCSB, where he never ended up taking the court.

He's 6-7, and had a ton of hype in his earlier high school years. If I remember correctly, he also had a high profile transfer in high school.

His brother played for Ohio State football before transferring to Texas Tech, and you might remember his dad from his time with the Atlanta Falcons.

Rivals Profile: https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/7271

So Adam Rittenberg from ESPN tweeted that Jay Norvell is taking the Nevada job. Anybody concerned?

http://www.espn.com/espn/now?nowId=21-0598369201379350666-4

Bruce Feldman ‏@BruceFeldmanCFB 20m20 minutes ago
SOURCES: #Vandy OC Andy Ludwig, #ASU's pass game CO Jay Norvell & #EWU's Beau Baldwin in the mix for #Nevada HC job:

I see this as a different situation than Lindsey because Norvell has been an assistant for decades now , but we'll see how this one unfolds.

GCU would beat ASU by 20 points I'm afraid. Maybe they'll hang with the kitties.

Here is a reminder that The Home Depot College Football Awards show for 2016 will air tomorrow (Thursday) evening at 5 p.m. Arizona time live on ESPN. The show originates from the College Football Hall of Fame and Chick-fil-A Fan Experience in Atlanta, Georgia.

The results for the Groza Award should be announced sometime within the first 40 minutes of the show.

Here are all the NCFAA awards being announced during The Home Depot College Football Awards:
http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-r...-announced-home-depot-college-football-awards/

Tyon Merchant for now would probably be a backup plan, but a name to keep in mind with an ASU offer and a scheduled January visit.

Texas defensive back being pursued by ASU