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Thursday's practice report

Thursday marked the second day of fall camp so experimentation is still to be expected, however, with a prior day to compare to, some patterns start to emerge.

Some players, most notably along the defensive front, stayed in the same spots while the secondary saw a few changes.

One thing defensive coordinator Keith Patterson pointed out when we talked to him after practice was he wanted to make the defense more unpredictable and change where some players lined up, which will be talked about a little later.

With all of that said, here is how the depth chart looked after day two:

First team offense:

Quarterback(s): Manny Wilkins, Bryce Perkins

Running back(s): Demario Richard, Kalen Ballage

Wide receivers: Ellis Jefferson, Time White (slot), Jalen Harvey

Tight end(s): Raymond Epps, Kody Kohl

Left tackle: Evan Goodman

Left guard: Sam Jones

Center: Tyler McClure

Right Guard: Stephon McCray

Right tackle: Quinn Bailey



First team Defense:

Devilbacker: JoJo Wicker

Defensive end: Renell Wren

Nose guard: Ami Latu

Tiger: Tashon Smallwood

Sam LB: Salamo Fiso

Will LB: DJ Calhoun

Spur: Marcus Ball

Field corner: Gump Hayes

Boundary corner: Kareem Orr, J’Marcus Rhodes

Field safety: Laiu Moeakiola

Boundary safety: Armand Perry

Second team offense:

QB: Manny Wilkins, Bryce Perkins (rotating)

Running back(s): Nick Ralston

Wide receivers: Fred Gammage, Cam Smith, Terrell Chatman

Tight end(s): Grant Martinez, Frank Ogas

Left tackle: Evan Goodman

Left guard: Connor Humphreys

Center: Stephon McCray

Right Guard: Steve Miller

Right tackle: Zach Robertson

First team Defense:

Devilbacker: A.J. Latu

Defensive end: Edmond Boateng

Nose guard: George Lea

Tiger: Corey Smith

Sam LB: Salamo Fiso

Will LB: Carlos Mendoza

Spur: Koron Crump

Field corner: Bryson Echols

Boundary corner: J’Marcus Rhodes

Field safety: James Johnson

Boundary safety: Chad Adams

Note: Units get switched out at different times so sometimes the first team defensive line would be playing with the second team secondary or so it seemed. There was also some variation Thursday as to who played where which Patterson alluded to as something he would like to do. For example, Moekiola and Perry switched places in terms of field and boundary. Wicker at Devil was back at the boundary after being on the filed side yesterday. Patterson talked about a defense that will more dynamic and less static with more pre-snap movement compared to last season.

If you recall one anonymous offensive coordinator in the Pac-12 said in an interview to ESPN that the conference has seemingly figured out ASU’s defense, so changing up the scheme is the prudent way to go.

Quarterbacks:

The biggest, most prominent storyline of fall camp falls here and Thursday saw some change in the type of reps the quarterbacks took. Redshirt freshman Bryce Perkins worked with the veterans after working with the newcomers Wednesday, while redshirt sophomore Manny Wilkins continued to work with the vets.

Perkins got the first set of first-team reps with Wilkins running with the second team in the beginning.

Early on both QBs came under pressure but both did a good job climbing up into the pocket to avoid pressure instead of looking to run and escape which is a good sign.

Perkins and Wilkins both overthrew some deep balls, which probably should have been completed, but, it’s better to see them overthrown than underthrown where a defensive back can make a play on the ball. Perkins’ improved mechanics, namely not pushing the ball, were evident and the ball had more a zip to it. At the same time, his touch on his longer throws is improved as well.

The interesting thing was how well the newcomer quarterbacks performed. Both freshman Dillon Sterling-Cole and redshirt freshman Brady White had some good moments with both showing good touch on intermediate and deep routes. Sterling-Cole, in particular, displayed a big arm and may have the strongest arm out of any quarterback on the roster.

Both White and Sterling-Cole benefited from the fine play of several young receivers. However, the optimism from their performance with the newcomers needs to be tempered because they were playing mostly against younger players with minimal experience. It will have to be monitored how they do throughout the rest of camp.

Running backs:

Probably the strongest position group the Sun Devils have, running back saw no change from Wednesday to Thursday. Junior Demario Richard got the initial work with the first team but junior Kalen Ballage also saw some work with the first team. Walk-on Gil'Scott Jackson had some good reps with the newcomers.

It’s hard to judge running backs when the team is practicing in just helmets like they were Thursday. As practices get more physical and the shoulder pads come on Friday, the running backs will likely show more of their physical running style they both possess.

Redshirt freshman Jason Lewis practiced with the newcomers again and had one really good run but judging the running game when there is minimal contact can be a tough task.

Wide receivers:

The more the wide receivers work, they more they continue to impress.

With the veterans, redshirt junior Ellis Jefferson made some good catchers in 1-on-1, 7-on-7 and team work as did redshirt sophomore Jalen Harvey. In fact, Harvey may have ran some of the best routes of the day and his development has been pleasing as he continually drew praise from the coaching staff. Cam Smith caught a nice fade route thanks to an impressive Perkins pass.

With the newcomers, a lot is expected of freshman N’Keal Harry, being the No. 1 wide receiver recruit in the country will do that, but fellow freshmen Frank Darby, Kyle Williams and Jeremy Smith both looked good as well. Harry made one tough contested one-handed catch but it was really Smith, Darby and redshirt freshman Chaz Collins who were the pleasant surprises of the newcomer portion. M.L. Harris is a walk-on wide receiver that has had a string start to fall camp.

Harry was also seen doing up-downs up and down the length of the filed after practice. Now is not a time to read into that too much as mistakes will happen and Harry grows accustomed to the expectations of the program.

Tight ends:

There was some change with redshirt junior Raymond Epps running with the first team at tight end. Kody Kohl still got some time with the first team as well but likely there is an “or” between them on the depth chart, one could imagine.

Many of the throws seemed targeted to the wide receivers and less tight end oriented but they may change as camp goes on and the playbook expands.

The blocking probably could have been better as the run game seemed stuffed for the most part by the defense, but, again, there were no pads so that could change as pads come on and physicality increases.

Offensive line:

The offensive line is probably the hardest group to judge without pads on and contact at a bare minimum. That said, with four new starters, lumps are expected.

There weren’t a lot of clean running lanes either inside or outside for the running backs but, with no pads, it’s tough to evaluate an offensive line.

Friday will likely reveal more detail about the offensive line in the running game.

As a whole in the passing game, this unit had a hard time with the defensive line, especially a nimble Wicker. Multiple would-be sacks were given up and part of that could be due to a combination of inexperience and a complicated defense across from them.

More time will likely be needed for a clearer picture of the offensive line to develop.

Football tickets for sale

Nut-husband and I have purchased ASU Football Season tickets again this year. I have three games that we are not attending and I’d love to have Sun Devils seated in our seats for those games. (No complaining about us missing games - we are out of state and can't travel to Tempe for all the games.)

We have two seats and they are on the upper west side of the stadium – Section 305, Row 16, Seats 14 & 15. They are basically on the 50 yard line on the newly renovated west side of the stadium.

Games, dates and prices are below. Prices are significantly lower than the single game cost of tickets. I’m basically just trying to recover our cost of the ticket (not including our donation to The Sun Devil Club.)

Saturday, Sept 3rd vs. NAU at 7:45pm - $25 each
Saturday, October 8th vs. UCLA. Time TBD - $30 each
Thursday, November 10th vs. Utah at 7:30pm MST - $30 each


Tickets will be first come first serve. The tickets will be mailed to me the week of Aug 15th.

Send me a PM if you are interested. I'd much rather sell these to a true Sun Devil that put them up on Stub Hub.

Quick Hitters: Brief observations from Thursday's Camp T practice

Thursday's practice was mostly more of the same from an observation standpoint with the veterans. There appears to be good depth at wide receiver with redshirt sophomore Jalen Harvey looking very crisp in his routes.

Who really stood out, though, were some of the new receivers. Freshmen Frank Darby and Jeremy Smith both ran some good routes in 1-on-1 work and even freshman Kyle Williams got in on the act making a great one-handed catch for a touchdown over sophomore DB Deion Guignard.

ASU looks to have a deep receiving corps which is a problem wide receivers coach Jay Norvell likely loves to have.

OT: TAMU is the Worst

Texas A&M football program hosted an event called Chalk Talk For Women- $80 entry fee.

Two assistant coaches put together these slides.

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The end result was them getting suspended

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Another assistant has been punished for subtweeting recruits, and they've lost two potential starting QBs and one elite QB commit.

That's just this summer.

If it wasn't for Baylor, TAMU would win the prize for Worst Offseason

Single-Game Tickets for Sun Devil Football Season Opener, Road Games Now Available

TEMPE – Single-game tickets are now available to the public for Sun Devil Football's season opener against Northern Arizona on Saturday, Sept. 3. Away game tickets for all six 2016 road contests are also on sale.

The non-conference tilt against the Lumberjacks is scheduled for a 7:45 p.m. PT kickoff and will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks. It is the first time the Sun Devils have faced NAU since head coach Todd Graham's opening season in 2012. The game will give fans their first chance to witness the continued reinvention of Sun Devil Stadium, which will have completed the second of three phases by opening night.

Sun Devil Athletics will also maintain the rollout of on-sale dates for single-game tickets that began in 2013. The three-day plan begins four weeks before every home game, and starts with select groups on Tuesday and culminates with the general public on Thursday.

Fans are encouraged to call the Sun Devil Ticket office at 480-727-0000 for more information involving their ticket needs.

Subscribers of Devils' Insider have first access to single-game tickets on the Tuesday of each on-sale week. CLICK HERE to subscribe to Devils' Insider. Tickets will then become available to followers of Sun Devil Athletics' social media outlets on Wednesday before being offered to the general public on Thursday. Season ticket holders and Sun Devil Club members have had access to purchase single-game tickets for all home games since July as a benefit of their continued support.

The season opener against the Lumberjacks will feature two special ticket packages available to fans, including a Family Four Pack Deal and an offer for all the Pokemon Go loyalists out there.

Pokémon Go Night

  • Ticket Price $25
  • Links to purchase:
    -Team Mystic
    -Team Instinct
    -Team Valor
  • Pre-Game festivities at Devils on College (5:00 PM)
  • Custom Team T-Shirts for each Pokemon Team
  • Exclusive access to Coca-Cola Sun Deck Starting at the 4th Quarter
Family Four Pack

  • Bring your family to the game and save 30% or more! Packages start at less than $25 per ticket!
    • Ticket Prices:
      -Lower Level
      Sections 26; 34-36 - $149
      Sections 27-28; 32-33 - $229
      Sections 29-31 - $329
      -Upper Level
      Sections 241-243, $99
      Sections 238-240; 244-236, $99
Tickets are also available for each of ASU's six road contests this season. The Devils will hit the road for the first time this year for a non-conference matchup against the University of Texas at San Antonio on Friday, Sept. 16. The Sun Devil Club will be hosting a fan getaway for the weekend featuring a two-night stay in San Antonio.
The Pac-12 slate will set the Devils up for five road tilts, featuring games at USC, Colorado, Oregon, Washington and the Territorial Cup battle at Arizona to close out the regular season.

Fans are encouraged to arrive early and greet the team at Devil Walk, which begins two and a half hours before kickoff inside Wells Fargo Arena. Devil Walk features the 2016 team, the Pride of the Southwest Sun Devil Marching Band, the Spirit Squad, special videos and highlights, and more.

Single-Game Ticket On-Sale Schedule (General Public/Thursdays)

Northern Arizona – Aug. 4
Home Opener/Debut of Phase II of Sun Devil Stadium Reinvention

Texas Tech – Aug. 11
Faculty/Staff Appreciation and City of Tempe Night

California – Aug. 25
Maroon Monsoon

UCLA – Sept. 8
Hall of Fame Game and Sun Devils Serve

Washington St. – Sept. 22
Homecoming

Utah – Oct. 6
Salute to Service/Blackout Game/Senior Day

Additional Ticket Information

Season tickets are currently on sale until Sept. 24 at www.sundeviltickets.com, by calling the Sun Devil Athletics Ticket Office at 480-727-0000, making an appointment with a Sun Devil Sales and Service staff member, or visiting the Sun Devil Ticket Office, located on the south end of Sun Devil Stadium. The ticket office is open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Click here for pricing and more information about Sun Devil Football season tickets.

Use ASU's Mobile Delivery option and simply present your smartphone with tickets at the gate to avoid standing in line at the will call window on game day. Choose Mobile Ticketing as your preferred delivery method when ordering tickets and they are delivered as a PDF or Passbook specifically designed for smartphones, so you don't even need to print your tickets.

The SDA Ticket Office, based on last year's success, will once again extend its hours during football season and will be open on Saturdays from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm beginning August 13. On home football game days, the ticket office will be open from 10:00 am through the end of the third quarter. Phones will be available from 10:00 am until 4 hours prior to kick-off and fans can also continue to live chat with the Sales and Service team via thesundevils.com.

Changes to Football Gameday
While Sun Devil Athletics is reinventing Sun Devil Stadium, access points on the south side of the stadium have CHANGED for the 2016 Sun Devil Football season. These changes are temporary and when the reinvention of Sun Devil Stadium is complete, there will be a 360-degree concourse, enhanced concessions and restrooms, and a better game-day experience.

Visit www.thesundevils.com/findmyseat for information on how you can access you seats in 2016. Fans are encouraged to arrive early on game days in order to identify access points to seats as some have changed.

Also, Sun Devil Athletics is instituting a NEW Clear Bag Policy for all fans visiting Sun Devil Stadium. The new policy was created to increase the security of fans and to enhance the Game Day experience. Visit thesundevils.com/clearbag for more information on permissible bags and FAQs on the new policy.

We appreciate your patience as we work to reinvent Sun Devil Stadium into one of the premier game-day experiences in the nation.

For more information on Sun Devil Football Gameday visit:

Sun Devil Clear Bag Policy | Sun Devil Stadium Find My Seat | Sun Devil Parking Central

Sun Devil VIP Tailgate Info
The Sun Devil VIP Tailgate, an exclusive tailgate zone located in the Arboretum in the Sun Devil Club plaza, directly north of Wells Fargo, has reopened for all six home games of the 2016 Sun Devil Football season. Click here to purchase tickets and click here for more information.

Camp T Practice Report: 8/3

Wednesday marked the start of fall camp, but practice was held at Rumsey Park instead of Camp Tontozona due to the recent heavy rainfall. The split schedule had the veterans practicing first and the newcomers second. After the veterans finished practice, the newcomers were only able to get about 15 or 20 minutes of work in before practice was delayed and later cancelled due to lightning in the area. About 20 or so minutes after practice was officially cancelled, a monsoon doused Payson. Overall, head coach Todd Graham raved about the team's enthusiasm and passion on the first day of camp, even though the team was just in shells and didn't even get to complete its entire schedule.

There was obviously a fair amount of experimentation and movement between positions as there is in a typical first day — and because the team will feature four new starters on the O-Line — but here is the depth chart we had. We put it together based on who played at which spots consistently at each position, especially on the aforementioned O-Line. We combined a few guys on some positions because they received near an equal amount of looks during the team periods.

First team offense:

Quarterback(s): Manny Wilkins, Brady White
Running back(s): Demario Richard, Kalen Ballage
Wide Receivers: Ellis Jefferson, Tim White, Jalen Harvey
Tight End(s): Kody Kohl, Raymond Epps
Left Tackle: Evan Goodman
Left Guard: Sam Jones
Center: Tyler McClure
Right Guard: Stephon McCray
Right Tackle: Quinn Bailey

First team defense:
Spur: Marcus Ball
Devil backer: JoJo Wicker
Defensive End: Renell Wren
Nose guard: Ami Latu
Defensive End: Tashon Smallwood
SAM: Salamo Fiso, Carlos Mendoza
WILL: DJ Calhoun, Carlos Mendoza
Field Corner: J'Marcus Rhodes
Boundary Corner: Kareem Orr
Field Safety: Armand Perry
Boundary Safety: Laui Moeakiola

After the first team, there was a ton of variation in who received reps and where they played.


Quarterbacks:
Manny Wilkins and Brady White each ran with the first team on Wednesday. Bryce Perkins was with the newcomers. After practice, offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey said that will change as camp progresses. Wilkins and White each had their moments and threw some good balls to receivers during both team and individual periods.

It will be interesting to see how the coaching staff continues to split up the reps for Bryce Perkins. How equal of a shot will he get with the first team? Dillion Sterling-Cole was obviously practicing with the newcomers. There will be much talk of the quarterback battle as camp continues, but the coaches don't seem to be lying when they say that it's any man's race. Wilkins and White may be a bit ahead of Perkins at this point, but there is no clear favorite in the competition yet.

When asked about when he wants to name a starting quarterback, Graham jokingly said "the day we play the first game." He noted that not naming one too early has a lot to do with the desire to not give another team an advantage by doing that.

Graham recalled that in 2012, he never thought the starting quarterback would be Taylor Kelly, so it really is anyone's job at this point. He did mention that they have four quarterbacks (Dillon

Running backs:
Just as expected, Demario Richard and Kalen Ballage seemed to share the load with the first team. Although not surprising from a football standpoint, I found it intriguing that Ballage lined up at wideout a fair amount during the first day of practice.

De'Chavon "Gump" Hayes was practicing with the running backs. Graham said he will play both sides of the ball (RB/DB), but when he is on offense, ASU will use a specifically designed package to utilize him. The "Gump package" is something that was discussed in spring ball, but no one knew how much it would come to fruition.

I believe Nick Ralston received a good amount of second-team reps behind Richard and Ballage and I'm pretty positive Jason Lewis was practicing with the newcomers.

Wide Receivers:

Throughout the spring, the coaches raved about the playmakers they felt they had on this year's team. In addition to Cam Smith looking like the next Captain America (202 lbs with only 4 percent body fat), Tim White stole the show by hiking up his shorts like it was still track season. On the field, the receivers looked great.

Smith and Frederick Gammage received a heavy amount of the reps with the second team. Additionally, Kalen Ballage lined up at wideout a fair amount, which makes sense as ASU is trying to get one of its premier playmakers the ball as much as possible.

Ellis Jefferson and Jalen Harvey made some plays in the team periods as well as in the individual drills.

The wide receivers seemed to get the best of the defensive backs for the most part in the 1-on-1 individual drills. Harvey caught a couple deep balls, as did John Humphrey.

Offensive line/tight ends:
There was a lot of movement on the offensive line. Prior to the fall, a lot of talk focused on how this new crop of offensive linemen could be more athletic and better fits for the system. Additionally, the coaches boast that a few can truly play multiple positions on the line. Amid the movement and inconsistency in some of the periods, Evan Goodman — the lone starter from 2015 — was still at left tackle.

There were many times when Kody Kohl and Raymond Epps were on the field at the same time. From a football standpoint, it makes sense, but it has also been a focus of Chip Lindsey's to try and use the two-tight end sets to spark the running game too. Kohl looked good running routes and waiting for dump offs as well.

Junior college transfer offensive lineman Tyson Rising and defensive back Maurice Chandler were both in green jerseys. However, freshman offensive lineman Marshal Nathe, who was out during the spring due to a torn ACL, was dressed and active on Wednesday.

Former Sun Devil center Nick Kelly was in attendance on Wednesday and seemed to be doing what looked like a bit of graduate assistant work with the team.

Defensive Line:
The biggest story after day one was JoJo Wicker practicing with and getting some time at Devil backer. Graham explained that the Devil backer is a position that needs to be the matchup problem for the offense, which is why they're giving Wicker a look there.

Depth on the D-Line is something that Graham commented on after practice, saying there were many options to consider while trying to find the best combination. In addition to starters, he mentioned Edmond Boateng, Christian Hill and Jalen Bates as guys the coaching staff is looking at there.

Throughout spring ball, Graham praised Tashon Smallwood's work ethic and how he became known for being the last one off the field after each practice. Ironically, I saw Smallwood hanging out with the newcomers during their practice before it was stopped due to lightning.

Corey Smith, who was with the offensive lineman in the spring, was back with the defensive linemen for the first day of fall camp.

Linebackers:
Salamo Fiso is the key cog in the linebacking corps along with DJ Calhoun, but one surprise on day one was how consistently good Carlos Mendoza was. Mendoza, a redshirt senior, made a lot of great plays and received many compliments from the coaches. He also got reps with the first team.

Graham also talked about the depth at linebacker, even without the injured Khaylan Thomas, who was in green today after undergoing surgery in the spring. However, Graham said Thomas is two or three weeks ahead of schedule.

"We just think that we have a hole lot a linebackers who are really impressive."-Graham

Secondary:
Fans and media alike are focused on ASU's secondary heading into the season. After a rough year last year, TJ Rushing has emphasized the fundamentals and not giving up the big plays. In addition to the four guys who received first-team reps on Wednesday, we also saw Chad Adams and James Johnson.

Of course, much has been made of Laui Moeakiola's move from spur to bandit, which is obviously significant. He said the guys around him have helped him out with the adjustment period, but in the end, it is still a position he has played before (when he started at ASU).

In 1-on-1 WR/DB drills, it seemed like Johnson was a bit slow in coverage as he was beat deep a couple times, one of those times by Jalen Harvey.

On the reverse end, Kareem Orr looked great in that individual drill. He broke on the ball really sharply. During one specific instance, he broke hard toward the ball, but just missed it and Ellis Jefferson took it for a "touchdown." When Jefferson was running back, Orr said, "You got lucky right there." The coaches applauded Orr for that break on the ball, regardless of the outcome.

J'Marcus Rhodes was a guy who looked good in the spring (when he was present, at least). He looked impressive in coverage on the first day of fall camp as well. Most of the deep balls in the individual drill that went to his side were incomplete. He also seems like he uses his physical frame really well in coverage, especially when shading guys and keeping them from the ball.

Also of note is that Maurice Chandler was in green today.

Chris Thomsen Quotes

Here are some quotes I grabbed from ASU’s offensive line coach.


Q: Coach, what did you see from the offensive line in the first day of fall camp?


A: Kind of picked up where they left off. I felt the older guys were pretty sharp, the guys that have been with us. And then we got a little cut short on the newcomer deal on this last one so I didn’t get to see them as much but I’m excited, man. I’m excited about what I see.


Q: Shawn Griswold really sung the praises of Evan Goodman that he had the best eight-month period strength and conditioning wise, what do you see on the field from Evan?


A different guy really, just a guy who’s made a normal progression from year one starting to year two. I don’t want to say this drastic difference but just what you would expect from a guy who now knows what it takes and he’s made some adjustments in his game and his preparation that I think are going to help him.


Q How much responsibility falls on (Goodman’s) shoulders being a guy who’s coming back?


A: A lot, but I always tell the guys that you lead yourself. I don’t want to say Evan Goodman is the only guy with a bunch of starts so he’s the leader. Evan Goodman needs to lead himself, the rest of the guys need to lead themselves and if Evan will lead himself and do what he’s been doing for eight or nine months, he’ll evolve into a guy who provides leadership for our team.


Q: When Todd (Graham) talked in his press conference to open the season, maybe simplifying the offense…what does that mean to you?

A: Well it helps. We are just by what coach Lindsey is a little different in his approach in terms of doesn’t carry as much volume in the run game especially than what coach (Mike) Norvell did and so that timing was pretty good for having some guys who haven’t played as much transitioning into an offense that doesn’t do quite as much, the timing is pretty good and I think that will help us.


Q: Are the young guys kind of sick of hearing that they’re young guys?


A: We talked about it last night, like ‘have you all heard it enough yet? That we’re the ones that’s holding everything back? Are you sick of that and ready to go prove it wrong?’ I think there’s enough guys in that group that are hungry that at the end of the season that want to be evaluated as an asset and not a liability so that’ll be a process. I doesn’t just happen and I know that but I think we have the right group of guys.


Q: Tyler McClure id a really good job during the spring, do you think he can hold on the center spot until the opener?


A: He’s going to have to fight off a lot of guys. Stephon (McCray) can do it. If you watched practice today they both split equal reps and that speaks to Stephon’s intelligence that he can go guard, center, guard, center, guard. That’s not easy to do. And then we’ve got a couple other guys with AJ and even Cohl Cabral, there’s some guys that…that’s kind of the one we need to figure out and then the rest fits off of that and we need to figure it out quickly but whatever happens at that position I’m hugely pleased with Tyler McClure. Great approach, great summer, he’s worked his butt off. He’s done everything he can do to this point to give himself a chance.


Q: Talk about Cohl Cabral also doing some long snapping and how does that affect his development as a young offensive lineman?


A: It adds a little bit to his plate, it puts a little more on his plate. But I’ve been a head coach and I know punt protection and it’s pretty important so that’s going to be the first priority is making sure that our punt game and our field goal game the snaps are right so we’ll work him there and see where he fits after that.


Q: Are you looking at Steve (Miller) on the left and Zach (Robertson) on the right?


A: I bumped Steve over to right guard. I put him at right guard a little bit in the spring and he looked a little more comfortable so I asked him ‘do you want to bump to the right a little bit?’ and he said ‘yeah I’d like to do that.’ Zach played both today which isn’t easy. Both those guys are pretty smart guys. They’re all learning multiple positions and you learn this when you’re watching NFL and you’re talking to scouts and pro people that only carry seven (offensive linemen) and you watch the evolution and those guys know lot and because of our situation – some of the pieces are not settled yet – they’re having to learn multiple spots which helps us in the long run.

Chip Lindsey Quotes

Here are some quotes I grabbed from ASU’s offensive coordinator after practice:


Q: Are you aware of Brady White’s goal setting and how he sets goals for every aspect of his life?

A: Yeah, very much so. All of our quarterbacks do. We make them set goals: weekly goals, monthly goals, semester goals and yearly goals. That’s kind of how they’re dealing. It’s kind of private between myself and him, it’s a file we keep on each player and I’d say Brady has probably been doing that a long time and the others probably when we started making them do it here as far as just writing it down. But yes he’s very mature in that way.


Q: Did you do that at Southern Miss as well?

A: We did. The kid we had at Southern Miss was kind of used to me because I coached him in high school so definitely kind of had that ahead of him and then we did it, we set goals. The first thing we try to do is set team goals, I think that’s the most important thing. But if you don’t have some individual goals for yourself, I think you got to have something that drives you.


Q: Without getting into too much detail, what are some examples of those goals?


A: I just think, Tom Brady probably had goals I guess to get where he’s at because he wasn’t a big-time draft pick guy and all that and he believed in himself and I think some of your goals are not things you can put your hands on: ‘I want to win this award, I want to do this.’ I think some of your goals are ‘I just want to be this guy on this team, my goal is for my team to look at me in this way.’ All of our quarterbacks have different personalities but their job is to make the 100-whatever guys on this team follow them and they’re from all different walks of life. I think it’s important you got to reach everybody on your team, that’s the key to being a really good quarterback.


Q: Will Bryce work with the newcomers tomorrow?


A: No, no we’ll rotate that. We’re going to continue to rotate it as long as the weather gives us a chance. We just had to figure it out plus he got more reps doing that an we’ll figure it out.


Q: Do you think all three quarterbacks have handled the competition well like you don’t see it wearing down on them?


A: I don’t. At night we have our camp fires where we kind of sit around and chew the fat so to speak. They all are competitive, don’t get me wrong, but I think they’re all Sun Devils. They all really want to win. They want to reach those team goals and so far, so good on that.


Q: Did things go as well as you’d expected for the first day of camp?


A: I thought we took care of the ball. I think if you looked at team periods we took care of the ball which is really good. That’s our number one goal is ball security. That’s something that over coach Graham’s tenure they’ve been really good at here and last year probably not as good as they wanted so that’s one of our emphases and I thought they did a really good job in the team stuff taking care of the ball.


Q: Did you have a setting like Tontozona anywhere else you coached before?


A: I took my high school team to a place like this one time. We did a Navy SEAL boot camp training during the summer, we weren’t practicing but when I first got into coaching we did do something just like that which is good.
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