ASU FOOTBALL

Arizona State football coaches praise offensive chemistry on Day 1 of fall camp

Jul 31, 2024, 6:45 PM | Updated: Aug 1, 2024, 9:56 am

Kenny Dilingham of Arizona State...

Arizona State coaches praised the offensive chemistry they saw on Day 1 of fall camp on Wednesday. (Jeremy Schnell/Arizona Sports)

(Jeremy Schnell/Arizona Sports)

TEMPE — Arizona State football opened its fall camp on Wednesday and the coaching staff was impressed by the player-led work that kept the team connected and ready to go over the summer.

“You can see the chemistry and the commitment that the guys made this summer, and that’s a huge piece,” first-year offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo said. “It was the first thing we talked about … when we came back as coaches. We sensed the new intent about our offense. Guys had spent a ton of time together.”

Arroyo, who coached Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert at Oregon, invigorated ASU players with his offense’s complexity.

Wide receiver Jordyn Tyson, who saw the 2023 offense from the sidelines as he dealt with an injury, told Arizona Sports Arroyo’s offense is much more diverse and unpredictable than the previous offense.

“It’s more complex. We got more routes, we run every route, we run every concept and it’s good for us,” Tyson said.

The work he and his position group put in allows Arroyo to unlock the offense more because of how much chemistry has been built up.

“Throwing on days we’re off, throwing extra even on days we do practice, I feel like we’re building a connection that’s gonna be good this season,” Tyson said.

First-year wide receivers coach Hines Ward singled out to reporters the budding connection between Tyson and Sam Leavitt, who is battling to be the starting quarterback and took many of the first-team reps on Wednesday. Tyson is in his own battle to prove himself as the go-to receiver, helping his cause when he and Leavitt connected in the red zone toward the end of practice.

“I’m excited to see what those two do this season,” Ward said. “I think they’re gonna have a big year.”

Ward said chemistry is more often about what the players do when they leave the facility and building a bond where you become “scared to fail your brother.”

“I feel like it’s a lot of competition in the receiver room, but we’re all so close, so we don’t even make it feel like a competition,” Tyson said. “I feel like we’re just coming to work every day as a family.”

“It was a good Day 1 … we got a long ways to go, but we’ll get there,” Ward said, adding he wasn’t satisfied with the day but was happy to see several receivers stay after practice in the Verde Dickey Dome to catch extra passes.

Dillingham says the plan is to utilize the dome for the final 20 minutes or so of each practice this fall, which they didn’t do last year because of poor turf in the dome that has since been replaced. Dillingham said he didn’t like the way the previous turf affected the players’ bodies.

Valley heat proving to be nothing to scoff at

The updated dome will help ASU in one of its biggest mismatches all year: the Valley heat.

Each of Dillingham, Arroyo and Ward emphasized wanting to see how the group fights through adversity, and the heat proved to be maybe the team’s biggest adversity on Day 1.

“I think we could’ve hydrated more,” Dillingham said. “We had too many guys cramp. Does that mean it’s hot outside? Yeah, but you can prepare for that.”

“When we’re out here on the field I try to be cognitive of really just making sure that our players are getting enough water. So you kinda gotta be smart, you want to push them, at the same time you gotta have a mindset to make sure nothing bad happens,” Ward said..

“But listen, everybody in the country is dealing with the heat. It’s hot everywhere, so we just gotta do it better than everyone else is doing it. So hydrate. We’re not gonna let up on these plays, we’re still gonna practice our butt off, but you just gotta be smart about the hydration.”

“If you want to be an elite athlete, you have to live like an elite athlete,” Dillingham added.

Wide receivers Jordyn Tyson and Jake Smith eager to get on field

Tyson and Smith are both expected to be very involved with the Sun Devils’ offense this season after neither contributed in 2023 for different reasons.

While Tyson had his injury, Smith dealt with a now-outdated transfer rule that was reversed after football season had concluded, the same ruling that allowed Adam Miller to join ASU men’s basketball in December after its season had already started.

Both receivers arrived in Tempe highly regarded. Tyson caught 22 passes for 470 yards and four touchdowns as a freshman at Colorado in 2022 while Smith struggled to find footing at Texas and USC because of injuries but was a top-50 overall prospect and top-10 wide receiver out of high school, according to 247Sports Composite.

“They’re excited to get out there on the football field,” Ward said of the two, speaking highly of their effort. “That’s all you ask for as a coach. You give them those little nuggets, they go out and they give it all they have and you see them executing their plays, that’s what brings a smile to my face.”

“I feel I’m ready. It’s obviously been a long time since I’ve played football,” Tyson said. “I feel like I’m getting there and with the help of Hines Ward I’m gonna get there.”

Tyson added the most valuable lesson Ward has taught him so far is to take good care of conditioning, otherwise he’ll get pulled off the field. He said he doesn’t want to miss a down this season.

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