Danny Gonzales: Sun Devil defense will play with its ‘hair on fire’

TEMPE, Ariz. — Herm Edwards had a game plan for hiring his first defensive coordinator at Arizona State. He deployed the first step by inviting Danny Gonzales in for an interview on Dec. 17.

Gonzales, the defensive coordinator at San Diego State, was hesitant.  The Aztecs were scheduled to depart on Dec. 19 for the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas on Dec. 23. He didn’t want to be a distraction to his team, so Edwards told him they could work around San Diego State’s schedule.

Gonzales flew to Phoenix after practice on a Sunday night. He arrived at ASU around 10 p.m. and the two talked philosophy, personnel, watched film and cracked jokes until 1:30 a.m.

That’s when Edwards realized his search had ended.

“When the interview was over, I was supposed to interview two more guys,” Edwards said. “I told the guys, ‘I’m offering this guy the job.'”

“I like his energy and where he has come from. He worked to get to where he is and when you watch his guys on film, hoo-boy!”

Gonzales was on a flight at 5 a.m. Monday, heading back to San Diego, but his head was swimming in excitement.

“It was just awesome,” Gonzales said. “Coach Edwards met me downstairs before I left and shook my hand. That told me right there this was going to be a good deal.”

Gonzales is familiar with the U.S. Southwest. He was a three-year letter winner at New Mexico as a punter and safety. He filled several assistant coaching roles at New Mexico under Rocky Long from 1999-2008, and he spent two seasons helping his brother-in-law coach high school football before rejoining Long’s staff at San Diego State in 2011, where he coached the safeties and became defensive coordinator last season.

“When I was finished playing I knew I wasn’t good enough to play in the NFL but I wanted to stay in the game,” Gonzales said. “Coach Long guided me in that direction, but I had others, too. Bronco Mendenhall (now the head coach at Virginia) was my position coach my senior year at New Mexico, and Gary Patterson (now the head coach at TCU) was my position coach my sophomore and junior seasons.

“Gary was the first one to tell me, ‘Danny, you’ll make a great coach one day.’ That kind of planted the seed.”

Gonzales proved his commitment to Long by serving two seasons as a GA, and two more as video coordinator at New Mexico.

“He called me in one day and asked me how serious I was about coaching,” Gonzales said. “He said ‘I want to make some changes and I think it’s time, but some of your buddies might get pissed off if you’re willing to take someone’s job. Before you answer, it’s the nature of the business. If you want the job, tell me you want the job.’

“I said, ‘coach, that’s why I’m here. I want the job.”

Gonzales worked with the safeties, punters, kickers and deep snappers at New Mexico. Lobos safeties combined for 55 pass breakups in 2007-08, and the 2007 New Mexico squad ranked 13th nationally in total defense, 14th in scoring defense and 20th in passing defense.

Gonzales, 40, spent all seven seasons at San Diego State as the safeties coach, but Long handed over the defensive coordinator reins last season. San Diego State finished the 2017 regular season ranked 11th nationally and first in the Mountain West in total defense, allowing just 303.5 yards per game. The Aztecs were ninth in rushing defense (110.4 yards per game) and 27th in passing yards allowed (193.1).

“I was laughing when I told all those others guys I’m getting ready to hire him,” Edwards said. “They’re like, ‘coach, he’s from San Diego State?’ And I’m like, ‘yeah, that same San Diego State that beat us and Stanford.’ All I know is every time they play these Pac-12 schools they beat ’em.”

Long has employed a 3-3-5 defense for more than two decades, in part because he wasn’t able to recruit the most physically gifted and weighty defensive linemen at New Mexico or San Diego State. The defense is susceptible to the run with only three down linemen, but it is effective against the read-option and the spread, and it allows for more deception with the five defensive backs.

It also produces turnovers. Since the start of the 2015 season, SDSU has forced 83 turnovers.

“There is nothing magical about creating turnovers through drills,” Gonzales said. “It comes with guys playing hard. When you’re mean and nasty and hitting hard, that ball just seems to pop out. If you have that same attitude rushing the passer, after a while he gets tired of getting hit. All of the sudden, he doesn’t throw the ball as well.”

Gonzales wasn’t ready to say what tweaks he might make to his system with Pac-12 recruits.

“We’ve got some talented kids here,” he said. “I have watched all 13 of their games. I have some ideas, but I don’t think it would be fair of any of our coaches to truly evaluate or gain an opinion until we get to know them.

“Personality traits mean a lot and determine a lot of how you play them. The true evaluation comes after 15 practices in spring ball. Seven or eight practices into fall camp, we’re going to know who’s going to play and how we’re going to do things. Hopefully by then, they’ll understand our expectations, too.”

While Gonzales wouldn’t say what the defense would look like, he did promise how it would play.

“One thing I can tell you is we’re going to be super aggressive,” he said. “The No. 1 thing we’re going to do here is they’re going to play like their hair is on fire; 11 guys running to the ball with ill intent.”

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