ASU safety Evan Fields coming back to help Sun Devils win big in 2021

The motivation behind Arizona State senior safety Evan Fields’ decision to return to Tempe for the upcoming season was cut and dry.

Fields, fresh off a junior season where he posted 38 tackles and three forced fumbles, wanted to reach new heights with his brothers in maroon and gold.

“My main goal when I’m out on the field is I want to win,” Fields said. “That’s where it all stems from. I want to be the best, so I want to make mark.”

The decision also had a lot to do with improving his personal performance and the way the entire defensive backfield unit plays the game.

“I talked it over with my family and the coaches and everything and it just seemed like it would be the best decision,” Fields said.

“So I basically did what’s best for me and came back to play with my teammates and to get to that ultimate goal of playing in a Rose Bowl, that’s the main goal. And then just getting better as a player and being the best that I can be.”

Defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce expressed his confidence in the year ahead for a player that was a cog in the team’s secondary last fall.

Pierce believes that Fields, despite his success over the past three years, can elevate his game further by focusing on improving his coverage skills and other elements of the game in the months ahead.

“I think we all know that Evan Fields is a missile,” Pierce said. “If you remember that USC game, he was all over the field, almost 20 tackles. I think coverage would be the main thing for us and would be the best thing for him going forward as he at some point goes to the NFL.”

Above all, Pierce said he wants to stress injury prevention for the senior during the spring and summer months so that Fields will be in fine form come the regular season.

“Evan plays such a physical style of football – he’s always nicked up,” Pierce said. “And the more we can protect him – he could have actually gone in spring ball today – but our job is to protect him from himself.”

Fields certainly has his fair share of confidence in his ability to be a game-changer for Pierce and company in 2021, using the lessons he’s learned from ASU’s staff to lead the Sun Devils to new heights in the fall.

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