Football

Inside ASU Football
 
April 22, 2003

Archived Columns

We have a whole lot of catching up to do:

No news on the Chijioke situation. The NLI Steering Committee, to my knowledge, has not met yet; and we don't have a timetable for when they will. All I can say at this time is that we did what we where told to do by the Pac-10 Office.

Some major happenings in the last two weeks:

Juniors Andrew Walter and Riccardo Stewart were voted "season" captains for 2003. We will also have two game captains each week. These guys will be the type of representative we all want for this program.

We had over 140 golfers and 120 former players at the Huddle Club Golf Tournament last Friday at "The Legacy Resort." Thanks to all of our sponsors and the Tournament Committee. (See the list of ex-players, Committee Members and Sponsors at the end of this article.) It was a fun day with some great Sun Devil Pride on display.

We had over 180 coaches at our annual spring Coaches Clinic. Clinicians included: Brent Guy from our staff, Joe Kersting from Glendale Community College, Mike Brown from Greenway High School, and a trio of successful out-of-state coaches, Barry Norton, 4A State Champs at Texarkana High School, John Barnes From Los Alamitos High School and Jim Benkert from Westlake High School in California. All of the speakers did a fantastic job.

At the Coaches Clinic, we announced that we would allow every high school team in Arizona to attend our home opener with NAU free of charge on September 6. This is a good way to expose all of the high school players to what we are doing at ASU.

We did work on the shotgun a little bit during spring ball. I hope everyone is happy!

Hakim Hill rejoined the squad for team related activities as of Monday, April 21; however, there are still some things that Hakim must work through medically, as well as institutionally to be fully reinstated for fall camp.

We will be getting a slightly new look to our uniforms starting this fall. There will be no change to the "Sparky" on the helmet or to the gold pants at home. What will change is a slightly more modern look for both the maroon (home) and white (away) jersey. We put together an advisory committee this past winter consisting of current and former players, boosters, administrators, Adidas representatives, and my wife. I like what they came up with and I hope you will too. Everyone needs to realize that no matter what you do, some people will not be happy. I think this is a sharp look that fits the bill. Please don't make this a bigger issue than it is. We do and always will respect the proud tradition of ASU Football.

We had several VIP visitors during spring ball. Art Shell (NFL Hall of Fame) spoke to our guys last week as part of the NFL Education Program. Practice guests included Andy Reid (Eagles Head Coach), former Sun Devils Derrick Rodgers (Dolphins) and Mark Malone (ESPN), and current NFL players Byron Chamberlain (Vikings), and Terrel Davis (Broncos) to name a few.

Now for the spring ball recap:

I think we accomplished the majority of our goals for spring ball, and at the time of this writing am happy to say that we should not have any players missing time in the fall due to injury. We got our questions answered at most positions.

Cornerback
Josh Golden and Manny Franklin both got better and will compete opposite RJ Oliver in the fall. Mike Davis just needs more time, but I love his competitive spirit.

Safety
Shivers, Stewart, and Hudson can play for anybody in our league. We like what we see from Joey Smith, Matt Fawley, Lamar Baker and JW Lucas. All of these athletes will help us on Special Teams.

Defensive Line
Jimmy Verdon being hurt and Ali Likio's absence for much of the spring hurt us depth-wise, but Shane Jones, Brian Montesanto and Nick Johnson all did a nice job. You can really see what a difference a year makes with Shane. Connor Banks, Gabe Reininger, Ricky Parker, Matt Mason and Josh Kirkwood all improved and will help our team. Gabe reminds us a lot of Shane Jones and Ricky is a lot like Jimmy Verdon.

Offensive Line
This is the area I feel we had the most growth in. Inside we have four starters for three spots. Drew Hodgdon, Tony Aguilar, Tim Fa'aita and Regis Crawford can all play and we will need them all. Zack Krula had a strong spring as well. Adrian Ayala will also play inside when he returns from ankle surgery this fall. At tackle, Grayling Love really established himself on the right side. Andrew Carnahan became the surprise of spring ball by slightly outplaying Chaz White. Stephen Berg and Chad Rosson also made significant progress. We are stronger and deeper than we were a year ago.

Running backs
Mike Williams improved our team by working primarily at flanker. He improved his route running and his flexibility. We will be more versatile with this option. Cornell Canidate got better at making a decision and hitting the hole with authority. We were really happy with the progress of Randy Hill and Loren Wade. These two guys are strong runners and picked up the protection side of it much sooner than we thought they would. We have solid depth at TB. Mike Karney played the best ball of his career. He is faster and more explosive than ever and still has very soft hands. Mike Talbot really came on as a long snapper and will continue to excel on Special Teams. Joe Aboussie improved tremendously as a run blocker.

Tight End
We have good depth here. Lee Burghgraef is Mr. Consistency and knows what he is doing at all times. Lee is a tough, competitive player. Aaron Austin started strong, leveled off, then finished strong - very typical for a JC transfer. We have high hopes for Aaron and he will do nothing but get better. Jamaal Lewis is the most improved at this position. He improved his blocking dramatically and is a big play threat in the passing game. Frank Maddox adds depth and experience and also learned some FB to help us be as versatile and flexible as possible.

WR
We will be fine. Skyler Fulton has a special magic with Andrew. D-lite had by far his best and most consistent series of workouts ever. Hagan, Miller, and Richardson will all play a lot of snaps and can all make plays. Derek and Matt can play all the spots, while Terry is very explosive. Walk-on players Moey Mutz and Steve Bisnett both ran sub 4.5 40 yard dashes and will add depth.

QB
Andrew Walter improved his footwork in the pocket, ball position/leverage and as a leader. He has total command of what we are trying to do. Chad played his best the last two weeks and is #2 at this time. Chad knows what to do and just needs to keep getting better at doing it. Kellen is still learning and still bothered somewhat by his left shoulder. He just needs more time.

Kicker/Punter
Tim Parker was solid as you would expect at punter, but we were pleasantly surprised with him as a FG kicker. Kyle Dixon has a strong leg as a kick-off man and can also kick field goals.

Returners
Josh Golden, D-lite and Terry Richardson all looked good. On kick-off returns, we will also use Jason Shivers, Cornell Canidate and Randy Hill.

All in all, we are quite happy with our progress. We developed more depth, know the schemes much better, and were able to transfer the strength and speed from the weight room to the field. If we can continue to develop our team unity and have a great summer, the fall should be very exciting. Get your season tickets now, then hook up a few friends!

GO DEVILS!

FORMER PLAYERS WHO PARTICIPATED IN HUDDLE CLUB GOLF

First Name	Last Name	Years Played	Position
Chad	Ackerley	1991-1993	OL
Scott	Alden	1971-1975	OT
Dick	Allen	1947-1948	OL, DL
Vince	Amoia	1984-1985	FB
Curtis	Arons	1982-1983	TE
Steve	Athanasoulis	1985-1988	WR
Brad	Belanger	1992-1995	QB, WR
Don	Bigler	1959-1961	FB, LB, C
Greg	Blakes	1977-1979	OL
Jean	Boyd	1991-1993	S
Wayne	Bradley	1971-1973	DB
Adam	Brass	1989-1992	FS
Bob	Breunig	1972-1974	LB
Keith	Burke	1989-1991	WR
Steve	Bush	1992, 1996	TE
Bryan	Caldwell	1978-1983	DE
Manny	Carbajal	1991-1994	DL
Bob	Carl	1976-1979	LB
Mike	Chowaniec	1966-1968	RG
Shane	Collins	1988-1991	DL
Bill	Cunningham	1982-1987	OT
Rodney	Dillard	1984-1989	LB
Raul	Disarufino	1960-1961	QB
Mark	Duckens	1987-1988	DL
Chris	Finn	1993-1996	LB
Mark	Foley	1986-1987	FB
Brian	Forth	1996-2000	WR
Patrick	Fresch	1988-1992	OL
Glen	Gable	1993-1997	OL
Jeff	Gallimore	1982-1986	TE
Chris	Garrett	1985-1988	WR
Michael	Gauthier	1997-1998	PK
Dave	Grannell	1970-1973	TE
Edward	Grant	1986-1989	OL
Willie	Green	1980-1984	LB
Derrick	Hart	1989-1993	WR
Jim	Heilig	1974-1975	C
Gavin	Hill	1990-1992	DE
Steve	Holden	1969-1972	WR
Todd	Hons	1982-1983	QB
Lynn	James	1987-1989	WR
Greg	Joelson	1987-1988	LB
Brett	Johnson	1985-1988	SS
BT	Jones	1985-1989	FS
Todd	Kalis	1984-1987	OL
Dale	Keller	1961-1962	TE, WR
Larry	Kentera	1947-1949	LB
Ed	Kindig	1970-1973	OT, C
Tim	Kirby	1987-1991	OL
Gary	Knudson	1987-1988	TE
Stein	Koss	1982-1986	TE
Frank	Kush	1958-1979	Legend
Nathan	LaDuke	1987-1990	DB
Chris	Lorenzen	1971-1975	DT
Dan	Lucas	1992-1994	LB
Joey	Lumpkin	1978-1981	LB
Dan	Mackie	1979-1982	OL
Mark	Malone	1976-1979	QB
Mark	Markichevich	1947-1950	QB, FB, HB
Prentice	McCray	1969-1973	CB
John	Michael	1974-1976	QB, WR
Bob	Minittie	1959-1963	QB, RB, DB
John	Mistler	1978-1980	WR
Ted	Monago	1990-1992	CB
Jason	Moore	1998-2000	TE
Duane	Morrison	1949-1952	HB
Jim	Murphy	1961-1964	C, LB
Anthony	Parker	1984-1987	DB
Bruce	Perkins	1988-1989	RB
Joel	Peters	1978-1979	DL
Joe	Petty	1969-1973	TE
Jake	Plummer	1993-1996	QB
Keith	Poole	1992-1996	WR
Aualos	Pris	1973-1975	DL
Hank	Rich	1949-1951	S, HB
Dr. Kirk	Robertson	1992-1996	OL
Frank	Rudolph	1983-1987	DE
Sam	Santana	1992-1995	LB
Greg	Schultz	1975-1979	DB
Dan	Seivert	1953	RB
Kevin	Shaffer		Manager & Sponsor
Sean	Shepherd	1991-1994	DB
Mike	Simmons	1986-1989	OL
Ron	Simone	1983-1986	WR
Shawn	Swayda	1992-1996	DL
Jerry	Szostak	1963-1966	LB
Pat	Taylor	1984-1987	LB
Kevin	Thomas	1982-1987	OL
Craig	Torosian	1987-1990	DL
Chuck	Underwood	1991-1993	OL
Jeff	Van Raaphorst	1983-1986	QB
Scott	Veach	1987-1989	TE
Brett	Wallerstedt	1989-1992	LB
Jim	Warne	1984-1986	OL
Jim	Watson	1988-1991	OL
Al	Weiganet	1973-1976	DE
Kirk	Wendorf	1985-1988	RB
Jeff	White	1990-1991	OL
Bob	Widmer	1959-1962	LB, DL
Paul	Widmer	1955-1958	OL
Ryan	Wood	1993-1995	FB
Kevin	Woudenberg	1970-1971	DT
Ron	Wunderley	1952-1955	OL, HB, FB
Edwin	Young	1961-1963	LB, OG
Derek	Zazueta	1987-1989	DL
Rick	Zumwalt	1986-1987	DE, LB

HUDDLE CLUB TOURNAMENT COMMITTEE MEMBERS:

Allen Benedict	Brett Wallerstedt
Chad Ackerley	Don Bocchi
Frank Kush	Jake Plummer
Jeff Van Raaphorst	Jim Watson
Raul Disarufino	Stein Koss
Steve Matlock	Ron Wunderley
George Wynn

HUDDLE CLUB GOLF SPONSORS

Gold Sponsors:
Bill Riddle (Valle Luna Mexican Restaurants)
Verde Dickey (Verco Maufacturing)
Doug Barks, Scott Ogorek & Tom Gardner
Howard Ginsberg (Strategic Alliance Marketing
Gary Bowen, Claire Lane & Kay Posvar
Van Chevrolet
Don Johnson (Schaefer Smith Ankeney Insurance

Tee Sponsors
LA-Z BOY Furniture Galleries
Stein Koss - Lee & Associates
Gregory K. Rabitz, DDS - Dentistry for Children, San Jose, CA
Dr. Norman Fee - The Orthopedic Clinic
ASU Football - 1970, 71, 72 & 73
Jeff Van Raaphorst - Benton Biomedical
Adam Brass - Naumann Hobbs Material Handling
Frank Rudolph - Naumann Hobbs Material Handling
Sam Santana - Naumann Hobbs Material Handling
Guerrero Lindsey Sign Company
Kobar Auto Service
Lighting Solutions
In Memory of #99 Tim Landers - Always a Sun Devil

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