By Craig Morgan, thesundevils.com Writer
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Manny Wilkins has stared down far greater challenges than the game of football can devise. Wilkins' dad, Manny Wilkins Sr., died of a drug overdose when Manny was 10.
"He cried a lot, like any other kid would," Manny's uncle Chris Casanovas said, "but a big, telling moment came when he stood up to eulogize his dad in front of all these people.
"It's not something I would have necessarily chosen for a 10 year old. His lip quivered and there were tears, but he stood up there and he talked about his dad. That was a real grow-up moment that came too soon. After that, staring into the face of a blitzing linebacker seems like old hat."
Sun Devils football coach Todd Graham and offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey used all of spring ball and much of training camp to determine which quarterback deserved to inherit the starting job between Wilkins, Brady White and Bryce Perkins. They settled on Wilkins because Graham "felt like over the body of work that he was the guy that elevated the other guys around him."
There is more to Wilkins' evolution than his mastery of the offense or the respect he commands from his teammates, however. There is a difference in his demeanor: a quiet confidence. It is as if he has stuffed all of life's trials and lessons into a tightly packed roll of resolve.
"I'm the same person I was when I got here but I've just learned more as I've grown older," Wilkins said Tuesday in a lengthy interview with thesundevils.com said. "I see things a little bit differently than I did then. I understand the importance of what older, wiser people are telling me and I'm learning not to take life for granted; not to take opportunities for granted.
"I've seen kids in the same situation I'm in lose that opportunity for getting in trouble, lose it for grades or just plain lose their life in other programs like the kid at Arizona (Zach Hemmila). Tomorrow is not promised so you've got to soak it all in and take advantage of every opportunity you get."
Wilkins moved from Minnesota to Marin County (California) at age 5 with his mom, Natalie Ford, and his younger sister, Kamaria, bringing them close to Chris and Nicki Casanovas, the uncle and aunt with whom Wilkins lived for the final three years of his high-school career at San Marin High.
Wilkins' dad was released from prison when Manny was 8 and Casanovas said their relationship blossomed for the next two years.
"He was living up in Auburn, which is closer to Sacramento, but he was really involved with Manny in any way he could be," Casanovas said. "He would come to every sporting event he could, job permitting. He really did make an effort and Manny loved his dad; loved being around him."
When Manny Sr. died, it set off a chain of events that sent Manny into a spiral. After helpful talks with a grief counselor he remembers only as Mr. Woods, Manny's mom got a job offer and moved the family near Houston, where she endured some struggles of her own.
By the time Manny enrolled at Elkins High School in Missouri City, Texas, he was lacking guidance, lacking discipline and lacking the essential relationships that shelter and nourish a kid through a transitional time of life.
"I had my issues; my roller coaster days," he said. "I was hanging out with older kids as a freshman; going out when I shouldn't be going out, not doing my homework, skipping school. It was like I got all that stuff out of me at a young age."
His mom tried sending to him to live with his grandfather in rural Colorado, but that didn't work out and after more moves, he ended up back in Marin County with the Casanovas, attending San Marin High.
"I remember meeting him within the first two or three days of his arrival," San Marin athletic director and boys basketball coach Craig Pitti said. "He came into his counselor's office and said he was interested in playing football. I looked at his transcript without many credits to his name and I said, 'that's just not going to be possible.'
"I'd seen enough kids in similar situations to wonder 'gosh, how is this thing going to turn around?'"
With the guidance and love of the Casanovas, the influence of a positive peer group, the mentoring of Pitti and football coach Steve Stanfel, and a whole host of other people, Wilkins did turn it around.
He transformed his game from a classic pocket passer to a read-option runner and decision-maker, he lifted his grades and good friend Jared Goff (now with the Los Angeles Rams) helped him land a spot in the 2013 Elite 11 Regional Camp for quarterbacks in San Francisco.
When it came time to choose a college, Wilkins had several choices, but the Casanovas were set on ASU for a couple reasons. Chris had gone to school with ASU legend Pat Tillman at Leland High School in San Jose and remained friends with the family after Pat's death. When they visited ASU with Wilkins, the Casanovas got a sense of how much Tillman's example influenced the school's philosophy.
Nicki Casanovas had another reason for choosing ASU.
"Every college football program has a catch phrase they use or philosophy they preach and 90 percent of it is lip service," Chris Casanovas said. "I don't know why it is, but wives can see through that stuff better than men. Nicki didn't want to hear about depth charts or offenses. She wanted to hear about the quality and character of men that were going to be around Manny in his day-to-day life.
"When we talked to coach Graham and his staff they were sincere. We were confident they would be watching out for him. We were confident that the culture at ASU, specifically having disciplinarian type of expectations and teaching kids to say 'yes, sir' and 'no, sir' and preaching character would be the right situation for Manny."
If you believe it takes a village to raise a kid, then you would have wanted to be in Novato, California last Saturday when Wilkins took the field for his first college start against Northern Arizona with the tight-knit San Marin High community watching intently.
"I use Manny as an example for our other kids to see what is possible; what you can overcome," Pitti said. "It's amazing what he has done, but not because I ever doubted his ability. Manny has always been a really respectful and intelligent kid with incredible athletic ability. It's just amazing when you consider where he came from.
"I texted him the other day before (ASU's) first game and said, 'I can't believe that the kid I met as a sophomore is now starting for a Division I, Pac-12 football team. I couldn't be prouder of you.'"
Wilkins knows he has more growing to do, more maturity to build, more progress to make. It's not easy taking over a major conference team as a redshirt sophomore when you haven't thrown a single college pass. Then again, it's a trifle compared to the obstacles Wilkins has already overcome.
"Everything that's happened to me in my past has shaped me and a lot of people have helped me along the way," he said. "Obviously, I lost my dad and that was hard. It left a hole in me, but I bounced back and it taught me some things. I always want to be around for my family, I always want to appreciate what I have.
"I know my dad's watching down on me and I know he's proud of me every day so when I wake up in the morning I know that I'm blessed to live the life I live."
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Manny Wilkins has stared down far greater challenges than the game of football can devise. Wilkins' dad, Manny Wilkins Sr., died of a drug overdose when Manny was 10.
"He cried a lot, like any other kid would," Manny's uncle Chris Casanovas said, "but a big, telling moment came when he stood up to eulogize his dad in front of all these people.
"It's not something I would have necessarily chosen for a 10 year old. His lip quivered and there were tears, but he stood up there and he talked about his dad. That was a real grow-up moment that came too soon. After that, staring into the face of a blitzing linebacker seems like old hat."
Sun Devils football coach Todd Graham and offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey used all of spring ball and much of training camp to determine which quarterback deserved to inherit the starting job between Wilkins, Brady White and Bryce Perkins. They settled on Wilkins because Graham "felt like over the body of work that he was the guy that elevated the other guys around him."
There is more to Wilkins' evolution than his mastery of the offense or the respect he commands from his teammates, however. There is a difference in his demeanor: a quiet confidence. It is as if he has stuffed all of life's trials and lessons into a tightly packed roll of resolve.
"I'm the same person I was when I got here but I've just learned more as I've grown older," Wilkins said Tuesday in a lengthy interview with thesundevils.com said. "I see things a little bit differently than I did then. I understand the importance of what older, wiser people are telling me and I'm learning not to take life for granted; not to take opportunities for granted.
"I've seen kids in the same situation I'm in lose that opportunity for getting in trouble, lose it for grades or just plain lose their life in other programs like the kid at Arizona (Zach Hemmila). Tomorrow is not promised so you've got to soak it all in and take advantage of every opportunity you get."
Wilkins moved from Minnesota to Marin County (California) at age 5 with his mom, Natalie Ford, and his younger sister, Kamaria, bringing them close to Chris and Nicki Casanovas, the uncle and aunt with whom Wilkins lived for the final three years of his high-school career at San Marin High.
Wilkins' dad was released from prison when Manny was 8 and Casanovas said their relationship blossomed for the next two years.
"He was living up in Auburn, which is closer to Sacramento, but he was really involved with Manny in any way he could be," Casanovas said. "He would come to every sporting event he could, job permitting. He really did make an effort and Manny loved his dad; loved being around him."
When Manny Sr. died, it set off a chain of events that sent Manny into a spiral. After helpful talks with a grief counselor he remembers only as Mr. Woods, Manny's mom got a job offer and moved the family near Houston, where she endured some struggles of her own.
By the time Manny enrolled at Elkins High School in Missouri City, Texas, he was lacking guidance, lacking discipline and lacking the essential relationships that shelter and nourish a kid through a transitional time of life.
"I had my issues; my roller coaster days," he said. "I was hanging out with older kids as a freshman; going out when I shouldn't be going out, not doing my homework, skipping school. It was like I got all that stuff out of me at a young age."
His mom tried sending to him to live with his grandfather in rural Colorado, but that didn't work out and after more moves, he ended up back in Marin County with the Casanovas, attending San Marin High.
"I remember meeting him within the first two or three days of his arrival," San Marin athletic director and boys basketball coach Craig Pitti said. "He came into his counselor's office and said he was interested in playing football. I looked at his transcript without many credits to his name and I said, 'that's just not going to be possible.'
"I'd seen enough kids in similar situations to wonder 'gosh, how is this thing going to turn around?'"
With the guidance and love of the Casanovas, the influence of a positive peer group, the mentoring of Pitti and football coach Steve Stanfel, and a whole host of other people, Wilkins did turn it around.
He transformed his game from a classic pocket passer to a read-option runner and decision-maker, he lifted his grades and good friend Jared Goff (now with the Los Angeles Rams) helped him land a spot in the 2013 Elite 11 Regional Camp for quarterbacks in San Francisco.
When it came time to choose a college, Wilkins had several choices, but the Casanovas were set on ASU for a couple reasons. Chris had gone to school with ASU legend Pat Tillman at Leland High School in San Jose and remained friends with the family after Pat's death. When they visited ASU with Wilkins, the Casanovas got a sense of how much Tillman's example influenced the school's philosophy.
Nicki Casanovas had another reason for choosing ASU.
"Every college football program has a catch phrase they use or philosophy they preach and 90 percent of it is lip service," Chris Casanovas said. "I don't know why it is, but wives can see through that stuff better than men. Nicki didn't want to hear about depth charts or offenses. She wanted to hear about the quality and character of men that were going to be around Manny in his day-to-day life.
"When we talked to coach Graham and his staff they were sincere. We were confident they would be watching out for him. We were confident that the culture at ASU, specifically having disciplinarian type of expectations and teaching kids to say 'yes, sir' and 'no, sir' and preaching character would be the right situation for Manny."
If you believe it takes a village to raise a kid, then you would have wanted to be in Novato, California last Saturday when Wilkins took the field for his first college start against Northern Arizona with the tight-knit San Marin High community watching intently.
"I use Manny as an example for our other kids to see what is possible; what you can overcome," Pitti said. "It's amazing what he has done, but not because I ever doubted his ability. Manny has always been a really respectful and intelligent kid with incredible athletic ability. It's just amazing when you consider where he came from.
"I texted him the other day before (ASU's) first game and said, 'I can't believe that the kid I met as a sophomore is now starting for a Division I, Pac-12 football team. I couldn't be prouder of you.'"
Wilkins knows he has more growing to do, more maturity to build, more progress to make. It's not easy taking over a major conference team as a redshirt sophomore when you haven't thrown a single college pass. Then again, it's a trifle compared to the obstacles Wilkins has already overcome.
"Everything that's happened to me in my past has shaped me and a lot of people have helped me along the way," he said. "Obviously, I lost my dad and that was hard. It left a hole in me, but I bounced back and it taught me some things. I always want to be around for my family, I always want to appreciate what I have.
"I know my dad's watching down on me and I know he's proud of me every day so when I wake up in the morning I know that I'm blessed to live the life I live."