By Craig Morgan, thesundevils.com Writer
TEMPE, Ariz. -- The popular storyline on linebacker Koron Crump last season was that he made an impact ahead of schedule. The junior transfer from Fort Scott (Kansas) Community College finished tied for fourth in the Pac-12 and tied for 21st nationally with nine sacks.
Ask Crump for his take on his first season as a Sun Devil and you'll hear a vastly different evaluation.
"I've got to be way better than last year," Crump said after the first day of spring practice on Tuesday. "My goal is more sacks, more stopping the run, more of everything."
Crump believes he can make more of an impact as a pass rusher. He only had one sack in the Sun Devils' final four games and he barely played against Utah because of the scheme. In his ideal world, he'd love to average two sacks per game, but on a more practical level, he knows he must be better against the run.
"He was sort of a long distance down guy last year," said Sun Devils first-year defensive coordinator Phil Bennett, who recruited Crump at Baylor. "He can really rush the passer but one of the goals I want to see him accomplish is to become a complete football player; be an every down guy and to do that he's got to get stronger against the run."
To that end, Crump went to work on his body during the offseason. He added seven pounds of weight under the tutelage of sports performance coach Shawn Griswold, but his body looks like it's been entirely remade with long, lean muscle mass. 2
"More conditioning, more lifting, working on drops, power, hand placement, just looking for the ball and getting my eyes in the right place … I did it all over the break," Crump said.
Commitment is one area the coaching staff never worries about with Crump. Coaches often revert to clichés when labeling players as workout fiends or film geeks. In Crump's case, it's all true. He shows up before the coaches on Sundays, his body is a testament to the physical work he's put in and his quick grasp of the Sun Devils' system is a testament to his study habits.
The coaching staff is so enamored with Crump's approach that they have asked him to mentor juco transfer Dougladson Subtyl, with whom Crump is now roommates.
"I talk to kids about having a presence. The great football players you and I have seen always had a presence about them and Koron has that; he expects to do well and that can be contagious," Bennett said.
"The thing that you love about both of them, Koron and Doug, is they're pleasers and after nearly 40 years of coaching I can tell you that's not always the case. Don't get me wrong, kids are still great but those two are truly pleasers. They want you to approve of what they're doing and I like that."
When Crump arrived at ASU he was already sold on the idea that his elders and coaches possessed knowledge he needed to absorb.
"In juco, I always went down and talked to the coaches and asked questions, so the more you do it, you get more comfortable," Crump said. "Guys should do it more, not be afraid to ask. It really helps just talking with the coaches. They help you with the plays and when you get on the field you already talked about the questions you were probably going to ask so you already know what to do on the field. You're ahead."
Crump said he is "way more comfortable" this spring with what he is being asked to do. Both he and Bennett believe that comfort level will help him progress faster.
"For a guy that is as instinctive and fast as he is, he still hasn't played a whole lot of football," Bennett said. "One of the things we have done while building this package is try to put him in a position where what he can do, he can do well. We're going to put him in the open side where can use his speed; use his play-making skills.
"We have a couple packages where we're going to put him only at defensive end. Some of the time, we're going to put him as a drop. I don't think there's many tight ends or backs that can outrun him."
Time will tell what sort of impact Crump makes in his final season as a Sun Devil, but he already looks like another in coach Todd Graham's line of successful junior college transfers.
"We have a great tradition with the junior college players and transitioning them onto the field, playing at a high level," Graham said. "Quite a few of those guys got an opportunity to play at the next level.
"He has a great heart and he really has a great desire to be really good. He's a guy that's willing to spend the time and work at it."
Crump isn't about to surrender state secrets on what Bennett has in store for him this season, but the anticipation in his voice is obvious.
"He recruited me out of juco so we already had a good relationship and we've been clicking," Crump said of Bennett. "Great guy. I can't say much about what we're going to do but he's really helping. I like the defense we're running."
TEMPE, Ariz. -- The popular storyline on linebacker Koron Crump last season was that he made an impact ahead of schedule. The junior transfer from Fort Scott (Kansas) Community College finished tied for fourth in the Pac-12 and tied for 21st nationally with nine sacks.
Ask Crump for his take on his first season as a Sun Devil and you'll hear a vastly different evaluation.
"I've got to be way better than last year," Crump said after the first day of spring practice on Tuesday. "My goal is more sacks, more stopping the run, more of everything."
Crump believes he can make more of an impact as a pass rusher. He only had one sack in the Sun Devils' final four games and he barely played against Utah because of the scheme. In his ideal world, he'd love to average two sacks per game, but on a more practical level, he knows he must be better against the run.
"He was sort of a long distance down guy last year," said Sun Devils first-year defensive coordinator Phil Bennett, who recruited Crump at Baylor. "He can really rush the passer but one of the goals I want to see him accomplish is to become a complete football player; be an every down guy and to do that he's got to get stronger against the run."
To that end, Crump went to work on his body during the offseason. He added seven pounds of weight under the tutelage of sports performance coach Shawn Griswold, but his body looks like it's been entirely remade with long, lean muscle mass. 2
"More conditioning, more lifting, working on drops, power, hand placement, just looking for the ball and getting my eyes in the right place … I did it all over the break," Crump said.
Commitment is one area the coaching staff never worries about with Crump. Coaches often revert to clichés when labeling players as workout fiends or film geeks. In Crump's case, it's all true. He shows up before the coaches on Sundays, his body is a testament to the physical work he's put in and his quick grasp of the Sun Devils' system is a testament to his study habits.
The coaching staff is so enamored with Crump's approach that they have asked him to mentor juco transfer Dougladson Subtyl, with whom Crump is now roommates.
"I talk to kids about having a presence. The great football players you and I have seen always had a presence about them and Koron has that; he expects to do well and that can be contagious," Bennett said.
"The thing that you love about both of them, Koron and Doug, is they're pleasers and after nearly 40 years of coaching I can tell you that's not always the case. Don't get me wrong, kids are still great but those two are truly pleasers. They want you to approve of what they're doing and I like that."
When Crump arrived at ASU he was already sold on the idea that his elders and coaches possessed knowledge he needed to absorb.
"In juco, I always went down and talked to the coaches and asked questions, so the more you do it, you get more comfortable," Crump said. "Guys should do it more, not be afraid to ask. It really helps just talking with the coaches. They help you with the plays and when you get on the field you already talked about the questions you were probably going to ask so you already know what to do on the field. You're ahead."
Crump said he is "way more comfortable" this spring with what he is being asked to do. Both he and Bennett believe that comfort level will help him progress faster.
"For a guy that is as instinctive and fast as he is, he still hasn't played a whole lot of football," Bennett said. "One of the things we have done while building this package is try to put him in a position where what he can do, he can do well. We're going to put him in the open side where can use his speed; use his play-making skills.
"We have a couple packages where we're going to put him only at defensive end. Some of the time, we're going to put him as a drop. I don't think there's many tight ends or backs that can outrun him."
Time will tell what sort of impact Crump makes in his final season as a Sun Devil, but he already looks like another in coach Todd Graham's line of successful junior college transfers.
"We have a great tradition with the junior college players and transitioning them onto the field, playing at a high level," Graham said. "Quite a few of those guys got an opportunity to play at the next level.
"He has a great heart and he really has a great desire to be really good. He's a guy that's willing to spend the time and work at it."
Crump isn't about to surrender state secrets on what Bennett has in store for him this season, but the anticipation in his voice is obvious.
"He recruited me out of juco so we already had a good relationship and we've been clicking," Crump said of Bennett. "Great guy. I can't say much about what we're going to do but he's really helping. I like the defense we're running."