By Craig Morgan, thesundevils.com Writer
TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Sun Devils football coaches told D.J. Calhoun to model senior Salamo Fiso last season. As a junior, Calhoun knew it would be his job to step into Fiso's leadership shoes this year at inside linebacker.
The mentor-student relationship didn't work so well when Fiso was suspended for the first three games of the season for disciplinary reasons, but Fiso won Calhoun's heart when he returned to the lineup on a mission to make up for past transgressions. Fiso had an interception and a team-high nine tackles as the Sun Devils rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to defeat Cal, 51-41, in the Pac-12 opener.
"It was a struggle in that game but he told Coach P (defensive coordinator Keith Patterson) 'just calm down. I got you.'" Calhoun said. "He got that pick and Laiu [Moeakiola] got his pick and Salamo was everywhere. After that, I was like, 'man, Salamo's a god to me.'"
Fiso has graduated. Calhoun is the model now, but he has a familiar partner in redshirt junior linebacker Christian Sam, who missed all but one game last season after suffering a foot injury in the season opener against Northern Arizona.
"Me and DJ came in together so we have been together for four years," Sam said. "We're like brothers; diehard."
They'll be counted on to fill an expanded role on new coordinator Phil Bennett's defense.
"Just the fact that you're processing the information you get from the defensive coach puts a lot of emphasis on the linebackers to communicate," ASU linebackers coach Keith Patterson said. "The thing I like about it is it creates ownership for those guys. They've got to do a great job of studying and know what the plan is for that particular game."
In the Sun Devils' new system, Calhoun and Sam will be charged with a progression of pre-snap reads to gauge formations, backfield sets and get everyone lined up quickly; prepared to make plays.
"That's big because that tells you everything on how an offense is going to attack you," Patterson said. "The more you can identify and recognize before the ball is snapped, the better player you're going to be because you anticipate almost to the point where it's reaction and you can play that much faster."
Both players are embracing that challenge.
"I'm very comfortable in it and I really I don't really know why," said Calhoun, who joins defensive lineman Tashon Smallwood as the only players to play in every game the last three seasons. "Maybe it's just my senior year and everything just clicked. When I'm in the film room, it's just easy now; not a struggle like it used to be.
"It's my senior year so I've got to take the role. It's that next man up mentality but in general, I'm the communicator, me and Christian, and it's not that hard because as you grow, you mature and you start to get everything, every concept."
Sam is anxious to get back on the field after a lost season, but he understands the role that spring ball played, and training camp will play in pushing him back to his desired level.
"You just have to perfect your craft and this is where you can perfect your craft," said Sam. "There's no Ws or Ls here in the spring so that's when you really get to work, experiment, try new things. I'm ready for summer camp now and then I'll be ready for fall camp. I'm going to get after it."
Calhoun said he is embracing everything that comes with being a senior.
"The thing I love most about this role, and what I really want to do is teach our young guys," he said. "Me and Christian aren't just the guys that automatically start and play all the time. Those younger guys, they have to come up and fight just how we did. I don't want them sitting down. I want them to get reps just like we got reps because they're the future, just like I was."
TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Sun Devils football coaches told D.J. Calhoun to model senior Salamo Fiso last season. As a junior, Calhoun knew it would be his job to step into Fiso's leadership shoes this year at inside linebacker.
The mentor-student relationship didn't work so well when Fiso was suspended for the first three games of the season for disciplinary reasons, but Fiso won Calhoun's heart when he returned to the lineup on a mission to make up for past transgressions. Fiso had an interception and a team-high nine tackles as the Sun Devils rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to defeat Cal, 51-41, in the Pac-12 opener.
"It was a struggle in that game but he told Coach P (defensive coordinator Keith Patterson) 'just calm down. I got you.'" Calhoun said. "He got that pick and Laiu [Moeakiola] got his pick and Salamo was everywhere. After that, I was like, 'man, Salamo's a god to me.'"
Fiso has graduated. Calhoun is the model now, but he has a familiar partner in redshirt junior linebacker Christian Sam, who missed all but one game last season after suffering a foot injury in the season opener against Northern Arizona.
"Me and DJ came in together so we have been together for four years," Sam said. "We're like brothers; diehard."
They'll be counted on to fill an expanded role on new coordinator Phil Bennett's defense.
"Just the fact that you're processing the information you get from the defensive coach puts a lot of emphasis on the linebackers to communicate," ASU linebackers coach Keith Patterson said. "The thing I like about it is it creates ownership for those guys. They've got to do a great job of studying and know what the plan is for that particular game."
In the Sun Devils' new system, Calhoun and Sam will be charged with a progression of pre-snap reads to gauge formations, backfield sets and get everyone lined up quickly; prepared to make plays.
"That's big because that tells you everything on how an offense is going to attack you," Patterson said. "The more you can identify and recognize before the ball is snapped, the better player you're going to be because you anticipate almost to the point where it's reaction and you can play that much faster."
Both players are embracing that challenge.
"I'm very comfortable in it and I really I don't really know why," said Calhoun, who joins defensive lineman Tashon Smallwood as the only players to play in every game the last three seasons. "Maybe it's just my senior year and everything just clicked. When I'm in the film room, it's just easy now; not a struggle like it used to be.
"It's my senior year so I've got to take the role. It's that next man up mentality but in general, I'm the communicator, me and Christian, and it's not that hard because as you grow, you mature and you start to get everything, every concept."
Sam is anxious to get back on the field after a lost season, but he understands the role that spring ball played, and training camp will play in pushing him back to his desired level.
"You just have to perfect your craft and this is where you can perfect your craft," said Sam. "There's no Ws or Ls here in the spring so that's when you really get to work, experiment, try new things. I'm ready for summer camp now and then I'll be ready for fall camp. I'm going to get after it."
Calhoun said he is embracing everything that comes with being a senior.
"The thing I love most about this role, and what I really want to do is teach our young guys," he said. "Me and Christian aren't just the guys that automatically start and play all the time. Those younger guys, they have to come up and fight just how we did. I don't want them sitting down. I want them to get reps just like we got reps because they're the future, just like I was."