TEMPE, Ariz. -- New Sun Devils defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales checked off an important box on Friday evening. Just after he and Sun Devil football's newly finalized coaching staff completed a 50-school tour de force around the Phoenix metro area, Gonzales found out his offer on a new home in Tempe had been accepted and his family would finally be joining him in the Valley.
"It makes my wife (Sandra) super excited," Gonzales said. "As soon as we close on the house, my wife and two daughters (Chloe, 5, Abby, 3) will come and our boys (Cole, 19, Jake, 17) will come when the school semester ends."
Gonzales is no stranger to the southwest. He was a three-year letter winner at New Mexico as a punter and safety. He was an assistant in various capacities at New Mexico from 1999-2008, and he spent two seasons helping his brother-in-law coach high school football before joining coach Rocky Long's staff at San Diego State in 2011, where he coached the safeties and became defensive coordinator last season.
San Diego State finished the 2017 regular season ranked 11th nationally and first in the Mountain West in total defense, allowing 303.5 yards per game. The Aztecs were ninth in rushing defense (110.4 yards per game) and 27th in passing yards allowed (193.1).
TheSunDevils.com caught up with Gonzales, 40, during his busy Friday for a Q&A on his past, his philosophy and his plans for the ASU defense.
What was your previous relationship with Herm Edwards?
Gonzales: "Only through TV. I was just like everybody else. I'd seen him on ESPN but coach Edwards was an unbelievable player as a pro. Being a DBs coach and studying great players, I had done research on him as player. He still holds high school records for interceptions. That's amazing after all this time, but when you look at the numbers, they're pretty gaudy. I've always been a big fan so when he called to talk about the job it took me a few minutes to stop being star struck."
Why did you get into coaching?
Gonzales: "When I was finished playing I knew I wasn't good enough to play in the NFL but I wanted to stay in the game. Coach Long guided me in that direction, but I had others, too. Bronco Mendenhall (now the head coach at Virginia) was my position coach my senior year at New Mexico, and Gary Patterson (now the head coach at TCU) was my position coach my sophomore and junior seasons. Gary was the first one to tell me, 'Danny, you'll make a great coach one day.' That kind of planted the seed. Some guys just pick things up quickly and I've always been like that, but I love putting a plan together, too."
What lessons would you say you took from Rocky Long at New Mexico and San Diego State?
Gonzales: "I think he's an unbelievable evaluator, whether it's with players or coaches. Everything is precise. He taught me to write everything down. I have pages and pages on a yellow notepad. You'll never see me looking at a flip card to call plays. If you do a good job of preparing on game day, it should be second nature. If we're looking for something on a call sheet to stop somebody then we're having a bad day.
"At the same time, he taught me that just because you have a scheme that doesn't mean you're locked into it. You have to evaluate your guys and put the scheme around them -- and you evaluate what has worked and what hasn't."
Herm Edwards gave you the freedom to hire defensive assistants. What does it mean to have Shaun Nua (defensive line), Antonio Pierce (linebackers) and Tony White (cornerbacks) on staff with you?
Gonzales: "Bronco Mendenhall taught me this: It's who you work with and what they know that's the most important aspect in this job. If you don't like those guys, you don't want to be around them and then you don't get continuity and you don't get on the same page. Between Antonio, Tony and Shaun, being able to work with three guys that I know and trust was huge."
How would you describe your defensive philosophy and what can Sun Devils fans expect to see?
Gonzales: "I think every week you look at it differently. It depends on the competition. You adjust to whether you're as good or not as good and then attack them. One thing I can tell you is we're going to be super aggressive. The No. 1 thing we're going to do here is they're going to play like their hair is on fire; 11 guys running to the ball with ill intent. You're going to see a lot of turnovers because of it.
"There is nothing magical about creating turnovers through drills. It comes with guys playing hard. When you're mean and nasty and hitting hard, that ball just seems to pop out. If you have that same attitude rushing the passer, after a while he gets tired of getting hit. All of the sudden he doesn't throw the ball as well."
How much does the type of defense you run impact the kids you want in your program?
Gonzales: "A lot. Not a lot of people will do what we do. The key here is going to be evaluating guys that fit, and then getting them here. If we can evaluate and get some depth we can be really, really good, and I think we can get guys here that are a little more developed in high school so there's an advantage there. We also have that wow factor here when you walk into the stadium and the facilities. They're amazing. That's the biggest difference between here and San Diego State. We didn't have this beautiful building. When you bring a recruit on campus here, it's not even close."
What do you see when you evaluate the defense's current personnel?
Gonzales: "We've got some talented kids here. I have watched all 13 of their games. I have some ideas, but I don't think it would be fair of any of our coaches to truly evaluate or gain an opinion until we get to know them. Personality traits mean a lot and determine a lot of how you play them. The true evaluation comes after 15 practices in spring ball. Seven or eight practices into fall camp, we're going to know who's going to play and how we're going to do things. Hopefully by then, they'll understand our expectations, too."
What are your own expectations for Year 1 on the job?
Gonzales: "Here's the expectation: to hold them to one less point than the offense scores (laughs). Truthfully, we do things pretty different. That is no disrespect to what was here before because coach (Phil) Bennett did a great job with these kids and he has been a great influence on me. I've been a fan and admired the things he's done, but the way I've been brought up and taught, we do things different and it will be a pretty big culture shock for these kids."
"It makes my wife (Sandra) super excited," Gonzales said. "As soon as we close on the house, my wife and two daughters (Chloe, 5, Abby, 3) will come and our boys (Cole, 19, Jake, 17) will come when the school semester ends."
Gonzales is no stranger to the southwest. He was a three-year letter winner at New Mexico as a punter and safety. He was an assistant in various capacities at New Mexico from 1999-2008, and he spent two seasons helping his brother-in-law coach high school football before joining coach Rocky Long's staff at San Diego State in 2011, where he coached the safeties and became defensive coordinator last season.
San Diego State finished the 2017 regular season ranked 11th nationally and first in the Mountain West in total defense, allowing 303.5 yards per game. The Aztecs were ninth in rushing defense (110.4 yards per game) and 27th in passing yards allowed (193.1).
TheSunDevils.com caught up with Gonzales, 40, during his busy Friday for a Q&A on his past, his philosophy and his plans for the ASU defense.
What was your previous relationship with Herm Edwards?
Gonzales: "Only through TV. I was just like everybody else. I'd seen him on ESPN but coach Edwards was an unbelievable player as a pro. Being a DBs coach and studying great players, I had done research on him as player. He still holds high school records for interceptions. That's amazing after all this time, but when you look at the numbers, they're pretty gaudy. I've always been a big fan so when he called to talk about the job it took me a few minutes to stop being star struck."
Why did you get into coaching?
Gonzales: "When I was finished playing I knew I wasn't good enough to play in the NFL but I wanted to stay in the game. Coach Long guided me in that direction, but I had others, too. Bronco Mendenhall (now the head coach at Virginia) was my position coach my senior year at New Mexico, and Gary Patterson (now the head coach at TCU) was my position coach my sophomore and junior seasons. Gary was the first one to tell me, 'Danny, you'll make a great coach one day.' That kind of planted the seed. Some guys just pick things up quickly and I've always been like that, but I love putting a plan together, too."
What lessons would you say you took from Rocky Long at New Mexico and San Diego State?
Gonzales: "I think he's an unbelievable evaluator, whether it's with players or coaches. Everything is precise. He taught me to write everything down. I have pages and pages on a yellow notepad. You'll never see me looking at a flip card to call plays. If you do a good job of preparing on game day, it should be second nature. If we're looking for something on a call sheet to stop somebody then we're having a bad day.
"At the same time, he taught me that just because you have a scheme that doesn't mean you're locked into it. You have to evaluate your guys and put the scheme around them -- and you evaluate what has worked and what hasn't."
Herm Edwards gave you the freedom to hire defensive assistants. What does it mean to have Shaun Nua (defensive line), Antonio Pierce (linebackers) and Tony White (cornerbacks) on staff with you?
Gonzales: "Bronco Mendenhall taught me this: It's who you work with and what they know that's the most important aspect in this job. If you don't like those guys, you don't want to be around them and then you don't get continuity and you don't get on the same page. Between Antonio, Tony and Shaun, being able to work with three guys that I know and trust was huge."
How would you describe your defensive philosophy and what can Sun Devils fans expect to see?
Gonzales: "I think every week you look at it differently. It depends on the competition. You adjust to whether you're as good or not as good and then attack them. One thing I can tell you is we're going to be super aggressive. The No. 1 thing we're going to do here is they're going to play like their hair is on fire; 11 guys running to the ball with ill intent. You're going to see a lot of turnovers because of it.
"There is nothing magical about creating turnovers through drills. It comes with guys playing hard. When you're mean and nasty and hitting hard, that ball just seems to pop out. If you have that same attitude rushing the passer, after a while he gets tired of getting hit. All of the sudden he doesn't throw the ball as well."
How much does the type of defense you run impact the kids you want in your program?
Gonzales: "A lot. Not a lot of people will do what we do. The key here is going to be evaluating guys that fit, and then getting them here. If we can evaluate and get some depth we can be really, really good, and I think we can get guys here that are a little more developed in high school so there's an advantage there. We also have that wow factor here when you walk into the stadium and the facilities. They're amazing. That's the biggest difference between here and San Diego State. We didn't have this beautiful building. When you bring a recruit on campus here, it's not even close."
What do you see when you evaluate the defense's current personnel?
Gonzales: "We've got some talented kids here. I have watched all 13 of their games. I have some ideas, but I don't think it would be fair of any of our coaches to truly evaluate or gain an opinion until we get to know them. Personality traits mean a lot and determine a lot of how you play them. The true evaluation comes after 15 practices in spring ball. Seven or eight practices into fall camp, we're going to know who's going to play and how we're going to do things. Hopefully by then, they'll understand our expectations, too."
What are your own expectations for Year 1 on the job?
Gonzales: "Here's the expectation: to hold them to one less point than the offense scores (laughs). Truthfully, we do things pretty different. That is no disrespect to what was here before because coach (Phil) Bennett did a great job with these kids and he has been a great influence on me. I've been a fan and admired the things he's done, but the way I've been brought up and taught, we do things different and it will be a pretty big culture shock for these kids."