Sam Leavitt Is OFFICIALLY Arizona State’s Starting Quarterback

Intro yep uhhuh okay yeah I'll let them know what they say they got their guy [Music] happy Monday boys and girls suil fans everywhere welcome into the phnx sundevil show coming to you live from Studio K presented by Circle K head to any Circle K Arizona location where you can get any size pull or pop or froster for just 79 cents now through September 3rd and this edition of PHX sunnd Devils is also presented by coach starkk Holmes are you in the market for a home if so get a hold of Coach Stark today and he's going to help you out you can get in touch with him at 623 695 3929 go to coach starkhomes.com or you can follow him at coach Stark holes let's freaking I love it go I absolutely love it Kyle I'm gonna spring something on you here okay real real fast real fast do we have the win music somewhere while you while we find that I'm Anthony toer this guy is Eric Ruby That's right The Man Behind the DJ Kyle go ahead play that play that win music just real quick because Eric oh I've been waiting for this we have I've been waiting for this a starting quarterback the Arizona State sevil quarterback competition is officially over and Sam L is the guy who's going to be leading the Sun Devils out the tunnel when ASU open WIS their season in the Big 12 game one just 12 days away we got a lot to get into on today's show we're obviously going to be talking about the quarterback competition coming to an end Sam levit being that guy we're also going to get into former Arizona State defensive back Mason WIlliams where the heck did he go and why he is no longer a sundevil so go grab yourself a snack maybe a nice cold beverage and buckle up because for the next 45 minutes to an hour it is all Sun Devils all the time Eric dude we got our guy dude that wind music it goes crazy oh my God goes crazy it goes it got it got my blood pumping uh I knew sweet prince Kenny was gonna love that yeah he said he's just screaming he's screaming by the way the music's getting me hype I'm shotgun and a 99.9% IPA listen man that's the way to do it man that that's what Sam Lev will do to you first of all congratulations to Sam levit okay I thought you were congratulating me why would I congratulate you because we got Sam Leavitt has officially been named ASU's starting quarterback our guy well yeah we she congratulate everybody everybody congratulations we got our guy listen throughout Camp he's been running with the ones uh I feel like this was not it wasn't a complete 100% foregone conclusion but I would say most if not all people who were following this team understood this was the most likely scenario but now it's for sure now it's solidified now you can roll out there and say this is our guy and I think the number one thing with Sam that is is the most intriguing it is the potential yeah right cuz you're not looking at somebody who has this long resume behind them in a good or in a bad sense right it's basically a clean slate and this was somebody that Kenny and the crew went after months ago and very much was like this is our Guy brought him in here for initial quarterback competition with Jaden rashada obviously rashada leaves Sims comes in it's boray it's Sims and it's levit and now we sit here and he is out on top and it feels like this is kind of the way that Dillingham and a Royo saw this plan out and obviously they're not just going to go hand it to him yeah immediately he still had to earn it but I would imagine that when they brought a guy like Sam Levon to this roster they were expecting him to be their starting quarterback week one and now he will be yeah 100% I think when Sam got here in the spring there was already kind of an early inclination that this was going to be a serious competition it wasn't going to be something where where Kenny and Royo were just going to hand the keys to Jaden Rashad at the time um and you saw that right Sam L obviously taking a lot of reps with the ones when it came came to Spring football he obviously took all the Reps pretty much outside of a few here or there um with with Jeff Sims and then really from the start of fall Camp it was lit's job to lose whether the coaches are going to tell you that or not uh just going out there watching the way that he conducted himself watching how comfortable he was um really the the the leap that he made from the end of spring to the the start of fall Camp was was clear and I think again when you have a guy where there is a lot of potential like you brought up that's a big part of what you get with Sam levit and and Kenny said it at the start of spring you lose with guys that it's just potential right so yes that is a a positive that he does have the a little bit of a question mark on him of how good can this kid really be but he does bring an element to this Arizona State offense that it really hasn't had since emry Jones was here in terms of an athletic quarterback that can move that can sit in the pocket he's got a a nice arm to him um and again we were talking about in the Die Hard Discord just the other day like somebody had asked where levit was at at this point compared to where Jaden rashada was at this point last year and I'm gonna be honest I think they're probably pretty neck and neck pretty neck and neck I like what I've seen just a little bit more in terms of the leadership Factor when it comes to Sam levit just because I know Jaden was a little bit more of a quiet guy don't get me wrong he was loved by his teammates but Sam levit is more of the traditional quarterback is the guy he's going to lead you on the field he's going to lead you off the field Ken he talked about it a little bit after practice today just in terms of like he had to kind of learn how to do that when he first got here in the spring there was a lot of yelling there was a lot of just it wasn't the right way to lead necessarily as such a young quarterback who you know has only attempted 23 passes in in his college career and throughout fall Camp you've started to see him settle into that role as well when it comes to being able to have a a normal tone conversation with his players and again just being more of a leader um that doesn't necessarily demand things but really showcases his passion uh from start to finish and Sam levit provides athleticism that Jen rashada uh didn't really display last year in games right so I think that's going to be another huge part of levit in this offense and an offense Eric that we've talked about at length is priority number one going to run the football yeah and that is I think where I where I stand with everything is like you know you're not going to be going in and expecting Sam levit to do that much right off the bat for everything right and I think that's going to be good because as he does look more comfortable in Fall Camp they did in spring camp you still have to understand he's going to be playing you know real legitimate consistent college football for the first time in his career and that is different that that is something that's going to take an adjustment period and having somebody like a cam scaboo to rely on in the back field that you could hand the ball off to and just be like hey you know I I'm getting my energy up I'm getting my my feel for everything but I know that behind me I have Cam scabo who I can give the ball to however many times a game and he's gonna do fine yeah right plus we talked about all the offensive options he has too and sweet prince Kenny uh says in the chat 90 yard bombs one thing is for sure he does have an arm he does he does have an arm and and he has shown that off multiple different times during camp and that is a really good counter to have when it comes to a run first offense yeah is having a a quarterback that can Target way downfield and have receivers that are very fast as well and that was something at Camp T it was a little concerning that he over he overthrew a bit but that's something that I'm sure they've worked on that's something that he's going to continue to work on and you're hoping by week four five six seven this is somebody who's got that experience under his belt he has all the tools and then he gets that chemistry with his team boom I I if all goes right should be a very serviceable above average college quarterback and that's all you need and exactly exactly you took the words out of my mouth he doesn't need to go out there and be a ridiculous Allstar All-American quarterback if he could that'd be great that's great that would be awesome icing on the cake but that's not what he is going to be asked to do especially in year one at Arizona State in this offense be a game manager and then take your chunk plays when you can Kenny has said it a number of times again throughout fall going going back to the spring this team didn't have enough explosive plays last season 20 plus yards and more so yes this team is going to run the football a lot but when you have a quarterback that can it's second and three third and three whatever you can run a play action because you've run the ball so much that defenses they're cheating a little bit right and you have a guy that if nothing is there he can go make a play with his legs that's a threat that again Arizona State didn't really have last season Sam levit is more athletic than what Drew Pine was last season more athletic than what Jaden Rashad was last season he's on the same tier as in emry Jones um in terms of what he can do with his legs and I think that is something that again even when emry was here you didn't really get the opportunity to see because it was a completely different offense so I've said it on Twitter I've said it on the show kind of understanding that Sam levit was always really going to be the guy he would have to do something pretty dramatic to to not get that job uh but like you don't have to go out there and be ridiculous no and ASU is going to take you or levit is going to take um ASU I I can't find my words right now buddy ASU is gonna go as far as Le yeah absolutely I mean you talk about the ceiling for this team right and we're talking about best case scenario they could be competing for a bowl game uh if they really shock the world and get more than five or six wins that would be one of the more incredible turnarounds in college football history and this team has a lot of talent top to bottom it's a way more talented roster than last year on almost every single level from a top Erik on the Talent of the Quarterback Room end perspective from a depth perspective really you look at almost any position and we talked about the position battles endlessly over the last couple of months and it was like oh I could see them starting I can see them starting I can see them starting oh and if they don't start then they're going to definitely get some run and get put in there for almost every single position from your linebackers to your safeties to your wide receivers to your running backs to your offensive line and then you have your quarterback and the quarterback was always the room where there was a lot left to be known and that can be a great thing and it can be an awful thing and it can be hard to sell fans on that until they actually see it happen and I'm just glad that they're going to roll through and they know they have their guy I think they've known that they've had their guy and one of the things that you touched on where it was his ability to kind of move out of the pocket as well you know he has shown the ability to make good solid plays when they need it most it was up at campt it was like a third and a 10 and he scrambled out of the pocket and picked up a first down and he's not somebody that you're going to be looking at to run all the time but having the instincts to hey this pocket's collapsing let's say you know hopefully not but let's say maybe asu's offensive line gets a little banged up again and he has less time to make decisions and he has less time to throw the ball all down field he's not a one trick pony yeah right and again I'm not going to come out here and say he's going to be the best quarterback in the Big 12 I'm not going to come out here and say he's going to be a top five quarterback in the Big 12 but I am going to go here and say that he has enough intangibles which is something that is quoted by Kenny Dillingham as to why he got this job he takes care of the ball he can move on his feet and he has the arm power and these are all things that when you're writing down what you want out of a quarterback you would include them yeah he just has to be able to actually put it together on the field surrounded by this Talent so as far as what we can actually see and what we can analyze right now I just don't think that you can go a different way than say sam lit is starting quarterback and I can see why they would think that yeah and again coming like being at all these practices right or the majority of these fall Camp practices and all the spring practices like it it was an interesting quarterback room right Jaden Jaden Rashad as side right we talk about Jeff Sims here in the fall we talk about Trent Borg obviously being at Arizona State throughout the entire time and it's not necessarily a testament to what these guys did wrong right I know Sims has his turnover issues uh that have definitely they they've showcased themselves a little bit um at practice definitely at Camp te in the scrimmage as well the other night but Sam L it just he was consistent yeah and sometimes that's all it takes right if you are consistently good that is how Sam Leavitt Was Consistent Throughout Camp you become great you just do the little things correctly time and time again and that's what Sam was able to do time and time again and we're 12 days away from kickoff right so we had already kind of known that there was going to be a quarterback announcement here within the next couple days and especially after what I saw at the the final scrimmage really before the season starts which was on Saturday and again like levit was just consistent he was the best quarterback out there um and I think I was talking with Craig because Craig was out there too and I'm like he's got to be the guy like this this is all you need to see and I think Kenny and a Royo knew at that moment for sure right 100% that Sam was going to be the guy I think the reason he didn't name him on Saturday is because he did have that conversation with Sam and he did have that conversation with Jeff to kind of let them both know where the quarterback competition had gone and at the end of the day this give Sam levit in the Arizona State offense 12 days to build some more chemistry right and the nice thing about this competition versus kind of what we have had in the past at Arizona state is lit's really been running with the ones every day yeah so there's already some consistency in chemistry and Synergy there and now with 12 days if I'm Sam you can kind of wipe off the I don't have something on my back I don't have to worry about a quarterback competition like this is my job and this is now it's just full steam ahead now we're now we're going to play football and one of the things that I definitely picked up uh I keep my refence in camt but it's something that's been happening obviously besides that as well but I was right next to Jeff Sims when Lev was out there getting his reps and I don't think I heard any other person on that offensive sideline rude harder for Sam levit that than Jeff Sims and I I think that that is massive when it comes to somebody like levit who is being put in a position like Jeff Sims has played more college football than Sam Lev yeah and now has it been What Role Will Jeff Sims Play? the most desirable college football depends who you ask yeah uh and and not to say that Jeff Sims doesn't have a place on this team and won't see some sort of action this year but you know I mean in a perfect scenario nobody but Sam sees action but how often does the perfect scenario play out well I'm 26 and the perfect scenario has turned now exactly zero times yeah so listen and I I would I would absolutely love for that to be the case right but you have somebody behind you who has played a lot of snaps who is fully supporting you and you know like that means a lot to somebody who hasn't been able to go out there and play and you talk about continuity and consistency and that was something that nobody could find in this team last year for reasons outside of their control you have a first year head coach who change offensive coordinators in the middle of the season you are mix-matching your offensive line you have different quarterbacks going in and out because your offensive line is collapsing it really was just you don't even have continuity in your goal because right before the season starts you get your your top end goal of being in a bowl game it ripped away from you unlucky and so you go into this season right you have your offensive coordinator Marcus a royal he's been implementing his system for months right it's still going to be his first year as our offensive coordinator but with how he has prepared under Kenny Dillingham in his second year you're going to be a lot more prepared all of your returners fully want to be there all of your transfers are not coming in late these are transfers that for the most part have been here even in spring camp and you're like okay it's not like Levan and Sims were splitting first string reps yeah and even though it was a quote unquote competition there was never like a hey Sam you're going to take a back seat right now yeah he was still given the keys first and foremost and so you do that you instill that type of confidence and it might take a couple games to fully feel settled in but you know it's the easiest part of your schedule for a reason not saying that they're easy walk over teams a team like Wyoming is still going to be a a challenge yeah for any team they just play really hard yeah so hit the ground running don't expect greatness off the bat but if he does then then you're looking at somebody who should have a good season yeah and again you don't need to be a world beater on your own this team is talented more talented than it was last last season at just about every single position offensively and it's ironic you brought up you had a guy behind you just you know who's played a lot of college football they're supporting you doing everything possible right because you're referring to Jeff Sims but while I'm sitting here thinking about that there's a guy behind me who's played a lot of college football who is going to be rooting you on and be your Cam Skattebo Will Help Take Pressure Off of Leavitt security blanket in number four back there C scaboo and that is going to be a massive part of what Sam levit is able to do in his first year at Arizona State understanding that you have a guy behind you or next to you depending on the formation uh Cam scaboo that that can really make this offense go on his own he will be what makes the offense go and he could take some pressure off of again a red shirt freshman quarterback who is still learning the speed of college football camp is one thing again he's only attempted 23 passes throughout his college career thus far there are going to be bumps in the road there are going to be hiccups that is understandable but if there's one sort of positive spin that you could take on that is that Kenny Dillingham just about every single place that he is gone these quarterbacks age gracefully right their college careers get better and that's not on accident B Knicks Jordan Travis and again he doesn't need to be either one of those guys he doesn't need to go out there and be a Heisman Contender like B knck he doesn't need to go out there and and be Lamar Jackson 2.0 and Jordan Travis right he just needs to go out there and he needs to be Sam Le and I think that's why Kenny Dillingham and Marcus Royo made him and announced him as the guy is because they know when come kickoff Sam L's gonna be Sam L and that fits his offense beautifully yeah there are a lot of you know players around him he's gonna have a way better offensive line than what was going on last year yeah because you just you can't imagine something to that level happening to this offensive line again and if it does then we're talking curses here we're not talking about let not even talk about it right but he's going to be more protected obviously not having an Elijah Badger as your security blanket in the passing game is going to be tough um but you still have Jordan Tyson who everybody expects to be really good uh and you have just a bevy of talented talented different types of Talent at the Wide Receiver Position wide receiver whether you want like a try omir or somebody can go up and meet you up top or maybe a little bit smaller and Speedy in a Jake Smith meluan stoval is just always solid it gillery was having a really good camp obviously his hands left a little bit to be desired last year but I saw him make some really really really sweet grabs CT I'm sorry for continuing to jinx things I'm gonna try not to do that again nonstop I'm just I'm just laying out the reasons why Sam Lev will be set up better for Success this year than any quarterback was last year that's fair and that is really exciting and at I was gonna say something about it but but Ralph Ralph niled listen listen Kenny dillingham's favorite word nice poll there did you did you ever see that it happened to cam t uh Kenny was as Camp te I know I mean when you when you go to one practice right you just got guy you're that guy um but we asked Kenny you know who has stood out in their position group and he mentioned a bevy of players and he was like you know what I just learned that word Bevy good word uh so listen I'm I'm excited I don't have extremely high expectations but I'm certainly not Doom and Gloom about this uh control the power Sam move on your feet hand the ball off to cam and make your reads when you need to make it don't turn the ball over that's a reason why he has this job is because he was not committing turnovers in any of these live scrimmages besides there was a a mesh run hand off that was a fumble and that was more of a communication issue that can very easily be tightened up he has not turned the ball over a ton so do that be solid set this offense up for long sustained drives and should be good yeah no you're absolutely right look we're going to take a quick break but when we come back we're definitely going to get into our expect ations for Arizona State quarterback Sam levit and then of course we are going to talk about former Arizona State defensive back Mason WIlliams where he he gone and why has he left um Arizona State but before all of that want to tell you a little bit about our friends over at Sanderson Ford I had the luxury of spending an entire weekend Friday up till today I saw you pull up in it up until today man in a 2024 Ford Bronco sport Big Bend and I will tell you what I shed a tear this morning when I had to return that car I went in I was like look we need to sit down we need to talk about a lease because this is seriously something that I need to be behind the wheel of look again we've got a a bunch of stuff when it comes to all the amazing cars that Sanderson Ford has but from my experience it had all the bells and whistle bells and whistles it was an affordable car um and it's just like for me as somebody who's had a ton of different brands of cars mhm this by far Takes the Cake for the best car that I have had any amount of time to be in the sound system works beautifully I was able to play all my music and have a good time Auto auto Bluetooth uh once you set it up the one time it's got a little charging port where you can literally just set it down right on the dash and it's Auto 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Arizona State going but Eric I want to know what your expectations are now that the writing is on the wall and he is the guy expectations don't mess it up Don't Mess it up that listen it's hard for me to go out and put expectations on somebody who has thrown under 25 passes in college football okay and also going in a situation with a team that is full of players who haven't played together or haven't played in the past year and a coaching staff that is still learning how to coach together even though I completely completely believe in every single coach you're still learning how to do all of that especially on offense as well so my expectation is to come out don't make mistakes don't turn the ball over hit your long throws when you need it and perfect this move ready this one perfect the the the running back hand off and and we're straight we're straight then just go and then and okay on the real though I expect growth I I expect from week one to week five week six all of that I expect him to get better yeah I don't I I don't know what that exactly looks like but I expect him to go out there and make some mist mes at first learn from those mistakes and get better and then also perfect the handoff perfect the handoff no again he's thrown less than 25 passes in his college career thus far but when you're talking about Sam Leven and I think a a perfect scenario for him for me I think a lot of it has to do with just the number of times that he is going to be asked to throw the football and a lot of that starts on first down right if you run the football you're able to get chunk yards six seven yards make it a a second and four a second and three you're setting your quarterback up for for such a easy rest of the drive just an easy third down um if you even get there right and I think again I was talking with Craig at the scrimmage I said if you are Marcus a Royo the perfect number for me in terms of just pass attempts per game for Same Love It 17 I was thinking like 20ish 17 passing between keep 13 and 17 yeah again you don't need to go get it all on one you don't need to go have those 40 to 60 yard chunk plays every single Drive yes that would be nice but realistically again this is a run first offense that is really going to thrive off of first ASU is a Run First Offense down we picked up five six yards we're going to continue to do that when you start to move up and creep up and load that box that's when we've got you we're going to take our play action and we're going to be able to find one of our talent wide receivers outside and we're going to pick up a first down this is not a team built to go down the field like that it's a team that is built to absolutely wear you out in the moment that you show any sign of Boom it's over we take our we take our shot then same L can be that guy yeah and you remember what Cole told us how Kenny plays Madden he just it's just old school football run it down your throat like 100 times yeah then play action right when you're in the Red Zone I mean listen like I think 13 to 17 is an okay range I do I think it's a little little low I I think realistically you're probably GNA want him low 20s just because at a certain point you become a little predictable um that's fine that's but but that's the thing that's what you want to at at with the way this team is built you no you want to do a majority of the time but I'm I'm thinking there's going to be a lot of plays that's what I'm saying like you said there's gonna be a lot of really long drives and also listen I'm I am I will say slightly worried about the miles on scat throughout the season I know he's Slimmer and I understand that but that means the hits are going to be a little bit harder when he takes them and also a ton of guys in that backfield though I and I understand that but who is the clear number one and who is the guy that we're talking about getting the ball every fooling anybody like early on in the season no defensive coordinators are gonna make Sam L beat him they're gonna Totri Says Defensive Coordinators Will Force Leavitt to Beat Them load the box and they're gonna say okay you have a red shirt freshman quarterback in year one of this offense go and but but he needs to be able to do something with that yeah right and and I think once you prove and do that and and maybe maybe 15 17 18 that's fine but if it comes to the point where you look like you're actively avoiding not just hey our game plan is to run the ball a majority of the time that should always be the game plan I am not arguing for anything else right but if they can tell that you don't have confidence in your quarterback to go out there and to make a play that makes it a lot easier for defenses he needs to to have the ability to make defenses pay even if he makes a couple of mistakes early on he needs to show that hey we are willing to throw the ball I know we're going to run it a majority of the time but I at least want in the back of your head you to think well Sam could go over the middle and deliver it to to Tyson or to Jake Smith or somebody and and pick up 30 40 50 yards that needs to be something the defense has to consider not that that has to be what you rely on all the time but he has the arm to do it yeah right and if you have the offensive line to protect him he has the weapons to throw to so obviously give the ball to scatter majority of the time Kenny is saying we have 18 running backs I get it I do I just think that there's a clear delineation between that one I just maybe it's just PTSD from last season right where I it's like Scot's barely practicing his body is worn down he's playing a hundred different positions obvious obviously he's going to be more focused this year you just can't have another team be preparing for you and just completely write off your quarterback that's fair that is fair I do want to get some of the comments from bees in the chat here in a second but going back to last season right and I think again this is a totally different team I think you're going to see a totally different offense in a totally different way of of play calling with a Royo at the helm now but this team needs to keep these games close and competitive a lot of that obviously falls on the defensive side of the ball and then again what you're able to do early on on drives that way you can extend it um and really shorten the game if Arizona state has their their dream scenario is they're going to shorten these games by running the football as much as they can relying heavily on that defense to do what they do and not have the situation that you had last year at times where you are trailing by so much that treton boray at times last season I'm going to read you his passing attempt numbers in games where he played the entirety 37 attempts 34 attempts 26 Looking at Trenton Bourguet Pass Attempts attempts 47 attempts 49 attempts 41 attempts do you know the game that Arizona State won out of all the ones attemps the one with his lowest attemps that's what it's going to take for Arizona State to win games in the Big 12 this season because guess what outside of remove your non-conference games when you get to conference play you're not facing like just chump quarterbacks you're you're facing Avery Johnson Jaylen Daniels Noah ffid cam Rising you have quarterbacks that in all honesty they're gonna sling it more than Sam levit should this season and not just the quarterbacks but those teams I mean you're playing all the teams that are in the preseason AP Top 25 in the Big 12 are on ASU schedule and three of those being Road games yeah that it's it's it's a tough it's a tough ask right and that's why these first three to four games that they're going through are so important so important BC in the chat goes nah 40 throws a game uh that is not what I'm advocating for I just want him to keep him honest but bees with really good points talking about Kenny's going to put him in positions to succeed uh Kenny's going to use a lack of familiarity with a new conference a new opposition to his Advantage you know just kind of based saying Hey listen like you had mentioned before Kenny's been really good at almost the Revival of a couple quarterbacks and bringing them into this new light for their career and he can do that with Sam levit he smart and again I know the game that they won with boray was when he did the least amount of pass attempts but listen they they were in games with with Borg they they were and he had some pretty good games yeah he had some good especially like counting St and counting numbers as well and and I think Kenny is going to have the ability to take what is a very raw talent in Sam levit and you know bu him up right and it's just you just have to see it and like you mentioned there's nothing that compares to live reps and being in a game those first three weeks are going to be so pivotal yeah I do want to get to be's comment about Jeff Sims saying I do think Jeff Sims served his role well not allowing Sam L to get comfortable yeah I think again that's what you always want there is something to be said about having a guy return you're over a year and understanding that he's the guy you're comfortable with him and he kind of knows but I think when you're Kenny Dillingham and you're Marcus Ayo and you're heading into the year two for Kenny and year one for a Royo here at Arizona State you want to get the closest Glimpse as to what your quarterback is going to do in these types of situations when the pressure is on how do you respond and throughout fall Camp it was Sam Levitz the one but guess what Jeff Sims is right on his ass having a good camp and and that's again when when rashada left everyone was kind of like oh it's it's going to be levit it's whatever and I'm sure Lev in all honesty probably felt a little bit of that well I think that if in and like I mentioned when when levit was brought in there was always a reason why they brought him in yeah right there there was always a vision of him playing for this team now I think the initial Vision was you and rashada best of the best go battle it out and see what happens obviously that didn't happen but you know you can be a humble person who still wants to earn your spot but then walk into a situation and be like well the guy that I was just brought in to compete with left where does that leave me yeah right and not that he would take advantage of that but that as a human being has to go through your oh yeah absolutely and I think again when it comes to sports and because there's competition so so much at a lot of these position groups at all times it is a like almost a breath of like okay I can I can I can take a second and that's fine now where you have 12 days left but that's what Kenny and and a royya wanted they didn't want Sam to be comfortable like really from the start yes in the offense but comfort in the idea that oh I'm the guy blah blah blah blah blah red Shir freshman needs to earn that spot and he did throughout fall camp and that's clear and and it's it's exciting man again 12 days I can't believe we're 12 days away Only 12 Days Away From The Start of the Season I mean we're get we've listen we're almost there I'm not going to celebrate yet but we've we're guys offseason content can be really it could be really fun college football's back but this is better ah ah sorry for everybody on audio guys hit that like button hit the Subscribe button drop a festar review follow along with us as we get through the season I mean if you guys stuck with us throughout the off season you need to be around throughout the whole season and we are going to talk about now former sundevil player who will no longer be around uh the program anymore uh but first I got to tell you about our friends over at Circle K now listen guys Circle K is America's thirst shop it is to's thst shop it Eric Ruby's thst shop and not only are they 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up twice in a day for some reason you can get three cents off per gallon you do that enough I know you do that enough you can get up to 5 cents off per gallon which is where I find myself uh and right now now there's a member exclusive beverage deal on the inner circle you can get any size polar poer froster for just 79 cents now through September 3rd at any Arizona location just find it in the app under Inner Circle and then offers of course guys down download the Circle K app today for free and join the Inner Circle terms and conditions do apply app participating locations visit circlek.com for more details you know the best part of my morning what now I was obviously just playing super sad music on my way back to Sanderson Ford but I did because they had given us the car full of ass stopped at at Circle K to to fill her up as I returned it and it was just like a beautiful marriage of of Partners right I literally took a moment I'm like I'm putting Circle K gas in a Sanderson Ford Bronco I'm like this is a natural company man this is this is Max's wet and you saved and you saved money on it too and you know what you were doing while you were driving you're rocking your shady Rays the same way that I'm rocking my Shady Rays right now listen guys uh summer winter fall spring vacation at home your daily drive a long road trip you need a good pair of sunglasses to be with you along the way and Shady Rays is that they're an independent sunglasses company offering a worldclass product rated five stars by over 300,000 people their Shades have durable frames Crystal Clear Optics making them the perfect choice for all Outdoor Adventures I was Notorious for breaking my sun glasses these babies the blind Mouse glasses they have been why that's right new nickname alert uh listen guys I wear Shady Rays on my everyday Drive uh I do like to go outside I like to hike contrary to what my skin tone might be I do like to be out in the sun uh and my Shader Rays they're always with me I never forget them anywhere but they're not just this style if you don't want to look like apparently a blind Mouse which is what I look like they have a bunch of different styles a bunch of different color options whatever you want out of them Shay Ray is here for you and on top of all of that we've talked about great deals all this episode here's another one exclusively for our listeners Shady Rays is giving out their best deal of the Season just head to shadyrays.com use code phnx get 35% off how much 35% off polarized sunglasses try for yourself the shades rated five stars by over 300,000 people those are some big numbers I need to know if the rumors are true sure did DreamWorks really ask you if you would play a blind Mouse in track five uh in the live Broadway version yeah is that the rumors are true yeah gone for an exted period of time I'm playing the blind Mouse on shk five the Broadway well that's I mean congratulations dude not a lot of speaking lines just a lot of running into things yeah I mean that's understandable I'm sure you're gonna look great though you're gonna look great obviously I mean that it's it's one of those like wow can you believe the casting he looks exactly like the mouse it's perfect it's absolutely perfect look I do want to just say thank you obviously to everybody that we have watching hit that like button hit the Subscribe button drop a festar review again 12 12 days till kickoff if you're an ASU fan that doesn't really you know get into football until the season actually starts I get it but guess what it's pretty much here tap in every single day we're giving you the latest as it relates to Arizona State football basketball softball baseball it doesn't matter we're talking ASU every single day of the week and if you are a die hard if you're a sicko when it comes to sports well look we've got something for you it's called a DI hard membership head to go phx.com click a little Die Hard Tab and it's going to tell you 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and this is a place for you to do that and it is completely worth it we have our die hards in here every single day it was something that I was following before I even got here to phnx it really is something that there's not like anywhere else in the sports Community literally sweet prince Kenny Sharon they're a couple of our our ASU specific die hards and literally after the show they're hopping in that die hard Discord continuing the conversation about ASU football we had Die Hard SB make uh Cole Martin head space graphic for I sent those to him this morning he said he loved them yeah like like like this is genu It's a community guys like it's it's seriously a community and that's what you get when you become a die hard it's not just a hey come pay us and you get some more content it's like no you can talk [ __ ] to us you can well that also the other part is true you do get more content no but it's not it's not just like a one-way transaction right it's not like hey you know pay for a DI hard membership and here here's some here's some extra content it's hey pay for a Die Hard membership and become a part of something come to our events talk to us in the Discord get heads up when there's news breaking when there's an article dropping uh we both do different reportings on stuff like hey this is what's going on keep youre out for that this is really cool Stu the Cole Martin trailer I dropped in there the before it's just a very very fun place to be and there's a lot of cool places ago in the Sunil Community I encourage you to join all of them but of course especially become a die hard I'm Macen Williams is OUT pumped I'm pumped you want to talk about some interesting yeah let's let's talk about Mason so Mason WIlliams uh per Kenny Dillingham has retired from football no longer at Arizona State at least with the football team now Mason was running with the ones playing with the twos a little bit as well throughout kind of fall camp but even up until pretty much like last week week and a half had him being the guy rotating with Cole Martin at that starting nickel spot um and last week not at practice didn't know if it was an injury didn't look like it was an injury or anything now at Camp T I obviously wasn't there but since the return to Camp T hasn't been around so after the scrimmage on Saturday uh Kenny after he finished his presser um was just like hey Mason WIlliams no longer with the team he's retired not with Arizona State anymore we wish him the absolute best and it seemed fine seemed totally cordial seemed fine um and then of course Mason Williams father decided that he was going to quote retweet saying that his son hadn't retired he was just tired of his his coaches kind of messing with him whatever in terms of like the rotation right so we've said it a lot on this show that there are a lot of guys in that secondary you're going to see a healthy rot of corners of safeties that's just the nature of the Beast M and that's I think from our perspective that's what I want I want there to be enough guys to where it's like you're keeping players fresh right yeah that's that's what this entire coaching staff has preached the idea the idea that somebody is too stressed out because of that I just for me that's not an excuse no I and again I wish this kid the absolute best absolute best he's he's been nothing but great player whatever but being stressed out because you don't you don't know where you're going to be at the rotation for me is not like well and and we don't know and and Sharon mentioned it earlier in the chat Parents try to speak for their kids a lot yeah and it's not always true we have absolutely no idea if it is true in this case or not 100% wish him the best and whatever he's going through uh whatever his decision process might be however he's relaying that to people that's something only he is ever going to truly know but what I do know and what I do understand and what the what the foundation has been laid out for this program is you are going to compete you are not going to get handed anything and I find it a little bit strange to say well I don't know where I'm going to be I don't like this rotation when you you have not been Iced Out you've been running with the ones yeah you've are a projected starter and if you were not a starter which is like listen I think Cole Martin can end up being one of the best players in this defense right but he can't play every single snap and he shouldn't play every single snap the same way that if Mason WIlliams was starting he shouldn't play every snap one of the things that we're preaching about this team is the depth especially the depth in the secondary and listen his one of his last retweets was a tradition like no other it's from sundevil football talking about you know cam Tonto Zona and everything as well like this doesn't seem like somebody who wasn't relatively bought in and so I just I sit I don't want to go out and make any statements on anything besides football is an extremely grueling Sport and if you are not in it and your heart is not fully there it is better to walk away from it than to push through and I think that there's a lot of you know good parts of pushing through and and going through hard things but this is not a freshman you know this is a red shirt senior this is somebody who you know is still going to have a life beyond football and if this is not where you want to be and your head's not in it don't walk out halfway through the season don't walk out you know and or give it half ass energy and then get mad or whatever just walk away from the situation and I think that that's admirable and that's all I really have to say not knowing a lot about what's going on I'm not going to [ __ ] on the guy um maybe if I was in a situation I might handle things differently but the thing is you don't know what he was going through um but what I don't believe is that this coaching staff was playing mind games yeah no I agree with I I I think that that is an incredibly irresponsible thing to say because if there's anything that we have picked up from Kenny and from all the people around him they are very straightforward yep we're not going to tell you what you are going to get unless you have earned it and even then I'm not guaranteeing you [ __ ] I don't buy Mind Games yeah that's the first we've ever heard of anything of that sort on and off the Record coming from this program no you're you're 100% right sweet prince Kenny in the chat with the Super Chat 199 saying add Mason to the list if you're in the Die Hard Discord you know exactly what that list is uh so where does Arizona State secondary go from Where Does ASU Secondary Go From Here? here right because Mason WIlliams obviously running with the ones rotating in with Cole Martin well as of late Shamari Simmons has stepped into that nickel rotation alongside Cole Martin so expect to see those two rotating this season at that starting nickel spot which for me and I said in the Die Hard Discord on Saturday when this news came out totally fine with it you're you're not you're not losing a ton because that means you get another one of those really Dynamic safeties on the field probably a guy like a Kamari Wilson probably stepping into that spot which again for him a a kid with a lot of Eligibility left is going to be huge in terms of the following Seasons being able to retain him he had the playing time Etc so now you've got another guy there that he he packs a punch and you're still going to see that safety rotation you're still going to see miles browser you're still going to see Montana Warren um who again is again one of my favorite players on this team not just because he's got a great name but he's really developed over the year and I I think again if there was a position that you could lose it's that one well and and I think that's also I think it's interesting because before even Cole was a member of this network uh head space check it out first episode went up last week another one soon yes I still believed that he had all the talent and the ability to be the starting nickel and I actually I I know that you did your starting lineup stuff last week I if I was on the show I probably would have pushed back a little bit and pushed for Cole to be in that in that starting slot uh and have players behind him who could definitely play right I mean even if shamari's in there as well Shamari is one of the more solid players in that secondary as well last year who's been here which I think is is a big part of it as well but I am so so on board with putting more on Cole's plate even if it maybe means a harsher adjustment period like you mentioned for somebody with so much eligibility as well um I just think hey like let's let's see what this guy can do you know he basically is getting recruited to play nickel Corner specifically which is something we've mentioned over and over again is like a very unique position to be recruited as even as a transfer or as a as a high school student or called him a unicorn I I I have no problems putting more in his hands um William Jasper says there's a difference between not understanding where you're at because it's a good competition and the coach is not being forthright with you regarding your role I hope it's the first I just I I have doubts about it being the second just because it's not really the staff right well and the coaching this coaching staff is shown like they don't really go out and give you direct answers right like not to the media not to not to the media but I also don't like they're not going to go out there and say hey you're GNA do this yeah when they're still Camp when there are really talented players behind you they might go and say like listen you will play but I can't tell you if you're going to start yeah I think that's completely fair but maybe from Mason's perspective he didn't see that and again it's all conjecture uh you we we really have no idea everything that's going on and I would not just take his father's word for face value you could take it for some value but at the end of the day until Mason WIlliams himself comes out and speaks on the situation you will not know what's going on with Mason WIlliams and he doesn't have to he doesn't owe anybody anything that's fair that is fair how do we feel give me one word your feelings on the secondary with Mason WIlliams gone one word I don't want to downplay him but I think they're fine I was going to use the same word fine they're fine I I think that this was a solid group before I think it's a solid Group after I would have like it's like Jacob leaving we're fine we're fine I I I think that he will be missed I think that he could have brought something to this team and I think he could have been a very valuable member but that is not a position to where you lose somebody like that and you are wondering what's next you have a plan you have talent it's just on them to go out and execute you're 100% right and look that is going to do it for today's episode of the phnx sundevil show but it is just Monday tomorrow we've got another jam-packed show for you everything coming out of Arizona State's fall Camp practice yes Mr Ruby there's a new article on go phx.com now Mr Bri sign Kenny Dillingham is the posi Force ASU football needed to emerge from the darkness we're goingon to get demonetized um Craig Morgan with a fantastic article on go pH nx.com right now we're looking to get Craig on uh tomorrow on the show to talk about that article talk about what he's picked up from ASU plus uh he has another ASU related article we'll let him tease that tomorrow but that's going to be coming out later this week so go check that out at go phx.com I love it I love it can you do me a favor Kyle can you play the win music one more time while we get out of here because that [ __ ] just had me Juiced right I mean it did fire me up let's get it we have a quarterback Sam L is Arizona State starting quarterback heading into week one of the 2024 season we appreciate everybody tapping in if you enjoyed the content give the show a follow PHX follow me at Anthony to Street follow DJ CP atj Sports follow the blind Mouse himself at Eric Ruby that is Eric with a K in the meantime guys today more than ever go devils and [Music] peace we all like the May