Brian Ward Discusses Sun Devils' Culture

The Arizona State Sun Devils are going into year three of the Kenny Dillingham era with extremely high expectations after reaching the College Football Playoff in the 2024 season.

The offense has received a bulk of attention due to Cam Skattebo's incredible efforts, Sam Leavitt's rise to the top of the quarterback position across the nation, and Jordyn Tyson's All-Big 12 season, but the defense deserves significantly more attention compared to what it has got.

Sun Devil defensive coordinator Brian Ward is entering year three in the post as well after departing Washington State - the under-appreciated coach joined Brad Denny's 'Speak of the Devils' podcast last week to discuss numerous topics - including program culture.

"Yeah, I mean, it really does feel like year three because we did start off, you know, really trying to remake this program from the ground up and we've done that and when you get to this point where you know, you have experience, you have guys that know what the expectation, what the standards are... you reset your goals and you reset where you think you can be and what your expectation is."

"I think this is going obviously according to plan and having some of these guys that have been apart of it since day one, guys like Xavion Alford, C.J. Fite, Keith Abney... there's just so many guys that have been here, you know, defensively since really day one that first fall camp practice that we had prior to '23 and now you're going into '25 and those guys have been through it and they know what the expectation is... we're really where we want to be here going into year three."

Ward has maximized the Sun Devil defenses in his time in Tempe - the program has embraced an identity of making massive stops, creating turnovers, and cranking up chaotic blitz packages in unexpected moments.

Ward signed a contract extension to stay with the program in late 2024, so he should remain for the foreseeable future.

Read more on projecting the 10 best players on Arizona State's roster going into the new season here, and on Sam Leavitt being selected as the Big-12 Preseason Offensive Player of the Year here.

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