Breaking Down Brian Ward's Saturday Media Availability

TEMPE -- Arizona State's football season is nearly here.

The Sun Devils began preparations for the opening battle with Northern Arizona on Saturday. Defensive coordinator Brian Ward spoke to the media after the two-hour practice. ASU on SI was there for the media availability and gathered a few key highlights from the exchange.

On Montana Warren's growth from spring to fall:

"Yeah, just maturity. He's just learned, you know, he's been in every meeting since I've ever been here with the safeties. So his maturity, he's just playing really, really fast... talking about an elite athlete and now he's putting it together in terms of what he's supposed to do in our scheme, and it's fun to see his growth."

Warren is currently competing with transfer Kyndrich Breedlove to be the starting nickelback. While Breedlove has more collegiate experience, Warren has more experience with Ward's system and perhaps a more reliable frame for the position.

On Zac Swanson's return from injury:

• "Yeah. I mean, one, he is a great person. He brings a lot of energy, and his teammates love him. His first practice last week, he made a couple of plays and I went crazy. It just shows you how much, what a good part of our program he is and you know, and I can't wait to see him get back to that same form that he was at this spring, but he's ahead of what we thought he did."

• "That was a guy that was battling, you know, to start. So he's in terms of who he was in the spring. So when he gets back to full health, he's going to be a problem for teams."

Swanson has been coming back from a foot injury suffered in April and has been participating in practice over the last several days. It is uncertain when he will return to game action, but Ward is obviously very high on the second-year Sun Devil.