ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham continues to look for ways to improve the football program following a run to the Peach Bowl.
Among the prospective changes that have been thrown around include a covered practice area connected to the team’s facility that’ll help in more ways than one.
“We’re working on it from a time perspective as we speak,” Dillingham said on a Zoom call with reporters. “I’m not as concerned about, I would say indoor, but I just want a covered area. When it’s hot here, you go in the shade, get some fans rocking then you’re fine.
“I actually like being outside, I like the air. It’s more, can we get a covered area to practice in closer to our facility so we don’t have issues traveling to and from the facility?”
The team currently holds its practices at the Bill Kajikawa Practice Fields or in the adjacent Verde Dickey Dome on the opposite side of Rural Road. Players get shuttled over by golf cart from the football facility at Mountain America Stadium.
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On top of giving his players some relief from the heat, the covered area would also help streamline things logistically.
“We can be more efficient with our time,” Dillingham said. “We can transition out on the field for walkthroughs then come back, which we can’t always do right now.
“It’s definitely something that I think is important for us in order to take the next step just from an efficiency standpoint for our players. And I do think we’re in the process of working on that.”
The coach first brought up the possibility of the new practice area when he joined former ASU staffer Adam Breneman’s Next Up podcast on Thursday.
“We’ve got to get an indoor connected to our facility. … Getting all of our football stuff over here and connected to our facility is most definitely the next step for us,” Dillingham said of what was on his wish list for things that still need to get done.
How could ASU fans benefit from a potential covered area?
On top of ASU’s players getting a break from the heat, the covered area could also help improve fan experience.
“It would also be awesome because it also gives potentially our fans an area to tailgate on game days and a covered setting on turf grass or on fields,” Dillingham said on the Zoom. “It gives that kind of green lawn feel as well, which as we’re trying to get more fan support and more people involved, it could definitely be something that could help in both areas.”
The vast majority of tailgate space has been kept to an asphalt lot across Rio Salado Parkway from the stadium, which isn’t an option for most during the early parts of the season when it’s too hot.
Four of the Sun Devils’ seven home games this season will come after the middle of October, leaving matchups against Northern Arizona (Aug. 30), Texas State (Sept. 13) and TCU (Sept. 27) as likely the hottest tailgates of the season.
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