TEMPE — When Arizona State football begins its session of spring practices on Thursday, there will be a markedly different feel from the previous one.
This will be coach Kenny Dillingham’s fourth season at ASU, and the pendulum is swinging dramatically from when he entered his third spring with a roster packed with veterans — many of whom did not participate for much of the spring because the coach already knew what they brought to the table. There was no need to risk injury.
This year will be a bit of a return to syllabus day for the coaches as well as the players.
“A lot of guys don’t know how we operate. Us as a staff, we’re going to try to become more efficient,” Dillingham said Tuesday. “Our goal is to be 20% more efficient this spring by cutting down some periods, changing a little bit how we structure some things … a little bit different to get the same amount of work done in 20% less of the time.
“I’m excited to see these guys work. I’m excited to see our staff work with a new group.”
As far as who won’t be participating, several players are dealing with injuries: defensive linemen Zac Swanson and My’Keil Gardner, defensive back Boogie Wilson, wide receivers Derek Eusebio and Harry Hassmann, running back Marquis Gillis (out for only the first few days) and defensive end Ramar Williams.
Defensive tackle C.J. Fite, who Dillingham highlighted as one of the group’s most valuable leaders in the early stages, will miss at least the first half of the spring and “maybe even more … especially for team periods.” It was not immediately clear if his situation was injury-related or due to his veteran status.
Dillingham did not indicate an impact on the fall season beyond being “hopeful” that Swanson and Gardner can get right in time to be in shape for the fall. The two may have challenged for regular defensive tackle snaps in 2025, but injuries limited Swanson to 28 snaps and Gardner to none.
What are the biggest questions ASU football can start to answer in spring camp?
Does QB Cutter Boley live up to the hype?
The priors on how Boley ended up at ASU were intriguing enough: the signal caller stayed in his home state at Kentucky, committing in 2023 to offensive coordinator Liam Coen — who would then go 13-4 as an NFL head coach about 18 months later — and was recruited by Dillingham while the now-ASU coach was at Oregon.
Boley has 11 more games under his belt with eight SEC starts than Sam Leavitt’s limited Big Ten action at the time of his own transfer. Boley has nearly 20 times as many passing yards as Leavitt did coming in (2,498 to 139) with about the same touchdown-to-interception ratio (17-16 to 2-2).
And according to Dillingham, everything he saw when evaluating the film that led him to believe in a very high ceiling has shown up in cognitive testing that ASU uses, known as the S2 Cognition test. It’s one of the tools NFL teams use when evaluating draft prospects.
“I’m not going to release his score, but his score was really, really, really, really good,” Dillingham said. “You, like, have to touch buttons and it has a whole bunch of things that are way above my knowledge, but it correlates basically processing on the field, your ability to learn, how you learn.
“So that just kind of affirmed what I saw on tape.”
RELATED STORIES
ASU DE Clayton Smith to return for 2026 following eligibility waiver, per report
Kenny Dillingham says high-level donor helped ASU's indoor practice facility move forward
Arizona State football transfer tracker: Sun Devils land 2 DB commits
Kenny Dillingham says high-level donor helped ASU's indoor practice facility move forward
Arizona State football transfer tracker: Sun Devils land 2 DB commits
He’ll have a seasoned veteran — and Valley local — in Mikey Keene competing with and supporting him, boasting nearly 800 completions over his college career and having led the Mountain West in completion percentage twice (67.1% and 70.5%).
How much more hands-on will Dillingham be in the offense?
A lot was made about Dillingham’s more active role in playcalling during the 39-point effort in the Sun Bowl where ASU came three points shy of a season high.
The coach said that it will continue into this season, and that it’s something he gets a lot of joy out of.
“I’ve always been involved in both sides of the ball … but my teeth were cut on offense and I like it,” Dillingham said. “I like to coach, like believe it or not, like it’s fun. I enjoy it and I want to do it again, actually coach, so I am going to get back involved.”
It will be his third season working with offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo, whose role won’t change, Dillingham said.
“Marcus and I already have worked together at a high rate. It just means I’m going to be obviously running around a little more. … It’s a positive when the guy in the meetings next to you and that you’re talking to about scheme was the runner-up for the Broyles (Award) 15 months ago,” he added.
How will the running backs room shake out?
One of the players who flashed real potential in that Sun Bowl performance was then-redshirt freshman Jason Brown Jr. He had 134 yards on 13 carries, nearly double the seven career carries he had before the postseason matchup.
He would be most fans’ answers for who should start in 2026, but there’s another player back who appeared to be the starter entering 2025: Kyson Brown. Cam Skattebo’s backup in 2024, he missed the back half of 2025 with a nagging ankle injury, but Dillingham said he’s healthy now.
Because of the talent between those two, along with two productive FCS backs who joined the fold in Gillis (Delaware State) and David Avit (Villanova), Dillingham said the talent may warrant more multiple-back sets.
“I think that room’s probably one of the most up-in-air rooms we have,” Dillingham said. “We’re going to be a little more 20, 21 personnel [two running backs and zero or one tight end] this year. That room’s got to have a more versatile role because we have so many backs.”
Does the defensive line have enough that it won’t need Clayton Smith?
Smith, who has accumulated 13 sacks and 19.5 tackles for loss across all three Dillingham-led ASU seasons to this point, will get a shot at being an offensive weapon this spring, mainly in tight end-types of roles.
His extra year of eligibility stemmed from a year at Oklahoma where injuries limited him to four games played as a redshirt freshman.
The 6-foot-4, 255-pound athlete had a one-off rep where he caught a touchdown over wide receiver Jalen Moss last spring, but that was just a fun moment to break up monotony and didn’t have real intent behind it.
“He already knows our defensive system, he already knows what we want to get accomplished, the techniques,” Dillingham said. “He was a really good wideout in high school. He’s shown that a few times in practice when we’ve had fun with it.
“But I really think this is an opportunity for us to see can he actually become a weapon on that side of the ball and can he be a guy who … does both?”
Dillingham said the rest of the defensive end room gives him the comfort to try the switch, with new transfers such as Jalen Thompson (Michigan State) and Emar’rion Winston (Baylor) added to the fold. Kirtland Vakalahi could have an immediate impact as a JUCO transfer as well.
Albert Smith III is another year older after getting his first career sack, tackle for loss and pass defensed as a redshirt freshman in 2025.
How much can a new-look staff help turn around special teams?
Jack Nudo is the full-time special teams coordinator now after taking on the role midseason when Charlie Ragle took a medical leave of absence. Nudo has his own assistant, with former NFL punter Mike Scifres joining the fold as a specialists coach.
Nudo will handle more of the schematic details of special teams while Scifres can work with the kickers and punters on technical, fundamental tweaks. Dillingham said recent rule changes allowed for the expanded role that Scifres is taking on.
“(Nudo has) done a great job at places he’s been in the past, got a great energy, great passion. The guys really liked him,” Dillingham said. “I thought he did a really good job at the end of the eyar and I’m excited about that.”
While some of the personnel will be the same — with Kanyon Floyd back at punter flanked by Ohio State transfer Nick McLarty — there are other areas with big shoes that need filling, like at kicker.
Jesus Gomez turned the kicking game around for ASU in 2025, and Carson Smith was picked as this year’s newcomer. Smith worked with Nudo at previous stops at Austin Peay and East Carolina.
Hence then, the article about the 5 biggest questions facing asu football as spring camp begins was published today ( ) and is available on Arizona sports ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( The 5: Biggest questions facing ASU football as spring camp begins )
Also on site :