ASU spring football: Players adjust to Kenny Dillingham's increased workload, intensity

Arizona State football will host several newcomers in key positions this upcoming season, but a promising sign came during the second day of spring practice when the defense appeared to have an edge in the competitions.

In the first round of the one-on-one competition, defense won three of the four contests and showcased pass breakups. It was a telling difference from the first day when the offense dominated with its flow.

“Defense got the best of the offense today, put a little bit of the deny the ball defense in. You want to pat the football around a little bit and they got turnovers today, which is great for us,” ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham said. “We want to get turnovers on defense, but it’s bad for the offense, so not quite as crisp as I wanted for day two.”

Keeping the levels up

The second day of practices didn’t have any drop off from opening day’s pomp. Dillingham continued to challenge his players using his microphone. The feedback from returning players has been overwhelmingly positive.

“A lot of intensity, it’s more intense than what we’re used to, but this is good for us, this is what we need,” defensive back Chris Edmonds said. “It’s a lot of fun and a lot of energy. Coach Dillingham, just like he is in in the building, he’s on 10 at all times and that just helps bring energy to us and we reciprocate what he brings.”

More:Kenny Dillingham goes hoarse, sets tone in first Arizona State spring football practice

Finding early chemistry

Washington State transfer Travion Brown was familiar with ASU in a different way last season, but he’s now a much-needed veteran presence in the linebacker group that lost two significant leaders in Kyle Soelle and Merlin Robertson.

Luckily for ASU, Brown has instilled communication within the group and it’s showing early on.

“The way that the linebackers are picking up the scheme here is shocking. I’m impressed,” Brown said. “Being able to pick up the scheme and being able to play how we play within the scheme, the whole LB group will be pretty nasty to see.”

Who's in, Who's out:ASU defense, special teams

Working through fatigue

Dillingham described ASU’s defense as “simple and complex at the same time,” meaning that the Sun Devils will have to make a lot of adjustments with minimal play calls.

“When you have a lot of adjustments, you got to get on the same call. You got to communicate and what’s really hard is you have to communicate when you’re tired,” Dillingham said. “We’re putting them in positions to be tired and when you’re tired, it’s hard to speak and yell. You’ve got to train yourself to communicate through fatigue.”

Logging miles

Much can be said about the energy in practice from the changing of tempos throughout the practice. But the ultimate measure of how much energy the Sun Devils are exerting comes from the GPS that tracks the players’ movements.

“We looked at our GPS numbers this year and compared to last year at this time for them, we had almost 50% more work,” Dillingham said. “For our guys, it’s impossible to be mentally ready for all of that until you see that. Today we got a little bit better on that and only missed five reps.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona State football spring practice: Workload, intensity increase