Linebacker Zyrus Fiaseu, middle, celebrates in the end zone after securing a pick-six on the first defensive series of the 2024 season against Wyoming. (Photo by Spencer Barnes/Cronkite News)
Zyrus Fiaseu (30), one of ASU’s leaders at the linebacker position, records a critical tackle for loss against the Kansas Jayhawks. (Photo by Spencer Barnes/Cronkite News)
TEMPE – The legendary coach Bill Parcells once said, “I like linebackers. I collect them. You can’t have too many good ones.” As the heartbeat of a defense, they are arguably the second-most important position on a football team.
Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham, defensive coordinator Brian Ward and linebacker coach A.J. Cooper did their best to emulate the great Parcells by building a position group that has excelled in a number of ways in the 2024 season.
A perfect example of that excellence came in the Sun Devils’ 27-19 upset win over No. 16 Utah last Friday, which raised ASU’s record to 5-1, its best start in years. After being suspended for targeting the week before, junior linebacker Keyshaun Elliott had to watch the defense he normally leads from the sideline for the first half. Luckily for the Sun Devils, the depth of the group shined bright.
Redshirt senior Caleb McCullough saw it all. The Oxnard native was recruited to ASU by the Herm Edwards’ regime and stayed in Tempe through the subsequent controversy, the 3-9 seasons and the coaching change. McCullough got his shot against Utah after taking a backseat for much of the year to Elliott and fellow transfer Zyrus Fiaseu. Twelve tackles and two interceptions later, McCullough was a hero.
Seeing double? ‼️2‼️ interceptions for Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week, Caleb McCullough#ForksUp #Big12FB pic.twitter.com/8jc5obMrnn
— Big 12 Studios (@big12studios) October 16, 2024
“It means a whole lot,” McCullough said after the win and the ASU students’ raucous storming of Frank Kush Field. “I just tell my family that one day I am going to get my opportunity and when you do get that opportunity, the work you put in is going to show. Tonight it showed.”
His efforts were recognized far and wide, as McCullough walked away with Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors, joining senior running back Cam Skattebo for an all-Sun Devil Player of the Week sweep.
McCullough excelling in this role speaks to the success the staff had in building up the room.
“I felt like this (is) one of the deepest linebacker groups I’ve been a part of,” McCullough said.
Depth, talent and playmaking ability are all important for a linebacker group. But for every sport and every position group in football, there is always a secret sauce that can elevate those players to another level: chemistry.
“We’re a close-knit group and we’re comfortable around each other,” Fiaseu said. “I’ll run through a wall for any of these boys … it’s more us being close and making more memories with each other.”
It wasn’t always like that, for Fiaseu at least.
“At first … you walk in the room and it’s like you don’t know anybody’s name, you meet them … but the next day you forget what they said,” he said. “It took time but then over time we just became a group that’s always making jokes with each other, always making sure that we’re cool.
“Even starting in the offseason, coach Cooper used to make us take an ice bath together or eat lunch together and stuff like that.”
Cooper came to Tempe after working with Ward at Washington State. Cooper’s passion is contagious, his energy is constant, and for a group of relatively unknown linebackers thrust into a new conference and situation, his attitude helps bring out fire from his players.
“I like challenges, man,” Cooper said. “I’m a chip-on-your-shoulder type of guy. As a player I was a (6-foot-1) tight end. As a coach, I came up from the lower levels.”
With players constantly coming and going in the new era of college football, this is likely the new norm. Because of this, finding the right ingredients is the key to creating that secret sauce. Cooper, Ward and Dillingham seem to have hit it out of the park in that department.
“(Cooper) always tells us if there’s a guy in the group that he’s recruiting and he doesn’t fit our personality, he’s not going to bring him onto the team,” McCullough said. “They bring in guys with good character and that’s what really makes us close.”
Redshirt senior linebacker Caleb McCullough celebrates after a season-high 12 total tackles, including a crucial tackle for loss, in ASU’s upset of No. 16 Utah last Friday. (Photo by Spencer Barnes/Cronkite News)
The recruiting strategy used by the whole program paid off for this group in particular, with the buy-in impressing the entire coaching staff throughout the preseason programs and the season thus far.
“Any time you bring somebody in, you want to continue to push and elevate the talent in the room,” Cooper said. “We want the culture to improve, we want guys that want to be at ASU and we want guys that want to buy into what we’re doing.”
Cooper worked hard to keep the group on its toes in terms of reps and competitive spirit, but made sure the chemistry came with that.
“They have one thing in common; they’re Sun Devils,” Cooper said. “And then for us to have success as a group, they have to learn to compete as hard as they can against each other and still care about each other’s success.”
Dillingham identified another strength of the group that might go unnoticed by the common fan or passerby.
Caleb McCullough’s career performance last Friday in Tempe keyed Arizona State’s upset of No. 16 Utah. (Photo by Spencer Barnes/Cronkite News)
“That’s one of the groups that’s never on lists,” he said on Monday. “Never on an academic list. They’re never late, always early … it’s not a surprise to me when they make good plays because that group puts in the work.”
Statistically, the improvement, especially in turnover production, is obvious. In 2023, the team had five interceptions in 12 games, with just one coming from a linebacker. In 2024, McCullough had his pair, Fiaseu opened the season with a pick-six against Wyoming and Elliott added one against Wyoming as well.
“I think competition has a lot to do with it,” Cooper said. “We have a deeper group … they know if they don’t come out and practice well, they don’t play well, there’s a guy right behind you that’s ready to go.”
While they aren’t the same as Parcells’ famous “Crunch Bunch” with the New York Giants, Cooper’s efforts to collect talent at the linebacker position seems to be paying off so far in 2024.
