On why he emphasizes teaching in the new facility...
"It's our plan to win. Our plan is character, smart, discipline and toughness. Character speaks to recruiting young men that are service-oriented. The greatest thing you can teach people to do is serve and to give. If I asked everybody in this room, 'What's the greatest thing you've ever done in your life?' it's probably not going to be journalism. Coaching football for me is a passion, but it's to be a father, be a husband, be a son, be a daughter. That's what's important. Our whole philosophy here is based on family values and it starts with character. Obviously, the second is smart. We want to value their intelligence and value their education. We believe the smarter player is the better player. Are we just going to go out and out-talent everybody? Our plan to win is to out-teach, out-smart, to out-discipline, to out-character our opponent. We think that that's something that makes you unique. That's our plan to win in this conference, which is a huge challenge to do. We have done that in the past and the key is that our teams were extremely disciplined and we played very smart football."
On how important it is to acknowledge the history of the program in the new facility...
"It's been my first time to talk since coach Kush's passing. It meant a lot to me, the time I got to spend with him. We'd have coffee on Wednesday mornings. I would tell him, 'Hey man, make yourself at home,' and he sure did. He thought I was soft. He would tell me how soft I was. I wanted to share this story because I think it's something the fans would value. He would forget some things, but he could remember every single play. He would ask me, 'Why would you do this? Why on third down with two are you doing this?' The things that you are passionate about are the things that he held on to. It's an honor for me to get to coach here. That's why it's so important to me. I'm a history teacher. I love this country. I love getting to do what I get to do and I'm very blessed to do it. I guess it is my granddad's influence on me. I think it's key that we reach out and we embrace our former players and tradition. I want our kids to walk down the hall and know what we've done. That's big that we can do it. I'm big into that. Patriotic. That's something that's very, very important to me. I cherish the time I've gotten to spend with coach Kush. It was special. Going to camp Tontozona is going to be very special because he basically built that place. Look at 176 wins and what he did. Why would we not, is my point. I think you play harder when you have a cause and you represent something bigger than yourself. In the last conversation I had with coach Kush, he would talk about this every time we talked. Being a Sun Devil is about being a tough, you know that. That's why our model this year is Sun Devil Tough. Without that relationship, you don't get that. There are some things I learned from him in the end of his life just because I was willing to reach out and be open to embracing him. This is a place that all Sun Devils can be proud of and something that's important to me."
On whether he gets emotional walking through the facility...
"Coach Cassidy has been a great partner for me in this thing. Having the opportunity that Dr. Crow gave me, being able to work with him and Ray [Anderson] to build the vision that we have now. I don't think there's ever been a coach that's in the situation I've been in. Tim's been with me at every dinner and every fundraising event. This has been a passion for me. I'm sure that in my life I will never have this opportunity again. I'm 52-years-old. I'm not old, I've got a lot left in me. It's been a passion to get this done. For me and my wife and my family, we committed to doing this thing with all of the supporters. Unprecedented support. Without their support, there's no way this would have happened. Never before in the history of the program have we had our supporters step up the way they have. I'm very, very grateful for them. I love this. I love coming to work every day and I love doing what I'm doing. I think we've created something really unique and special here. I think it's going to impact our program moving forward in a big way."
On the importance of the new facility on the program...
"I think it's critical that people see a commitment. We'll finish the stadium after this next year and then we're coming into a brand new football complex. We haven't tried to go over-the-top lavish with stuff. We wanted to build a facility that shows who we are. Who we are as a university is that we're the number one university in the country for innovation. When Dr. Crow hired me, it was because he wanted a teacher. He wanted someone who believed in the teaching model. We have designed and developed a facility unique to who were are and our plan to win. It's going to have a huge impact and it already has in recruiting. When you're building something and showing somebody pictures, that's one thing. I even described to you guys what this facility looks like. It's a lot different to see it and experience it. It shows commitment, who we are and also being able to develop our players. Five or six years ago, we were very far behind when it came to our facilities and our ability to teach and train our players. It was one of the reasons why when I first came here, we redid the weight room. I would love when you get done here, walk over there. Go in the weight room where there's no light. I hadn't been back since we moved over. This is going to be a thing that is going to impact our program in a big way."
On how it has already impacted the program...
"I don't know if you watched the tour our players took. Did you see their reaction? That's the reaction that the recruits will have. It's brick and mortar, but how it fits who we are and how it was designed, and how it's going to operate and develop our players is far more important than the "wow factor". The building is very practical and very high-tech. That's who we are. The innovation part of it is going to be critical to it. The number one impact it's going to have is development. Yes, it's going to impact recruiting. I don't see how it couldn't. Young people are impressionable when it comes to that. The biggest thing that it's going to do it that it's going to impact our ability to win football games on the field. That's the number one thing that impacts recruiting and improving your personnel."
On what they kept in mind when designing the facility...
"When we designed it, we started on the drive up. When you pull up and you look through the windows, what you see when you pull up. Obviously, it's not done yet. The first thing you do when you walk in the front door is see the Rose Bowl Championship trophy. Then, you see the Lombardi trophy, you see the fact that we have won the Rose Bowl Championship. You are going to see those things right when you walk in the front door. The next thing you're going to see is what we're all about: training. You're going to walk right in that door and see the weight room. You can see the weight room from the street from Rio Salado. You can see our signage when you look from the parking lot. From a recruiting standpoint, the path from with we take recruits is designed. When we bring our players in and how they operate in the building as well. There's a reason why everything is in here and where it's located. There's a specific reason why when you get in, you see that Hall of Fame, our great tradition and the weight room. When you get on the elevator and walk off to the next floor, it's all the success we've had with our guys going on to the next level in the NFL. Also, you see the military appreciation part of it too. It's a big part of Arizona State. Everything is in there for a reason. Tim has been a huge part of this. He has worked at A&M, worked at Nebraska, Florida and he did a lot of the research. He had to work with a crazy person who has crazy ideas about how we want to do things."
On whether he has a part of the facility he loves that was not seen on the media tour...
"We didn't go in the locker room or the coach's offices. I'm proud of the locker room and how we can take care of our players. We have cold tanks in the locker rooms. After practice every day, they have a cold tank they can get right into. We have technology built into their lockers where they can do just about anything they can do at a computer at their lockers. You'd walk into my locker you'd see a picture of my mother because she is the most responsible for putting me here. The players area is sacred to me: the locker room, the players and everything in there. I'm very proud of the whole building. The dining hall out here is going to be really cool. One of the unique things that we do is some of our former players line the Tillman Tunnel. So you pass through the men that have come before you before you go out onto the field of battle, which I think is pretty cool. There's going to be a Lettermen's Suite on game day which is going to be pretty cool. That's a way of saying our former players are important to us. Being able to feed our players. Something as simple as that. That would be the number one thing I'd want you to see that you didn't see today. I love to have a photo of what we were using and what we're using now. That might be the most dramatic difference. Eating right, sleeping right and living right is critical to being successful and competing at a high level. There isn't any area in our players' development that's not impacted by this building. They have a nice little players lounge in there too."
On the sense of leadership and accountability from the team...
"The thing I'm excited about is the investment. Our players invested, I think they would tell you it's probably as good as spring and maybe the best summer that we've had as far as our players' 100% commitment. The training and development that went in, these guys have checked that box. I'm excited about the investment they made this summer. They know how tough this league is and how difficult it is but I'm proud of what they did this summer. I think you reap what you sow and these guys invested a great deal this summer and worked as hard as any group I've ever had."
On the NCAA Changes allowing student-athletes to begin practice a week earlier...
"Yeah, I wish you wouldn't ask that. I think we hopefully can figure it out a bit better. Our coaches lost a week and a half of time with their families and there's very little time right now. Next year, we'll have official visits all the way through June. Now, we're reporting July 24. When do you ever have any down time? I think that's tough. But, on the same hand, student-athlete well-being comes first, not coach's vacation. I think we can figure it out. I think going to one-a-days is a smart thing. We really basically were doing that. Also, one thing I think is really important is that this game is the greatest game on Earth and it is a very physical game but it can be played safely. You also need to practice. You need to be able to practice how to tackle, block, have your eyes up and teach the safety things about it. I think increase in it and reporting earlier was how they did away with the two-a-days, which I think is a positive deal. You're adding a week and a half to the players as far as that time for practice. I think that we're heading the right direction with that. I do think it's important that this game is a contact sport and it's important to teach them to have the ample time to teach guys the proper way to tackle. We don't go out and tackle to the ground. We very seldom do that. We're teaching a rugby-style tackle where we're taking the head completely out of it. Probably the last two years in all of football, NFL and college, there's been the worst tackling I've ever seen. That's something that's important that we practice it. Student-athlete well-being, safety and protecting this game is something that I defer to the experts on the decisions that they make and what they decide to do. If it's benefiting young people and making the game safer, I'm all for it."
On his concerns going into practice...
"I really don't have a lot of concerns. I'm excited. The biggest concern going into the summer was just our staff. I'm more concerned about staff. You know how I feel about turnover and all that stuff, I don't like all that. There were four teams in the Power-5 that didn't have turnover. That's just the nature of it. The good thing is that I feel really good about our leadership. I feel great about Coach Napier and Coach Bennett and we've spent a lot of time just trying to get on the same. I'm not talking about people on the same page as me, because obviously I hire people that philosophically believe in the teacher model and what we're doing. I'm talking about offensively and defensively blending and making sure we have everybody on the same page on how we operate practice. When we first got here, the guys we had had been together for a long time. We really didn't have to talk about where everyone was on the field and when we're doing things. The thing I'm most confident about is this team and the investment that they have made. I've been very impressed. Leadership is a talk, not a walk. I think that's a direct correlation to the leadership on our staff. I'm all in. All this stuff and all these things that are happening in the program, we got what we need, now let's get focused on what we're doing. We have to really focus. You look at our schedule and I think it's ranked like second in the league or something like that. We have a challenging schedule, good, that's what we signed up for. We're excited about it and we're looking forward to this season and this team. Man, Sam Jones, Kalen Ballage, and JoJo Wicker, the guys who were elected team captains, but I've been so impressed with this senior leadership, the leadership on this team and the investment they've made this summer."
On the addition of players, especially in the defensive backfield...
"I think the fact that we have newcomers and new talent is a good thing. Obviously, that was an area of focus and concern for us in recruiting. I can tell you throughout the spring and summer that development has been something I've been impressed with. I have confidence that we have the right guys."
On the quarterback competition heading into camp...
"I think everyone knew before that. I didn't make an announcement, I just didn't want our opponent know who was going to play but I thought our opponent knew, I think everybody knew. WE have a returning starter and he's the starting quarterback until someone beats him out. Is there competition? Big time competition. I like that we have competition in a lot of spots. That tells you what kind of depth you have, which we've had little of in certain positions. I'm excited about that group and really proud of Brady White. Brady suffered a really tough injury and he's working really hard to make it back. I don't project that will be this year but he is working his tail off to do that. It's a 12 month recovery for his injury so, I am really proud of him and how hard he's working to make it back. That's critical to us, as well."
On the progression of the quarterbacks through the summer...
"I think the summer was great. It was highly competitive. It's going to be competitive and that's a good thing. Right now, we have a starting quarterback and Blake knows he has to beat him out. I'm looking forward to see that competition and a very physical, Sun Devil tough training camp. We have a lot of competition in a lot of spots. I like the blue-collar mentality that our players have taken in their approach to training and preparation. I'm looking forward to this camp and excited about our leadership from our new coordinators and staff."
On what Frank Kush would have said about the new facilities...
"He would have loved the training aspect of it. He would have loved to have one. He'd probably tell you, "Well, I tell you what. You better not be soft going into that building." tough people come out of tough times. He was aware and I showed him the things we were doing. He would get real quiet when I'd do anything that recognized him. I could tell he appreciated what we had done for the former players. He would talk to me almost like a dad. He would tell me, "Look, don't worry about building all that stuff. Worry about getting those guys tough." He would tell me quite often that I was soft. He wanted us to run the football a lot better. If he were coaching, he would be pretty fired up about this building. He would also, just being honest with you, he would think some of it was just ridiculous. He also loved kids and loved the players. I'm going to miss him. I knew when we carried him off the field at Camp T that that was probably the last time and he meant a lot to our program. I have a lot of respect for him. I'm closing in right around 100 wins, somewhere around the late 80s, and I'm thinking, "176? Wow." He had a huge impact on our program."
"It's our plan to win. Our plan is character, smart, discipline and toughness. Character speaks to recruiting young men that are service-oriented. The greatest thing you can teach people to do is serve and to give. If I asked everybody in this room, 'What's the greatest thing you've ever done in your life?' it's probably not going to be journalism. Coaching football for me is a passion, but it's to be a father, be a husband, be a son, be a daughter. That's what's important. Our whole philosophy here is based on family values and it starts with character. Obviously, the second is smart. We want to value their intelligence and value their education. We believe the smarter player is the better player. Are we just going to go out and out-talent everybody? Our plan to win is to out-teach, out-smart, to out-discipline, to out-character our opponent. We think that that's something that makes you unique. That's our plan to win in this conference, which is a huge challenge to do. We have done that in the past and the key is that our teams were extremely disciplined and we played very smart football."
On how important it is to acknowledge the history of the program in the new facility...
"It's been my first time to talk since coach Kush's passing. It meant a lot to me, the time I got to spend with him. We'd have coffee on Wednesday mornings. I would tell him, 'Hey man, make yourself at home,' and he sure did. He thought I was soft. He would tell me how soft I was. I wanted to share this story because I think it's something the fans would value. He would forget some things, but he could remember every single play. He would ask me, 'Why would you do this? Why on third down with two are you doing this?' The things that you are passionate about are the things that he held on to. It's an honor for me to get to coach here. That's why it's so important to me. I'm a history teacher. I love this country. I love getting to do what I get to do and I'm very blessed to do it. I guess it is my granddad's influence on me. I think it's key that we reach out and we embrace our former players and tradition. I want our kids to walk down the hall and know what we've done. That's big that we can do it. I'm big into that. Patriotic. That's something that's very, very important to me. I cherish the time I've gotten to spend with coach Kush. It was special. Going to camp Tontozona is going to be very special because he basically built that place. Look at 176 wins and what he did. Why would we not, is my point. I think you play harder when you have a cause and you represent something bigger than yourself. In the last conversation I had with coach Kush, he would talk about this every time we talked. Being a Sun Devil is about being a tough, you know that. That's why our model this year is Sun Devil Tough. Without that relationship, you don't get that. There are some things I learned from him in the end of his life just because I was willing to reach out and be open to embracing him. This is a place that all Sun Devils can be proud of and something that's important to me."
On whether he gets emotional walking through the facility...
"Coach Cassidy has been a great partner for me in this thing. Having the opportunity that Dr. Crow gave me, being able to work with him and Ray [Anderson] to build the vision that we have now. I don't think there's ever been a coach that's in the situation I've been in. Tim's been with me at every dinner and every fundraising event. This has been a passion for me. I'm sure that in my life I will never have this opportunity again. I'm 52-years-old. I'm not old, I've got a lot left in me. It's been a passion to get this done. For me and my wife and my family, we committed to doing this thing with all of the supporters. Unprecedented support. Without their support, there's no way this would have happened. Never before in the history of the program have we had our supporters step up the way they have. I'm very, very grateful for them. I love this. I love coming to work every day and I love doing what I'm doing. I think we've created something really unique and special here. I think it's going to impact our program moving forward in a big way."
On the importance of the new facility on the program...
"I think it's critical that people see a commitment. We'll finish the stadium after this next year and then we're coming into a brand new football complex. We haven't tried to go over-the-top lavish with stuff. We wanted to build a facility that shows who we are. Who we are as a university is that we're the number one university in the country for innovation. When Dr. Crow hired me, it was because he wanted a teacher. He wanted someone who believed in the teaching model. We have designed and developed a facility unique to who were are and our plan to win. It's going to have a huge impact and it already has in recruiting. When you're building something and showing somebody pictures, that's one thing. I even described to you guys what this facility looks like. It's a lot different to see it and experience it. It shows commitment, who we are and also being able to develop our players. Five or six years ago, we were very far behind when it came to our facilities and our ability to teach and train our players. It was one of the reasons why when I first came here, we redid the weight room. I would love when you get done here, walk over there. Go in the weight room where there's no light. I hadn't been back since we moved over. This is going to be a thing that is going to impact our program in a big way."
On how it has already impacted the program...
"I don't know if you watched the tour our players took. Did you see their reaction? That's the reaction that the recruits will have. It's brick and mortar, but how it fits who we are and how it was designed, and how it's going to operate and develop our players is far more important than the "wow factor". The building is very practical and very high-tech. That's who we are. The innovation part of it is going to be critical to it. The number one impact it's going to have is development. Yes, it's going to impact recruiting. I don't see how it couldn't. Young people are impressionable when it comes to that. The biggest thing that it's going to do it that it's going to impact our ability to win football games on the field. That's the number one thing that impacts recruiting and improving your personnel."
On what they kept in mind when designing the facility...
"When we designed it, we started on the drive up. When you pull up and you look through the windows, what you see when you pull up. Obviously, it's not done yet. The first thing you do when you walk in the front door is see the Rose Bowl Championship trophy. Then, you see the Lombardi trophy, you see the fact that we have won the Rose Bowl Championship. You are going to see those things right when you walk in the front door. The next thing you're going to see is what we're all about: training. You're going to walk right in that door and see the weight room. You can see the weight room from the street from Rio Salado. You can see our signage when you look from the parking lot. From a recruiting standpoint, the path from with we take recruits is designed. When we bring our players in and how they operate in the building as well. There's a reason why everything is in here and where it's located. There's a specific reason why when you get in, you see that Hall of Fame, our great tradition and the weight room. When you get on the elevator and walk off to the next floor, it's all the success we've had with our guys going on to the next level in the NFL. Also, you see the military appreciation part of it too. It's a big part of Arizona State. Everything is in there for a reason. Tim has been a huge part of this. He has worked at A&M, worked at Nebraska, Florida and he did a lot of the research. He had to work with a crazy person who has crazy ideas about how we want to do things."
On whether he has a part of the facility he loves that was not seen on the media tour...
"We didn't go in the locker room or the coach's offices. I'm proud of the locker room and how we can take care of our players. We have cold tanks in the locker rooms. After practice every day, they have a cold tank they can get right into. We have technology built into their lockers where they can do just about anything they can do at a computer at their lockers. You'd walk into my locker you'd see a picture of my mother because she is the most responsible for putting me here. The players area is sacred to me: the locker room, the players and everything in there. I'm very proud of the whole building. The dining hall out here is going to be really cool. One of the unique things that we do is some of our former players line the Tillman Tunnel. So you pass through the men that have come before you before you go out onto the field of battle, which I think is pretty cool. There's going to be a Lettermen's Suite on game day which is going to be pretty cool. That's a way of saying our former players are important to us. Being able to feed our players. Something as simple as that. That would be the number one thing I'd want you to see that you didn't see today. I love to have a photo of what we were using and what we're using now. That might be the most dramatic difference. Eating right, sleeping right and living right is critical to being successful and competing at a high level. There isn't any area in our players' development that's not impacted by this building. They have a nice little players lounge in there too."
On the sense of leadership and accountability from the team...
"The thing I'm excited about is the investment. Our players invested, I think they would tell you it's probably as good as spring and maybe the best summer that we've had as far as our players' 100% commitment. The training and development that went in, these guys have checked that box. I'm excited about the investment they made this summer. They know how tough this league is and how difficult it is but I'm proud of what they did this summer. I think you reap what you sow and these guys invested a great deal this summer and worked as hard as any group I've ever had."
On the NCAA Changes allowing student-athletes to begin practice a week earlier...
"Yeah, I wish you wouldn't ask that. I think we hopefully can figure it out a bit better. Our coaches lost a week and a half of time with their families and there's very little time right now. Next year, we'll have official visits all the way through June. Now, we're reporting July 24. When do you ever have any down time? I think that's tough. But, on the same hand, student-athlete well-being comes first, not coach's vacation. I think we can figure it out. I think going to one-a-days is a smart thing. We really basically were doing that. Also, one thing I think is really important is that this game is the greatest game on Earth and it is a very physical game but it can be played safely. You also need to practice. You need to be able to practice how to tackle, block, have your eyes up and teach the safety things about it. I think increase in it and reporting earlier was how they did away with the two-a-days, which I think is a positive deal. You're adding a week and a half to the players as far as that time for practice. I think that we're heading the right direction with that. I do think it's important that this game is a contact sport and it's important to teach them to have the ample time to teach guys the proper way to tackle. We don't go out and tackle to the ground. We very seldom do that. We're teaching a rugby-style tackle where we're taking the head completely out of it. Probably the last two years in all of football, NFL and college, there's been the worst tackling I've ever seen. That's something that's important that we practice it. Student-athlete well-being, safety and protecting this game is something that I defer to the experts on the decisions that they make and what they decide to do. If it's benefiting young people and making the game safer, I'm all for it."
On his concerns going into practice...
"I really don't have a lot of concerns. I'm excited. The biggest concern going into the summer was just our staff. I'm more concerned about staff. You know how I feel about turnover and all that stuff, I don't like all that. There were four teams in the Power-5 that didn't have turnover. That's just the nature of it. The good thing is that I feel really good about our leadership. I feel great about Coach Napier and Coach Bennett and we've spent a lot of time just trying to get on the same. I'm not talking about people on the same page as me, because obviously I hire people that philosophically believe in the teacher model and what we're doing. I'm talking about offensively and defensively blending and making sure we have everybody on the same page on how we operate practice. When we first got here, the guys we had had been together for a long time. We really didn't have to talk about where everyone was on the field and when we're doing things. The thing I'm most confident about is this team and the investment that they have made. I've been very impressed. Leadership is a talk, not a walk. I think that's a direct correlation to the leadership on our staff. I'm all in. All this stuff and all these things that are happening in the program, we got what we need, now let's get focused on what we're doing. We have to really focus. You look at our schedule and I think it's ranked like second in the league or something like that. We have a challenging schedule, good, that's what we signed up for. We're excited about it and we're looking forward to this season and this team. Man, Sam Jones, Kalen Ballage, and JoJo Wicker, the guys who were elected team captains, but I've been so impressed with this senior leadership, the leadership on this team and the investment they've made this summer."
On the addition of players, especially in the defensive backfield...
"I think the fact that we have newcomers and new talent is a good thing. Obviously, that was an area of focus and concern for us in recruiting. I can tell you throughout the spring and summer that development has been something I've been impressed with. I have confidence that we have the right guys."
On the quarterback competition heading into camp...
"I think everyone knew before that. I didn't make an announcement, I just didn't want our opponent know who was going to play but I thought our opponent knew, I think everybody knew. WE have a returning starter and he's the starting quarterback until someone beats him out. Is there competition? Big time competition. I like that we have competition in a lot of spots. That tells you what kind of depth you have, which we've had little of in certain positions. I'm excited about that group and really proud of Brady White. Brady suffered a really tough injury and he's working really hard to make it back. I don't project that will be this year but he is working his tail off to do that. It's a 12 month recovery for his injury so, I am really proud of him and how hard he's working to make it back. That's critical to us, as well."
On the progression of the quarterbacks through the summer...
"I think the summer was great. It was highly competitive. It's going to be competitive and that's a good thing. Right now, we have a starting quarterback and Blake knows he has to beat him out. I'm looking forward to see that competition and a very physical, Sun Devil tough training camp. We have a lot of competition in a lot of spots. I like the blue-collar mentality that our players have taken in their approach to training and preparation. I'm looking forward to this camp and excited about our leadership from our new coordinators and staff."
On what Frank Kush would have said about the new facilities...
"He would have loved the training aspect of it. He would have loved to have one. He'd probably tell you, "Well, I tell you what. You better not be soft going into that building." tough people come out of tough times. He was aware and I showed him the things we were doing. He would get real quiet when I'd do anything that recognized him. I could tell he appreciated what we had done for the former players. He would talk to me almost like a dad. He would tell me, "Look, don't worry about building all that stuff. Worry about getting those guys tough." He would tell me quite often that I was soft. He wanted us to run the football a lot better. If he were coaching, he would be pretty fired up about this building. He would also, just being honest with you, he would think some of it was just ridiculous. He also loved kids and loved the players. I'm going to miss him. I knew when we carried him off the field at Camp T that that was probably the last time and he meant a lot to our program. I have a lot of respect for him. I'm closing in right around 100 wins, somewhere around the late 80s, and I'm thinking, "176? Wow." He had a huge impact on our program."