TEMPE, Ariz. -- Arizona State football coach Todd Graham has used the term ‘high-octane' so often it has become a running joke in the local media.
His players found out it's no joke on the first day of spring ball Tuesday at the Kajikawa practice fields.
The contrast between last year's practices was impossible to ignore. Under former coach Dennis Erickson, practices had a relaxed feel with plenty of down time for players. There was no idle time on Tuesday. Players sprinted from drill to drill and if they didn't, Graham was in their ear, offering such tidbits as these:
"Run like you're an athlete. Quit loafing!"
"Get your butt runnin! You'd better not walk on the field, son!"
"If I see one more person walking your ass is mine!"
"We run to every single thing we do," Graham explained after practice. "It's the little things that make the big things happen."
To a man, the players said the pace was a surprise despite all the prior warnings. That speed, coupled with new terminology and new schemes left more than a few players baffled.
"The first team period I was like a chicken with his head cut off," defensive tackle Will Sutton said. "I didn't know what I was doing."
Graham expected as much.
"It was a learning experience from a tempo standpoint for all the guys," he said. "It's a lot faster than what they were used to."
Graham vowed that this was no show for a decent sized gathering of fans.
"We'll do that when we're in bowl practice," he said.
And the shouts will come when Graham feels the need to "strain" his players. The offseason is over.
"I spent most of my time really trying to develop a relationship with them," Graham said. "These guys have never heard me raise my voice until today. I'm going to coach them in short verbal blasts, but it's all positive."
HAPPY MAGEE
Senior linebacker Brandon Magee was back on the practice field for the first time since rupturing his Achilles tendon last spring and missing the entire season. That's good news for a team deathly short on experienced backers following the graduation of Colin Parker, Shelly Lyons, Oliver Aaron and the early departure of Vontaze Burfict, who declared for the NFL Draft.
"It feels like my birthday," Magee said as he pondered the difficulties of the past year. "It was hard to sleep at night. That was the lowest point of my life."
Magee only took part in individual drills because the tendon still "burns" when he pushes it too hard. He will be re-evaluated each Monday to gauge progress.
"Hopefully, toward the end, you'll see me out here butting heads again," he said.
QUARTERBACK QUANDARY
The battle to replace Brock Osweiler began on Tuesday. Predictably, there were underthrown receivers, missed reads and plenty of turnovers, but Graham still saw promise from Michael Eubank, Mike Bercovici and Taylor Kelly.
"All three have got good feet, all three learn quickly," he said. "I'm very pleased with how they respond. All of them are great character guys and have the intangibles. They just need experience."
Eubank was recruited by Graham at Pittsburgh and appears to possess the dual-threat skill-set to fit Graham's system.
"Utilizing my legs would definitely be something we could capitalize on," Eubank said. "Me being able to spread the defense and be an extra threat to the defense is going to help us in the long run."
Regardless of how the battle for the starting role shakes out, Eubank said it's a welcome switch just to be competing.
"I'm coming from (being) a scout quarterback so it's lovely to be considered as one of the quarterbacks to take the role," he said. "I'm just thankful that I'm even able to be talked about inside the media."
EXTRA POINTS
Graham said ASU will install its base offense and base defense in about nine practices. "We'll see how that goes," he said. "Hopefully we can do it at that pace."
Offensive tackle Evan Goodman and running back D.J. Foster, two members of Graham's first recruiting class, were on hand Tuesday. So was Scout four-star OL Kenny Lacy from Phoenix Mountain Pointe, who will be a high school senior this fall.
