TEMPE, Ariz. -- Todd Graham believes he addressed his team's biggest problem by admitting to himself he couldn't do everything.
Special-teams duties had been split up among the Sun Devil coaching staff, but Graham spent three months after the Sun Bowl reevaluating his coaching staff's responsibilities.
The final verdict came in March.
ASU needed one man for the job for the job of fixing the one aspect of the program that was not up to championship standards. Graham made a splash by hiring long-time NFL special teams coach Shawn Slocum, who was fired after a six-year run as the Green Bay Packers special teams coordinator.
Spring marks the infancy of this new setup, and Graham already sees the improvements from a year ago. Fans will get a chance to judge for themselves at the annual spring game, Friday at 7 p.m. at Sun Devil Stadium.
"We got somebody championing," Graham said. "No matter how hard I would emphasize special teams ... the kids know. They know me and Coach (Keith) Patterson do the defense, and Coach (Mike) Norvell does the offense. Coach (Slocum) has been doing nothing but that for 10 years."
Slocum, who is also associate head coach and outside linebacker coach, didn't seek out the ASU position. He said he had no plans to return to college, where he coached from 1990 through 2005. But the former Texas A&M player and son of the school's all-time winningest coach, R.C. Slocum, had connections in Tempe. He got to know Graham in the 1990s, when the ASU head coach was leading Allen High School in Texas, just outside of Dallas. Slocum also knows senior associate athletic director of football Tim Cassidy, who spent 23 years and three separate stints at Texas A&M, growing from graduate assistant to associate athletic director.
"It looked like a great situation, they got a lot of good things going on, and I'm glad to be here," Slocum said.
The first order of business has and will continue to be learning ASU's personnel.
"I've got to get to know the players and what we've got," Slocum said. "The other thing is, just try to get a plan for moving forward and to install our schemes and what we're going to do and organize the practices."
Junior Zane Gonzalez returns as a place-kicker who could challenge for the Lou Groza Award given to the nation's best kicker. Punter Matt Haack has worked on his drop with Slocum, and his consistency is expected to improve. Edgar Gastelum has improved his kickoffs as well, and Graham said the hangtimes have averaged 4.2 seconds this spring.
ASU also likes its options in the return game, despite Kyle Middlebrooks and Damarious Randall moving beyond their college careers. Kalen Ballage, who has played running back and Devil-backer during the spring, will team with speedster De'Chavon Hayes on returns. Sophomore Jacom Brimhall, a waterbug type of running back at 5-6, 178 pounds, has also gotten looks as return man.
Return coverage might be the one phase of special teams that needs the most improvement.
Organizationally, the Sun Devils feel they are heading in the right direction.
"You can see the level of buy-in from our players," Graham said. "We've devoted twice as much time to it."
For the strong-stomached ASU fan, here's a quick reminder of the key special team miscues from a year ago:
--The troubles began in the fourth game of the season, when UCLA took a kickoff return 100 yards for a score, turning a 34-20 Bruins lead into a 41-20 blowout six minutes into the second half. ASU would fall apart to lose 62-27.
--After the UCLA loss, ASU allowed a 53-yard punt return against USC to break a scoreless game midway through the first quarter. Of course, those seven points made the Sun Devils' memorable Jael Mary ending possible.
--The regular season finale against rival Arizona saw the Wildcats block an ASU punt, leading to an Arizona touchdown in an eventual 42-35 win that kept the Sun Devils from a Pac-12 Championship Game appearance.
--ASU's Sun Bowl victory came down to the wire but might not have had Duke's Jamison Crowder not taken a 68-yard punt return for a score with 1:49 remaining in the first half. The play closed the Blue Devils' deficit to 20-17 at halftime after the Sun Devils' jumped out to a 20-3 lead. ASU would hold on in the final minutes to win 36-31.
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