Perched in a comfortable chair in his office, sporting sandals and a welcoming grin, ASU football coach Dennis Erickson hardly looks like a man who is feeling the pressure.
Maybe that’s because the 63-year-old coach, on the heels of a 9-15 record over the past two seasons, is confident change is on the horizon — particularly for an offense that has struggled mightily during that stretch.
“It’s going to be a huge turning point offensively in our program,” said Erickson, who begins his fourth season in Tempe, the first alongside new offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone. “It’ll be completely different than what people have seen, and you’ll see it in the spring from Day 1.”
For the Sun Devils, “Day 1” is Tuesday, as the team kicks off the spring football portion of its schedule, which concludes April 24 with the annual spring game.
The changes implemented by ASU will give the offense a look similar to that of Texas Tech or Houston, Erickson told a group of reporters earlier this month.
That offense will require steady play at the quarterback position, something the Sun Devils were without for much of the 2009 campaign.
As it did last season, ASU heads into the spring without a starter cemented into place.
One of the job hunters hoping to take over as signal-caller is junior Steven Threet, who sat out and ran the scout-team offense last season after transferring from Michigan, where he started eight games as a redshirt freshman in 2008.
Sophomore Brock Osweiler — a recipient of brief playing time as a true freshman last season, including a start against Oregon in hostile Autzen Stadium — is also a candidate.
Samson Szakacsy continues to battle lingering arm injuries and will likely be limited, at least in part, during spring drills, but the junior will also be in the mix to take over a position that was somewhat of a rotating carousel last season — three different quarterbacks started a game under center in 2009.
Erickson said he would like to have a starter in place by the end of spring practice.
“It’s going to be a battle,” he said.
Threet will benefit from timing he developed last fall with junior wide receiver Aaron Pflugrad, who also sat out the season after transferring from Oregon and was Threet’s primary target on the scout team.
In addition to Pflugrad, the receiving corps will also feature returners in senior Kerry Taylor, junior Gerell Robinson and senior Brandon Smith, who has been granted a sixth year of eligibility after missing much of his time at ASU thus far due to injury.
Junior college transfers George Bell and Mike Willie could also make an immediate impact.
Sophomore Jamal Miles, who switched to wide receiver last year after spending spring practice in the backfield, is the type of hybrid player Erickson said could flourish in Mazzone’s new offensive system, one that will be predicated a speed.
“I think you’ll see as fast an offensive team as you’ve seen in a long time here,” Erickson said.
Key to a quick-hitting offensive scheme will be the play of the offensive line.
The unit, which has been oft-maligned during the past few seasons, now features the most depth it has had during the Erickson era, the coach said.
Junior college transfer Brice Schwab, a former USC commit, will likely step into a starting role at offensive tackle.
“You look at the offensive line now, and with the junior college guys we brought in and the guys that are back … there’s maturation more than anything,” Erickson said. “For the first time since I’ve been here, we are two-deep in spring football with [offensive line] scholarship players.”
Reach the reporter at nkosmide@asu.edu
