As he prepares for his first (and maybe only) Territorial Cup game as Arizona State's head coach, Shaun Aguano is doing it all.
He brought in former Sun Devils to talk about the UA-ASU rivalry. Showed his players pictures of ASU's "A Mountain" being painted red and blue and video of Arizona players scuffling on the sidelines.
Aguano even played the Wildcats' fight song in practice.
"They weren’t happy about (it), and that’s good," Aguano said during Monday's news conference in Tempe. "There are a couple of things from an engagement standpoint and a motivation standpoint I like to throw in. They really need to know that we just need to execute at practice, but I’ll throw those little tidbits this week just to keep it interesting."
Aguano, who was named ASU's interim head coach in September following Herm Edwards' dismissal, knows what a Friday victory might mean for both himself and the program. A former Chandler High School coach who has proven to be immensely popular among his players and some boosters this season, Aguano could bolster his case for the full-time gig with a victory. Friday's winner will secure both in-state supremacy and a higher spot in the Pac-12 standings. Both Arizona (4-7 overall) and ASU (3-8 overall) are 2-6 in conference play.
Aguano talked about the rivalry game during Monday's news conference. Here's the best of what he said:
On whether he's talked with Marana's Trenton Bourguet, an ASU quarterback, about playing in his hometown: “I try not to bring it up to him because I don’t want to put the added pressure on him, but he knows. I’ll walk by him and say, ‘Hey, we’re going down to your neck of the woods,' and he was like 'Coach, we’re going to win.' So I put a few nudges here and there with him, but he’s a competitor and I know what it means to him to go down there and come away with the win. I won’t have that conversation, I’ll just give him a little teasing nudges here and there during the week. He’ll be prepared, and he’ll be ready.”
On what he sees from Arizona: “They have a dangerous quarterback. The kind of quarterback we’ve faced the whole year. We have to contain him in the pocket and they’ll probably throw the ball 40, 50 times. He makes great off schedule throws and we’re going to have to make sure that our eyes don’t get dirty and that we keep a hand on the receivers and watch our man. There are a lot of things that we have to do defensively to keep him contained. Then offensively, we have to make sure that we can run the football on them and make those conversions on third down and not be a yard short. All of those things to extend our series and play fundamental football.”
On bringing in ex-players to talk about the rivalry: “Yes, we did at our letterman’s jacket (event) last night. Juan Roque came in and spoke. Kevin Miniefield spoke. Jean Boyd spoke. I’m bringing in alumni (to share) what this game means to them… I sat back last night before I came in this morning and thought, 'Do these kids really understand what it is?' So, I had to give them an educational lesson today and I thought it worked out because they were engaged and watched and kind of understand what this Territorial Cup means.”
On whether he needs to motivate players for the Territorial Cup: “You never know with kids nowadays. It is our job to make sure that that happens and bring the intensity every day at practice. We will have a Thanksgiving dinner put together and that will be our last time. It’s about holding these guys together. We talked about playing to the last whistle and sometimes subconsciously you say, 'Well, you played until the last whistle. That’s enough for the game. You did your best.' But shoot, we want to win and dominate from the beginning and that’s the mindset that we’re going to take this week.”
On coaching in the rivalry: “Just sitting back and knowing that I am going to be a part of a great history in Arizona, that’s huge for me. When I walk on that field just taking that all in, and then helping our kids understand that. It’s an honor because there are a lot of great coaches before me, and there will be a lot of great coaches after me that will play in this game. For 100 something years this game has been played, so just to be on the sidelines with my football team is a huge feather in my cap. Just an honor for me to represent Arizona State and coming away with that win would be a huge honor too.”
On the importance of Friday from a recruiting standpoint: “Absolutely it matters. You walk into that place and especially if you’re fighting with (the UA) for a kid and their motto (is) 'It’s Personal,' well, it’s personal to us, too. Winning this football game gives us another notch from a recruiting standpoint, that it’s six years that we're winning this game. We’re a better football team and program than they are. There are a lot of things that you can use in a recruiting speech that you can get, but (beating Arizona) is huge. You want to win the Arizona battle of kids. That’s my goal is to win and keep the best kids and just having that in your speech is something that I think is a huge advantage.”
