5 storylines we'll be following as ASU football opens training camp under Kenny Dillingham

Arizona State football begins fall camp on Monday under first-year head coach Kenny Dillingham, who at age 33 is the youngest head coach at a Power 5 program.
It all leads up to the 2023 season opener against Southern Utah on Aug. 31 at Sun Devil Stadium.
The first part of the building process is laying a foundation and establishing a culture. Dillingham likes what he has seen this far.
"I think the culture that you are as a person is going to be the reflection of your team, right? I don't think you can say, `We want this culture,' but that culture doesn't reflect how you live every day. If you try to create a culture that's not how you're going to live, eventually people are going to see through that," he said.
"The culture is we're going to have more fun than anybody in the country, working harder than anybody in the country. You have to fall in love with the process of growth. You truly see where you stand as a team through adversity, the highs and the lows."
Let's take a look at some of the storylines to play out over the next few weeks:
The ASU quarterback battle continues
This has been a question for both spring and fall camp the past two years. Senior Trenton Bourguet and red-shirt sophomore Drew Pyne are the two leading candidates. Bourguet, who performed admirably as the starter in the last five games of 2022, was the clear front-runner after spring drills and benefited from his familiarity with the personnel as the lone returning signal-caller in the fold.
Pyne, a transfer who started 10 games last season at Notre Dame, has the stronger arm and a quick release which makes him an attractive option as well. It will be interesting to see how much progress he has made since the spring.
True freshman Jaden Rashada, a four-star prospect out of northern California, has a ton of potential and is physically the most gifted in the room. He made a lot of progress in the last two weeks of the spring but is probably a year away from seriously contending for the job.
Dillingham was asked about his timeline for naming a starter at last week's Pac-12 football Media Day.
"When a leader emerges, we'll name a starter. No matter what, we'll name a starter at least a week prior to the first game if nobody clearly separates themselves. It's not going to be like, a random starter runs out there week one. Our team needs to know who their captain is. The sooner we can tell who that is, the better."
Complete turnover in Sun Devil special teams
Not only are all the specialists new, there will be different athletes in the return game as well. Special teams coach Charlie Ragle dipped into the transfer portal to snag fifth-year seniors in kicker Dario Longhetto, punter Josh Carlson and long snapper Slater Zellers. The transition should not be that difficult since Longhetto and Zellers worked together last season when both were at Cal.
Carlson, a native of Gilbert, transferred from New Mexico State and inherits the position vacated by Eddie Czaplicki, the Pac-12's top punter who transferred to USC.
Those duties have been solidified, but there is the normal assortment of skill-position players vying for return duties. Ragle did not want to name names when asked about the candidates last week, but it is usually the explosive playmakers you want there, so expect Elijhah Badger and Xavier Guillory to be among those options.
"I’ve always thought you could get great skill-position players here and I feel like we have some of those," Ragle said. "And I really feel like we have some valuable return guys with speed that can help us. I’m excited at the process of narrowing in on those guys and finding the right ones. We have a lot of options and that's a good problem to have."
Offensive line ASU's biggest unit of concern
This is another unit that has undergone quite a transformation with Queen Creek product Isaia Glass the lone returning starter, although Emmit Bohle has seen considerable playing time.
There are 10 newcomers up front, many of whom are going to be relied on in the regular rotation. The good part of the equation is there is considerable experience among those newcomers, who combine for more than 100 starts. Most notable among those are Aaron Frost (Nevada) and Leif Fautanu (UNLV), the likely starters at right tackle and center respectively, who have combined for 64 starts. Cal transfer Ben Coleman was supposed to factor in at left guard but he will miss the season with a lower leg injury, so the Sun Devils got more reinforcements in Sione Finau (Purdue) and Cade Briggs (Texas Tech).
"Physically they’re athletic," offensive line coach Saga Tuitele said of his position group. "They can move their feet and can bend. They’ve got good balance. It’s easy to look good doing that in practice. Now can they do that when someone is hitting them in the face? That’s the real story. But the work ethic is there, athletic ability better than I thought, and their foot speed and quickness are there."
Will ASU's defensive line continue to evolve?
The lack of a pass rush really hurt ASU last season. The Sun Devils managed just 17 sacks, 10th in the conference. Not only were there too few sacks, there wasn't enough pressure on opposing passers the rest of the time. Despite some key departures, this looked like one of the more improved areas of the team in the spring, with that unit getting the better of the offense on many occasions. A change of defensive schemes has helped as well.
B.J. Green, who came to ASU two years ago as a walk-on, was particularly impressive in the spring and will likely make the jump from situational pass rush specialist to full-time starter. New defensive line coach Vince Amey will also be counting on Mike Matus, who missed all of last year with a knee injury, in addition to veteran starter Anthonie Cooper and newcomers Dashaun Mallory and Prince Dorbah.
"We have guys that can get the job done, really like how they have bought in and learned," Amey said. "The spring was good but we have to build on that, keep getting better."
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How will this Sun Devils team gel?
Any time a coaching change is made there will be roster turnover. It's easier to reload these days because of the transfer portal and the Sun Devils landed 35 new players through that route. There are another 20 or so coming out of high school or community colleges, which means the majority of the 85 scholarship players are athletes who are new to the program.
All say the team bonding process has gone well so far, but time will tell. A three-day excursion to Camp Tontozona is scheduled for Aug. 10-12 and that should provide an opportunity to accelerate that process.
"I like the fact that our guys are hanging out together," Dillingham said. "When we have all the new guys, it's easy to be clingy. I'm seeing a guy who showed up a month ago hang out with a crew of kids that have been friends for three years mixed in with a kid who showed up this spring."
Extra points
—Sun Devil Athletics is providing an opportunity for fans to visit Camp Tontozona with what they're calling a "Turnaround Bus Trip" on Aug. 12. For $60, which will benefit the Sun Angel Foundation, fans will ride to and from Camp T, receive breakfast, snacks and non-alcoholic beverages and a shady spot to watch practice (no seats are provided, so fans are encouraged to being their own chairs). The bus leaves Sun Devil Stadium at 6 a.m. and the trip is expected to take 8 1/2 hours. Registration and additional details can be found at this link provided by Sun Devil Athletics.
—Single-game tickets for 2023 ASU home football games are now on sale. The schedule of eight games is highlighted by USC's final appearance in Tempe on Sept. 23 as a Pac-12 member — it's also the conference opener — and the regular-season finale Nov. 25 against Arizona in the Territorial Cup game. Visit the Suns Devils official website for full information.