Diron Reynolds Making Major Impact on Arizona State Football Defense
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TEMPE -- Diron Reynolds is a name that may not resonate with the average casual football fan. It absolutely does resonate with fans of the Arizona State football program.
Reynolds, 54, joined Arizona State as the defensive line coach at the conclusion of the 2023 season following nearly 30 years in coaching positions from around the high school, collegiate, and NFL levels.
Reynolds' role as not only a coach - but also a true mentor - has been the focus of many around the program over the last 12 months. His continued coaching tactics and ability to develop have been reflected in many tangible ways, including the run defense being among the best in all of college football over the last calendar year.
Head coach Kenny Dillingham is as pleased as he possibly can be with the presence of one of the most respected coaches in the business, gifting a detailed response to the media when asked in his weekly press conference on Monday.
- "Yeah, I mean, he's a phenomenal football coach. I mean, professional defensive lineman come to train with him at the pass rush summit. Like, we don't send him on the road to recruit. He doesn't leave here. Like, why? Because I want them around our players. Why? Because I don't want them to go back to the NFL. So like, when you're looking at where you want to play football, like we're telling you, this guy isn't a recruiter. We're not even letting him go on the road. If your goal is to be developed, well, we're literally waving the flag of he's not a recruiter.
- He's a developer of people. And I say people because it's his strength is not just coaching football, and strength is discipline. And people ask him about what he eats one day, his ability to be disciplined in that and then carry that discipline over into the defensive line room and set a standard in that room is he's a professional coach, and that's why we don't put him on the road. Because I want people to know, if you come here, it's about being developed by one of the best defensive line coaches in the country, and I want to make sure we keep him here."
Reynolds' role as a coach, developer, and mentor has reflected incredibly positively on the line group as previously mentioned - one of the clearest examples outside of the consistently elite run defense is the six-sack performance that just took place last week.
Prince Dorbah enjoyed a career-best game of three sacks, while Clayton Smith and Elijah O'Neal showed out as well - confirming Dillingham's notion before the season that the edge rushing group improved individually as much as they did collectively
Arizona State on SI takes a look at what the future of Reynolds in Tempe might look like, especially with the non-emphasis on recruiting in mind.
What Reynolds' Future in Tempe Entails
- Defensive line prospects such as Julian Hugo and Ronald Derrick are already committed to the program in the 2026 class. The tangible improvement shown by the edge group as a whole should continue to draw in talented recruits and allow the program to develop into one of the most proven programs when it comes defensive line/edge rushing development.
- C.J. Fite and Jacob Rich Kongaika are prime examples of defensive tackles being a major emphasis in Tempe as well. The pair - along with rotation players including Zac Swanson - are living proof that tackles matter as much as players off of the edge, as the Sun Devils continue to be one of the best units at stopping the run.
- There is a distinct possibility that Arizona State's continued success opens the door for Reynolds to return to the NFL, but Dillingham is undoubtedly serious about doing everything he can to retain one of the best position coaches around.
Read more on major takeaways from Arizona State's clutch-time victory over TCU here, and more on why Arizona State fans should be feeling confident about the outlook of the season following the win here.
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Kevin Hicks is an Arizona State alumni and now serves as the Arizona State Beat Writer On SI.