Connor Soelle understands patience.
The Arizona State redshirt freshman defensive back spent last season working on improving every aspect of his game, much like his early high school days just up the Loop 101 in Scottsdale.
“I think I really just relate it to being at Saguaro,” Soelle said to Sports360AZ.com. “Because when I was a sophomore we had that super stacked team [with] a ton of Division I guys. You kind of just have to trust the process.”
Soelle, whose older brother Kyle is a junior linebacker for the Devils, is now trusting the process of new ASU co-defensive coordinators Antonio Pierce and Marvin Lewis, who take over for Danny Gonzales who left to become the head coach at New Mexico.
Gonzales and former tight ends coach Donnie Yantis were the two coaches who mainly recruited the 6-foot-1, 200-pounder to join his older brother Kyle in Tempe.“It’s just one of those things that happen in college, coaches don’t stick around forever,” he explained with a shoulder shrug. “It’s something you know and recognize going into it. It hasn’t really made a big impact on me.”
While Soelle said he misses and has loyalty to both Gonzales and Yantis, he’s working hard to prove to the new defensive staffers he’s ready to step in and contribute, wherever they want him to play, this fall.
He also is focused on maximizing every opportunity he gets to improve himself on the field, whenever that may be next next.
All it ever took was a vision… #Year1 pic.twitter.com/KVyJc8uT1m
— Connor Soelle (@cmsoelle) July 25, 2019
“You just have to work hard every single day,” Soelle expressed. “That’s the biggest thing going from high school to college. Once you get into your groove in high school, you can kind of take a few days off here and there and still be the best guy on the field. In college, if you don’t bring 110 percent effort every single day they’re going to notice it.
“I definitely know what the coaches are expecting and I’m going to go out there and give it my very best shot.”
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Eric Sorenson
A Valley native, Eric has had a passion for the Arizona sports scene since an early age. He has covered some of the biggest events including Super Bowls, national championships and the NBA and MLB playoffs in his near 20 years in local media.