Yesterday's countdown spotlight shone on an underrated player from recent history, but with 93 days now remaining until Sun Devil football is back, we take a look at one of the best to ever do it: the great Jim Jeffcoat.
Growing up in New Jersey, Jeffcoat never expected to end up a Sun Devil. However, head coach and Pennsylvania native Frank Kush had made it a priority of his to recruit talent from the northeast regularly, and he saw something special in Jeffcoat. So, the New Jersey native moved all the way to the west coast.
Unfortunately, Jeffcoat never got to play under Kush, as the head coach was controversially fired during Jeffcoat's freshman season, in which he did not play. Darryl Rogers left Michigan State to replace Kush, and Jeffcoat quickly impressed his new coaching staff, becoming a starter in 1980.
A year later, Jeffcoat was moved to the edge and became the Sun Devils' top pass rusher. He finished the year with 10 sacks and also made his presence felt against the run, frequently setting the edge and bottling up run plays. The overall improvements on the defensive side helped Arizona State go from 7-4 in Rogers' inaugural season to 9-2 and finishing at No. 16 in the polls.
The next year proved even better. The Sun Devils had the top-ranked defense in the nation, and Jeffcoat was a one-man wrecking crew in all facets of the game. The Sun Devils rode their defense to a 10-2 record, capped with a win over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, and they finished the year ranked sixth in the polls; at the time, it was the second-highest Arizona State had ever been ranked at the end of the year.
Jeffcoat was then off to the NFL, where he was drafted 23rd overall in the first round by the Dallas Cowboys. He joined America's Team at a low point, as the dynasty of the 70's had fallen off and legendary head coach Tom Landry was struggling to adapt to a changing league.
Still, Jeffcoat was highly productive for Dallas. After minimal playing time as a rookie, Jeffcoat posted 12 or more sacks in each of the next three seasons. By the time Jimmy Johnson arrived as a head coach, Jeffcoat had played in Dallas for six seasons and amassed 51 sacks, eight forced fumbles, seven fumble recoveries, two interceptions, and scored three touchdowns. Despite all that, he had been to the playoffs just twice.
Johnson turned things around, though. After two down years, the Cowboys got back to the playoffs, and after that they won consecutive Super Bowls. Jeffcoat remained a key piece of the defense, twice hitting double digit sacks despite the Cowboys adding other accomplished players like Tony Tolbert and Charles Haley.
After the 1994 season, Jeffcoat joined the Buffalo Bills in free agency, though his age would limit him in terms of production at that point. He retired three years later following an injury, but Jeffcoat ended his NFL career with a whopping 102.5 sacks, 724 total tackles, 18 forced fumbles, 11 fumble recoveries, and two rings to his name.
Jeffcoat later went into coaching, assisting with the defensive line for the Cowboys from 1998 to 2004. He also had coaching stints in college - with Houston, San Jose State, and Colorado - and spent one season each with teams from spring league startups in the AAF and XFL.
Jeffcoat remains regarded as one of the single greatest defensive ends in Arizona State history, and one of their most successful NFL stories. In 1994, Arizona State inducted him into their Hall of Fame, and in 2012 he was added to their Ring of Honor.
He came to Tempe at what proved to be a precarious time, transitioning away from a legendary coach, but Jeffcoat's elite play helped anchor the team and keep the Sun Devils on the path to success. In 93 days, the new crop of Sun Devils hope to have much the same impact.