When ASU football’s fall camp started on August 3, the three-man quarterback competition headlined all stories.

Who would start? Perhaps it would be Manny Wilkins, who had experience as Mike Bercovici’s backup last year, but had never thrown a pass. Maybe it would be Brady White, who is the highly rated quarterbacks that ASU has ever landed. It could also be Bryce Perkins, the Chandler High School alum who is viewed as the best athlete of the three.

No one considered Dillon Sterling-Cole, and for good reason. The true freshman’s shot at winning the starting job is slim to none, but one could not derive that from his attitude.

The signal caller has remained positive and is embracing the process of learning the system, schemes and coverages.

“(I’m) just keeping my head about myself, keeping a positive attitude,” Sterling-Cole said. “Regardless of whether I win the position or not, I’m going to keep my head on straight, I’m going to still keep the guys up.”

Fellow freshman Cohl Cabral, who is receiving reps at long snapper and center, described Sterling-Cole as a “character.”

“He does lead, and he steps up, he’s very vocal,” Cabral said. “During our summer workouts, he was very vocal, pushing himself and getting everyone else to push. He was definitely leading and it’s been nice having him back there because he was a high-level quarterback in high school too.”

Sterling-Cole is listed at 6-foot-3, 191 pounds, and looks every bit of it. He was the 17th ranked quarterback in the 2016 recruiting class, and the 50th overall player in the state of Texas. He threw for 7,130 passing yards and 78 touchdowns to just 17 interceptions at Westfield High School in Houston.

Offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey said Sterling-Cole is exactly the type of player the staff thought they recruited.

Lindsey noted that it is sometimes funny to see college freshmen become wide-eyed during their first few practices, but he feels Sterling-Cole is handling it well and steadily progressing.

“He’s a very talented kid,” he said. “He’s an 18-year-old freshman who’s still learning to figure it all out, but he’s doing a great job. His attitude is great and he’s preparing.”

Sterling-Cole said two different aspects of the college level, which he has noticed throughout practice, are the emphasis on ball security and how quickly plays develop.

When head coach Todd Graham was asked about Sterling-Cole, he talked about the difficult learning curve with the quarterback position and the volume of information to remember. He also mentioned the freshman is learning from the other three quarterbacks in the competition.

It appeared Graham was going to stop there and move onto the next question, but then he paused and added, “But I’ll tell you what, (Sterling-Cole) can flat out throw the football.”

But when discussing his own strengths, Sterling-Cole spoke of mental attributes too. And the tone of humility in his voice was too noticeable not to mention.

“I feel like my strengths are being able to extend plays,” he said. “I feel like I’m accurate, I have a very live arm. I feel like my leadership and my confidence to never give up win or lose, and to keep fighting, having that mentality really boosts my game.”

He said being at ASU and earning the opportunity to develop alongside other newcomers and learn from veterans has been a blessing in itself.

“I will do my best regardless of whether I’m on the field or not to just keep my head and go through the process,” Sterling-Cole said.