If there’s one thing ASU running back Demario Richard doesn’t lack, it’s self-assurance.

After a formidable sophomore year where he totaled 1,407 yards from scrimmage and scored ten touchdowns (seven rushing, three receiving), he has every good reason to be.

“My confidence will never fall,” he said. “I’m young but I’m old to this game…It’s going to be a good year, I promise you.”

Confidence aside, last week was slow for all of the players at Camp Tontozona with multiple practices cancelled or delayed and the weather that forced the team to return to Tempe a day early. With the shifting schedule, Richard said it took him a bit of time to get into the swing of things.

“It started off kind of slow for me,” he said. “I was trying to get back into the feel of the game…it was kind of disappointing that we couldn’t stay up there due to the weather.”

But now he feels he has found his groove and is preparing himself to once again be the Sun Devils’ feature back.

Richard and fellow junior running back Kalen Ballage power the Sun Devils’ rushing attack but there is more than just them. Richard is happy about not just his and Ballage’s role but also the rest of the running backs.

“We got depth,” he said. “I’m the feature back now so we’ve got depth (and) I’m not really worried about it. I know all of the guys in (the running backs) room are going to are going to come and show out when it’s time to show out.”

And part of showing out for Richard also includes the work he does as a leader. Richard said he feels the torch has been passed to him and now he is trying to pass on the knowledge and discipline he has on to the younger players.

“I’m just here taking up the leadership role which Taylor Kelly and DJ Foster left to me to do,” Richard said. “I feel confident that the guys trust me and I know they trust me because they’ve got my back 110 percent.”

But the running game is not solely dependent on the man carrying the ball. The offensive line is just as important and the unit remains in a state of flux as it replaces four starters from last year’s team.

Richard, as the man running behind the line, said he has seen the line come together somewhat as practices continue.

“Everybody is coming together (and) the offensive line is coming together,” he said.

With his leadership role and new faces in new positions, Richard said he doesn’t feel the need to do too much or put the tea on his back, so to speak.

He feels there is more than enough talent surrounding him and that he doesn’t have to do everything on his own.

“It’s not only me,” he said. “We have some veteran guys that are seasoned, that have been there before. So it’s not up to me we all can get out there and do it.”

As the team and units gel, they do so with diminished expectations. Even after a disappointing 6-7 season in 2015, Richard and the rest of the team are not listening to the outside noise or dealing with anyone’s expectations outside of the team.

“We don’t’ care about what anybody’s got to say,” Richard said. “We know what we’re capable of; we know what he have to do. You’ve still got to come to Arizona and see us.

“I’m not really worried about what the situation, what anybody’s got to say, that’s cool, you’ve still got to come to Arizona and see us.”

In addition to the expectations placed on the team, Richard, too, feels he’s flown under the proverbial radar and he wants to prove that he’s not only one of the best running backs in the Pac-12 or on the west coast but in the nation.

“I just felt like I’m slept on, I still feel like I’m slept on,” Richard said. “Everybody on the west coast knows who Demario Richard is but now it’s time for everybody from the west coast to the east coast to know who I am.”

He doesn’t mean it to sound boastful or arrogant, merely as a note of his motivation.

And the confidence he has in himself.



