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By CUYLER MEADE
Cronkite News
BURBANK, Calif. – There’s a regime change going on in Tempe.
The Sun Devils aren’t changing coaches, but they’ve got a new captain. After three-year starting quarterback Taylor Kelly graduated at the end of last season, the Sun Devils are turning to fifth-year senior Mike Bercovici as their leader.
“Mike’s always been a leader to me,” said safety and fellow captain Jordan Simone. “But now that he’s looked at as a leader of the team, it’s helped his confidence a lot. He’s able to step in front of the team and say what he needs to say and people believe him and listen to him.”
Bercovici waited four years for the opportunity, famously spurning opportunities to transfer for the sake of remaining a part of coach Todd Graham’s Sun Devil brotherhood. Now it’s his turn, and his loyalty hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“I think guys just trust him,” Simone said. “He’s a Sun Devil, all the way down to his core, and he just couldn’t get himself to leave. He loves the university, loves the coaches. He’s got a girlfriend too, so I’m sure that helped us. Mike staying was great for us. Look where he is now.”
On top of proving his dedication to the team, Bercovici has had a chance to prove his competence on the field. Stepping in when Kelly was injured in the middle of last season, Bercovici performed admirably, leading Arizona State to two wins in three games with victories over USC and Stanford. Throwing 63 percent of his passes for completions and with nine touchdowns to two interceptions, Bercovici impressed more than teammates.
“He’s already got a USC victory and Stanford victory under his belt,” Graham said. “And too, I mean, this guy had graduated before last season. He could have left and played two years somewhere else, and it never even crossed his mind. I mean, a guy like that shows you what his character’s about. Obviously, you see how the NFL people are looking at him, his skillset, but the intangibles with him, the heart and character that that shows, is tremendous.”
Graham said the process that went into choosing Bercovici as captain demonstrates the way the team feels about the quarterback.
“With the respect that he has on our team, every player on our team and every coach voted for him,” Graham said. “You get one vote for our sole leader, and Mike got everybody’s vote. So that tells you the respect that he has on our team. This guy has sacrificed for this opportunity to be the Sun Devils quarterback. So I’ve got all the confidence in the world in him and how he’s embraced it. He’s not a first-year quarterback in my mind. He’s got a lot more experience under his belt.”
Bercovici said he’s been preparing for this opportunity for a long time.
“It’s been something that I’ve always been excited about,” Bercovici said. “I did my best as a young leader to set myself up for this opportunity. That’s mostly off the field. As someone who doesn’t play, as a backup quarterback, it’s how are you going to interact with one another when it’s not game time. I felt I did a good job showing guys how much I care about this team and did truly set myself up for this position.”
Now that he’s taken the reins, Bercovici said the team has responded on the field and off it.
“It’s exciting right now because young guys really look to me for advice, and not just for football but for life advice,” Bercovici said. “That’s what builds a team together, and that’s what a true leader is. On and off the field, making sure guys are in class, it’s an exciting opportunity.”
The change in leadership is noticeable. Where his predecessor, Kelly, was a quieter, lead-by-example type of captain, Bercovici’s style is significantly more audible.
“I think guys would say I’m even too vocal sometimes,” Bercovici said. “We have player-run workouts where – like coach is – I don’t want to be your best friend. Inside the lines, you need a leader, not a friend. And sometimes living with roommates, you can get a little bit of conflict sometimes, because you’re not buddy-buddy out there. But we’re trying to win a national championship every time we hit the field as a team.”
Simone, who Bercovici said is just as ebullient as the quarterback is, agreed with Bercovici’s assessment.
“Very vocal,” Simone said. “We’re both very vocal. But sometimes guys need to get yelled at and sometimes guys need one-on-one conversations, and Mike’s really good at figuring out how to lead different guys.”
Kelly has remained with the team in a coaching role for the 2015 season, and Bercovici is quick to express his admiration for the man he backed up for three seasons. But there’s no question the two have different leadership styles.
“We’re both different guys,” Bercovici said. “I respect Taylor a lot, and he’s helping us coach right now, and he’s doing an incredible job. He’s somebody that, if I needed anything in my life I could go to coach Taylor and he’ll be there for me. But the thing that I’m trying to bring to this season is just passion and inspiration. I’ve got so much built up in me from being here four years. I’ve got so much that, come game time, it’s time to lay it out. It’s time to show how Sun Devils go.”
Bercovici may be the top dog now, but he’s not the only leadership voice on the team. Receiver D.J. Foster joins Bercovici and Simone as a captain. Not coincidentally, the three are roommates.
“We have a leadership group that is all really close with one another,” Bercovici said. “Even though some guys come from different dynamics, they might not have even been here their freshman or sophomore year, but we all have a collective mindset and we’re ready to go this season.
“But we’ve got guys who care. We’ve got guys who lead by inspiration, not just by fear, and that’s what really separates us.”
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