Arizona State dismisses 2 football players

Arizona State football head coach Kenny Dillingham sent a clear message during fall camp — if you're not a good fit for the team's culture, you will be dismissed.
In the first week of practices, linebacker transfer Juwan Mitchell and sophomore cornerback Isaiah Johnson were both dismissed from the team. Mitchell, who was expected to be a starter, was a big shock to the team's depth.
For Dillingham, the talents on the field cannot cover for behavior that isn't up to standard.
"The football stuff, that’s great. There’s a lot of really good football players out there, there’s a lot of great football players. I want good people in this program to build a culture that we can be proud of," Dillingham said.
Mitchell started at Tennessee last season after coming back from shoulder surgery and had 43 tackles in one of the SEC’s strongest defenses. Before going to Tennessee, Mitchell spent two seasons at Texas and led in tackles with 62 in 2020.
He came in with 21 career starts and was going into his sixth and final season of college football.
Mitchell's experience made him a no-brainer as a starter for a thinned out linebacker group. ASU lost starters and fifth-year players Kyle Soelle and Merlin Robertson, while junior Connor Soelle transferred to Oregon.
"It’s very very simple. Culture wins," Dillingham said. "You’re either going to practice how we practice, live how we live, be a good person, compete, say yes sir or no sir, open doors for people, be genuinely a good person and do things, or you’re not. It’s really not hard to be a good person."
ASU will still have experience at linebacker with senior transfer Travion Brown, who started in two games and appeared in 11 at Washington State. The Sun Devils have returners in juniors Will Shaffer and Caleb McCullough. The team also added redshirt freshman Tate Romney and sophomore Krew Jackson from the portal.
Regardless of where ASU stands at linebacker, the first week set a precedent of how Dillingham wants his team to be.
"When I say we, I mean myself, our staff, the alumni, the Valley," Dillingham said. "Everybody that watches us play will go, man, that’s somebody I’d let babysit my daughter and that player plays his guts out. He plays with a passion. Watch that kid play the game. That’s what I want to see people play and say. I want people to say about our football team is how hard they play, how they passionate they play, but good of people they are.”
In 2022, Johnson saw time in six games with two of them as a starter. He recorded 16 tackles, including two of a loss, and one pass breakup.